Davis v. Joseph

In this action for claim and delivery of numerous articles of personal property (oil and water-well drilling equipment) including two trucks on which it was mounted, plaintiff and appellant alleged ownership, right of possession, and that defendant and respondent wrongfully came into possession of it on August 5, 1954, and unlawfully retained possession of it. Defendant answered, denied generally the allegations of the complaint and alleged he was in rightful possession of the property; that plaintiff wrongfully

It appears that on May 29, 1951, in Utah, plaintiff Davis, who resides in Sacramento, California, together with defendant Joseph, entered into a conditional sales lease option contract, in Joseph’s name, with one Janie B. McCarty, registered owner of the trucks, for their purchase, together with the equipment mounted thereon. The legal owner was then Ralph Waters. The option provided that vendor retain title until the total purchase price was paid. About this time plaintiff and defendant entered into some partnership agreement whereby each agreed the other owned a one-half interest in said lease-option and that defendant would pay plaintiff one dollar for each foot of wells drilled. Plaintiff claims it also included an agreement to pay him 50 per cent of the profits. The testimony is in conflict as to which partner furnished the down payment and made certain other payments on the contract. At least plaintiff and defendant operated the rig until December, 1951. Plaintiff claims he was unable to locate the rig operated by defendant and finally discovered it in some town in Nevada and he immediately, on May 28, 1952, filed suit there against defendant claiming a partnership dissolution and seeking an accounting. Defendant filed an answer and counterclaim. Plaintiff claims defendant then removed the rig to California and later plaintiff discovered it here on May 26, 1953, filed a similar suit against defendant in Kern County and sought an accounting and the appointment of a receiver. (Action No. 60615.) On June 15, 1953, defendant answered, admitted the agreement of partnership in 1951, and claimed he furnished one-half of the down-payment on the purchase contract; that the plaintiff orally agreed to pay defendant $500 per month for

It appears from defendant’s testimony in the present action that thereafter, about October 22, 1953, he and Janie B. McCarty entered into some oral partnership agreement for the use of this equipment in the drilling of water wells. Defendant testified the court was about to sell the rig for bills contracted and unpaid, for $5,000 to a Mr. Bradshaw, in Utah; that both agreed that if defendant would pay these bills they would each own a “fifty-fifty partnership in the equipment” and each was to put up $500 to pay off Mr. Waters, the legal owner, but Mrs. McCarty failed to make such payment. This partnership arrangement continued for some time and subsequently Mrs. McCarty, on March 8, 1954, took exclusive possession of the rig, the main asset

Apparently, under the belief that the new contract agreed upon would be signed, and upon order of the respective attorneys, the storage keeper released the outfit to the defendant Joseph who, in turn, leased it for $750 per month, and it was removed to San Benito County for drilling purposes. It then appears that within a month Mrs. McCarty contacted plaintiff Davis and informed him the rig was for sale and she thought he would find it in the storage yard in Bakersfield; that she had not substituted her new lawyer in the case at that time; that she told Davis and his lawyer about this pending lawsuit; and that Davis said he searched

It is plaintiff’s position on this appeal that he was a bona fide purchaser, in good faith and for a valuable consideration, of the trucks and rigging and entitled to possession as such; that he made all reasonable inquiry and search of the records as to title and ownership; that he was told by Mrs. McCarty that she had repossessed said outfit and he believed she was entitled to transfer her title as registered owner; that defendant could have put everyone on notice of his claim by restraining the registrar of Motor Vehicles from transferring title to the trucks pending the outcome of the suit, and therefore he should be estopped from raising the question of equitable title, citing such authority as Fulkerson v. Stiles, 156 Cal. 703 at page 706 [ 105 P. 966 , 26 L.R.A.N.S. 181 ] ; Davis v. Ward, 109 Cal. 186 [ 41 P. 1010 , 50 Am.St.Rep. 29 ] ; Pomeroy’s Equity Jurisprudence, 4th ed., volume 2, section 735, page 1509 et seq.; Vehicle Code, section 186; Parke v.

It is defendant’s contention that he held a valid equitable title to the drilling rig, trucks, and other personal property here involved; that such title will prevail except against a bona fide purchaser for value; and that under the evidence the court was justified in holding that plaintiff was not such a purchaser, citing such authority as Bush v. Bank of America, 1 Cal.App.2d 588 [ 37 P.2d 168 ]; Triggs v. Zicovich, 117 Cal.App.2d 768 , 771 [ 257 P.2d 60 ]; Gates v. Levers, 108 Cal.App.2d 131 , 133 [ 238 P.2d 143 ]; and Lynn v. Herman, 72 Cal.App.2d 614 [ 165 P.2d 54 ],

The main distinction between the cases relied upon by plaintiff and the facts in the instant case is that in those cases the sale was to an innocent bona fide purchaser for value. Here we have a finding that plaintiff was not such a purchaser and that he knew of the existence of the unrecorded lease purchase agreement between Mrs. McCarty and defendant. In this connection it was shown that plaintiff originally entered into the agreement with her through his then partner, Joseph, and that this lease purchase agreement was unrecorded with the Motor Vehicle Department. He likewise knew of its existence when it was received in evidence in the action instituted by him in which Mrs. McCarty intervened. By the stipulation he had knowledge at that time that Joseph was not in default and for all intents and purposes was the equitable owner and purchaser of the trucks and rigging and entitled to the possession of them. When investigating the title at the time of his contemplated purchase of this outfit he made no inquiry of Joseph as to his claim to title, although he had been his previous partner and knew his mailing address in Bakersfield and knew the name and address of Joseph’s attorney. When the rig was located and in operation in San Benito County he made no inquiry as to Joseph’s claimed title to it but rested upon the motor vehicle registration and what he claimed Mrs. McCarty told him. Apparently he called upon his own lawyer in reference to the transaction, who had been previously told about the pending suit by Mrs. McCarty. In considering all the circumstances related the trial court was justified in finding that plaintiff was not an innocent purchaser for

It has been held that under section 186 of the Vehicle Code, pertaining to the transfer of title or any interest in a vehicle, a certificate of registration does not necessarily or conclusively establish true ownership. (Gates v. Levers, supra; Logan v. Serpa, 91 Cal.App.2d 818 , 822 [ 206 P.2d 70 ]; Lynn v. Herman, supra; Henry v. General Forming, Ltd., 33 Cal.2d 223 [ 200 P.2d 785 ].)

Although in conflict, there was sufficient evidence to show that defendant was not in default in his contract at the time plaintiff filed his action for claim and delivery and plaintiff cannot claim title by virtue of his claim that defendant had breached the contract with Mrs. McCarty. It was not established, as a matter of law, that defendant was negligent in not recording his contract of purchase with the Motor Vehicle Department, or that he was estopped from claiming equitable title under it. (Pike v. Bhinehart, 112 Cal.App.2d 530 , 533 [ 246 P.2d 963 ].) In fact, the findings are contrary to plaintiff’s claim.

Judgment affirmed.

Barnard, P. J., and Mussell, J., concurred.

Appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied May 1, 1957.