Warfield v. Christiansen

In 1950 Clarence M. Christiansen, trustee for Harry S. Christiansen, purchased from H. Deets Warfield and wife a tract of about 53 acres of land in Carroll County. There has been a mortgage for $3,500 on this property since 1922, but no interest has been paid on it for more than 20 years, and the Warfields considered that the mortgage was no longer a lien on the property. Christiansen, however, demanded that the sum of $4,000 be withheld in escrow as an indemnity against any loss by reason of the mortgage, and thereupon instituted this suit in equity for a declaratory decree determining…