Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States v. Hughes

Majority

p. 706

The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, App’lt, v. Mary Ann Hughes et al.

(Supreme Court, General Term, Second Department

Filed July 18, 1890.)

Headnote

Costs — Rees for searches.

Sums paid to the Lawyers’ Title Insurance Co. for searches are not taxable as legal disbursements in an action to foreclose a mortgage.

Appeal from order denying motion to compel the county clerk to tax in a foreclosure action an item of $28.50 claimed to have been paid for searches made by the Lawyers’ Title Insurance Co. The same opinions were rendered below as in the case against Olyphant.

Henry Day (GeorgeWaddington, of counsel), for app’lt; Stephen D. Jacobs, for clerk of Kings Co., resp’t.

This is an appeal from an order vacating and setting aside an order overruling the taxation of costs in this action, and also from an order affirming the refusal of the clerk to allow certain items for disbursements for searches.

The question presented is, whether the sums paid to the Law■yers’ Title Insurance Co. are taxable as legal disbursements by the plaintiff in an action to foreclose a mortgage.

It was decided at the special term that only disbursements for official searches could be allowed in such cases, and the sum claimed by the plaintiff and rejected by the clerk having been paid for unofficial searches could not be taxed as a legitimate disbursement.

Our examination leads us to the same conclusion, and the orders appealed from should be affirmed, with costs and disbursements.

Barnard, P. J., and Pratt, J., concur.