Cullen v. Carey
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Bill in equity to compel the reconveyance of land on the ground that the transaction by which the defendant’s testator gained title was in substance a mortgage. Writ dated December 24,1885. In the Superior Court the case was referred to a master, who found the following facts: In 1869 the plaintiff bought the land in question, subject to a mortgage, and proceeded to erect a tenement house.
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Bill in equity to compel the reconveyance of land on the ground that the transaction by which the defendant’s testator gained title was in substance a mortgage. Writ dated December 24,1885. In the Superior Court the case was referred to a master, who found the following facts: In 1869 the plaintiff bought the land in question, subject to a mortgage, and proceeded to erect a tenement house. Leonard Carey, the husband of the defendant, who was a carpenter and indebted to the plaintiff for money lent, built the house for the plaintiff, supplying nearly all the materials and labor under an oral…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, C. J.
It was held in Campbell v. Dearborn, 109 Mass. 130, that, although a deed be given which is absolute in *52form, yet the grantor may prove by parol testimony that it was understood and agreed by both parties to be given as security for a debt; and that upon such proof a court of equity will treat the deed as a mortgage. This is decisive of the case at bar.
For some reason, which does not appear to be fraudulent, the plaintiff did not directly convey the estate in question to the defendant’s testator; he permitted the latter to obtain a judgment upon a debt in part fictitious, and thus to get a…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Campbell v. DearbornMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1872
3Cited by6 opinions
- Potter v. KimballMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
- Tilden v. GreenwoodMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1889
- Cook v. JohnsonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1896
- Fales v. GlassMassachusetts Appeals Court · 1980
- O'Brien v. HoveyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1921
1 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.