Atlas Imperial Diesel Engine Co. v. Criscuolo

In an action involving various claims to a small motorboat the trial court denied the defendants any relief under a mortgage they claimed to hold on the boat. From that judgment the defendants have appealed.

When the boat was being constructed the owners executed a mortgage to the defendants. That mortgage was never recorded in the office of the United States collector of customs of San Francisco, the home port of the vessel. For that ■ reason the plaintiff claims that as to it the mortgage was invalid. For various reasons the defendants claim it was valid and an enforceable obligation against…