Springfield Five Cents Savings Bank v. South Congregational Society
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract on a promissory note, dated May 1, 1872, signed by the defendant society, and payable to the plaintiff or order, on demand. Answer, payment.
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Contract on a promissory note, dated May 1, 1872, signed by the defendant society, and payable to the plaintiff or order, on demand. Answer, payment. Trial in the Superior Court, without a jury, before Dewey, J., who found for the plaintiff, and reported the case for the consideration of this court-in substance as follows: A paper, not under seal, purporting to be a mortgage of land owned by the defendant, was delivered to the plaintiff to secure the payment of the note in suit. On October 2,1876, the plaintiff, acting under the power of sale contained in the mortgage, offered the premises…
1Opinion of the CourtAmes, J.
The mortgage, as originally signed and delivered tc the plaintiff, not being under seal, could have no effect, either as a conveyance of, or as a power to convey, real estate. The plaintiff, therefore, at the time of the attempted sale, had no title to the real estate, and no power to convey it. The sale was a mere nullity, for want of any authority on the part of the plaintiff to make it; and the bidder was under no legal obligation to *518accept the instrument tendered him as a conveyance, or to pay the amount of his bid. The reformation of the mortgage, seven months after the attempted sale,…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Elwell v. ShawMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1819
3Cited by4 opinions
- Bryan v. Traders' InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
- Gaylord v. PellandMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
- Bullock v. WhippSupreme Court of Rhode Island · 1885
- Dudley v. FooteSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1884