Stark v. Boynton

Deed—Prior unrecorded Conveyance — Mortgage—Equity. Under Pub. Sts. c. 120, § 4, a prior unrecorded conveyance of land is invalid as against a subsequent grantee of the land, who has no actual notice or knowledge of it, and whose deed is duly recorded. One who takes a conveyance of a mortgage, either by a formal assignment or a quitclaim deed, from a person who appears of record to be the owner of it, will acquire a good title as mortgagee, unless he has actual notice or information of a defect in the title.

Bill in equity, filed in the Superior Court on April 15,1895, by James H. Stark, Isaac Schurmán, and Annie J. Schurman, and alleging the following facts. On June 27, 1883, Lydia T. Anderson, Benjamin F. Davis, and Mary E. Davis, then the owners of an estate in Boston, conveyed the same to the defendant by warranty deed, recorded July 6, 1883. On June 20, 1888, the defendant conveyed such estate to Lydia T. Anderson, by quitclaim deed in the usual form, containing the following declaration: “ The above premises were conveyed to me by deed, absolute in form, but nevertheless as collateral security, and were so held by me, and this conveyance is made only of such interest as I may hold by reason thereof.” This was recorded on September 11, 1888. Mary E. Davis died prior to July 1,1894, intestate, leaving as her only heirs Lydia T. Anderson and Benjamin F. Davis. On July 3, 1894, Benjamin F. Davis conveyed his interest in the estate to the plaintiff Stark, by quitclaim deed, recorded on the same day. On September 15, 1894, Lydia T. Anderson conveyed the estate to the plaintiff Stark, by quitclaim deed, recorded November G, 1894. On July 2, 1894, Lydia.T. Anderson conveyed the estate to the defendant by quitclaim deed, recorded November 10,1894, and containing the following declaration: “ Being the same premises which were conveyed to said Charles A. Boynton by deed dated June 27, 1883, and recorded . . . which deed, though absolute in form, was nevertheless given said Boynton and held by him as collateral security for the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars, and was by him assigned to me by a conveyance dated June 20, 1888, recorded . . . This conveyance is now made to the said Boynton to reconvey to him any and all interest which I received by virtue of the assignment from said Boynton to me, and not as an assignment or conveyance of the equity of said estate.” ' On or about November 15, 1894, the plaintiff Stark divided the estate into six lots, and on January 5, 1895, conveyed two of the lots to the plaintiff Isaac Schurman, and one of the lots to the plaintiff Annie J. Schurman, by deeds recorded March 8, 1895. The plaintiffs have, since the conveyances to them, been in possession of their respective lots as owners thereof. The plaintiffs, or either of them, did not know, and had not been informed at the time of taking their respective deeds, of the conveyance to the defendant dated July 2, 1894. Such deed to the defendant constitutes a cloud upon the plaintiffs’ title; and the plaintiffs have requested the defendant to release to them all right, title, and interest in the estate which he acquired under that deed, but the defendant has refused so to do. The prayer of the bill was, that the deed to the defendant dated July 2, 1894, be set aside; and that the defendant be ordered to convey to the plaintiffs all right, title, and interest in the estate which he acquired under such deed. A decree was entered for the plaintiffs; and the defendant appealed to this court.