Hagge v. Drew, 27 Cal. 2d 368 (1945)

Citation: Hagge v. Drew, 27 Cal. 2d 368 (1945)
Parent Document: Hagge v. Drew, 27 Cal. 2d 368 (1945)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 1945-12-14
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1114867/hagge-v-drew/ ↗

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ruptcy and Security First National Bank were dated in February, 1942. The note and trust deed were dated February 15,1942, and executed by defendants on March 4, 1942. While those deeds and the trust deed were not recorded until March 13, 1942, six days after the date of the contract of sale, Charlesworth, Drew’s agent, testified that the down payment of $20,000, less the $500 deposit previously paid, was made on March 2d or 3d, 1942. The deeds, trust deed and money were deposited in escrow. The deeds were recorded only a short time thereafter, indicating an intent to close the transaction prior to the date of the contract of sale. Under these circumstances the trial court was justified in concluding that for all practical purposes defendants were the owners of the property on the date of the contract of sale. Plaintiffs refer to testimony of Drew that he did not have possession of the deed prior to March 13th, but the matter was being handled by his agent, Charlesworth, and through the escrow. Plaintiffs also point to evidence that they paid $10,000 under the contract of sale on March 2, 1942, and that that money was used by Drew to make part of his $20,000 payment to his vendor, but that was all part of the same transaction, and we fail to see what difference it makes that Drew used the money paid by Hagge to consummate the transaction. Hagge was meeting an obligation to Drew pursuant to his offer to Drew to buy the property which culminated in the contract of sale where the obligation was set forth in detail. Drew was using his own money, not Hagge’s, although it came from Hagge. Drew did not obtain that money from Hagge by fraud. As to being the owners, there is no evidence of any representation that Drew was the owner or that there were no encumbrances against the property, and the statement that he was owner in the contract of sale was made after Hagge had paid the money. Plaintiffs cite Civil Code section 1057, In re Chrisman, 35 F.Supp. 282, Holman v. Toten, 54 Cal.App.2d 309 [128 P.2d 808], and Libby v. Kipp,

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