Paramount Finance Co. v. Berk

The appellant, Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Cleveland, was the holder for value of a second mortgage of record on premises owned by one Berk. The appellee was the holder of a third mortgage on those premises. Upon foreclosure, the contention was made and upheld that the second mortgage lost its priority to the third mortgage because the second mortgage was not properly executed. The claim is that Berk’s wife did not acknowledge the instrument before a notary public and that the instrument was not signed in the presence of two witnesses.

There is no dispute that Berk and wife…