Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. v. Penn Plate Glass Co.

after making the foregoing statement of facts, delivered the opinion of the court.

The only question involved in this case arises from the provision made in the decree by the Circuit Court Judge, impressing what is termed an equitable lien upon the insurance moneys collected on the policies taken out by The Penn Company, sufficient to pay any balance which' may remain unpaid on the bonds secured by the mortgage to complainant, after the application of the proceeds of the sale of the property mortgaged. The Circuit Court held that the complainant had such equitable lien, while the Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Acheson dissenting; was of the contrary opinion, and therefore reversed that portion of the decree which provided for it.

The policies upon which the moneys were collected to pay the loss happening by fire, were taken out by The Penn Company for the purpose of covering its own interest in the property, and the language of the policies covered such interest only. There was no contract in the policies covering the interest of the complainant as mortgagee, nor was the insurance, in fact, effected for the purpose of carrying out any agreement or obligation on the part of The Penn- Company with the complainant to effect insurance covering the interest of the bondholders. On the contrary, this purpose was disaffirmed and the obligation denied. The Penn Company had the right to insure its own interest, and unless there was some contractual obligation on its part on the subject, which bound it, or some conduct on its part, or on the part of Kann, its immediate grantor, which -would estop it from setting up the fact that it had procured the insurance for itself, the moneys arising out of the contracts which it made with the various insurance companies, cannot be taken from it and bestowed on the complainant for the benefit of the bondholders secured by the mortgage in suit. Some obligation of the defendant of a contractual nature must exist, or some conduct must be proved, estopping the defendant from denying süch obligation, before the court can be authorized to take such moneys and bestow them upon the mortgagee for the benefit, of the- bondholders.

The court on bearing all sides and interests denied tbe application. There was nothing which then prevented tbe complainant from itself taking out insurance under tbe tenth article of the inortgage. It could have taken out such insurance as a thing proper to be done by it as trustee within tbe provisions of the mortgage, and in such case it would have been entitled, by the specific provisions in the tenth article, to reimbursement therefor and to compensation from the trust fund. We do not say that it was its duty to do so, for it bad no cash of the mortgagor on hand, but it had the power under the article to advance the insurance premiums and the right to demand reimbursement and compeúsation for having done so. The fact that it had no funds at its command at that time is very likely an answer to the proposition that it was its duty to have itself procured insurance; but if it had advanced the money and thus procured the insurance, the amount which it advanced would have been a lien on the trust fund and payable thereout before any claim on the part of the bondholders could have been asserted. The risk of loss to the complainant by making such advances would have been nothing. We refer to the subject to show that the mere fact that the trustee was without actual cash in hand to procure the insurance is not material.

Nor can we see that the execution of the agreement soon after the court had decided to deny the application for the receiver, in any way affects the liability of the defendants on this branch of the case. ■ From the time that Kann bought the premises. on the receiver’s sale and took a deed therefor subject to

We.do not see that this agreement altered in any degree or added to the rights or obligations of - the defendants in regard to insurance on the premises. The agreement simply was that if the defendants were bound to insure, then they would take moneys arising from the insurance policies sufficient to pay the bonds. Whether they were or- were not so liable was hot determined or iri any way intimated. If the court had then decided that they were liable., they would have had the opportunity of placing the necessary amount of insurance to cover -the interest of the bondholders in addition to that which The Penn Company then had covering its own intérest, but no such decision was arrived at and no such order was. made and no extra or other insurance taken out, and all parties seemed to be content to rest upon their legal rights and to take the risk of- an error as to what those rights were.- To make a decree after -a

While it is true that as a consequence of this voluntary agreement entered into by Karin and Wertheimer, the latter was appointed a receiver to collect and hold a sufficient amount of the insurance .moneys to pay these bonds, and in that way the moneys may be described as being in court, yet' the court did . not obtain jurisdiction to make any disposition of those moneys in behalf of complainant except upon the conditions made in the agreement, by virtue of which alone the moneys came under its immediate control. Unless the court held that there was a liability, as expressed in the agreement, it obtained no jurisdiction over these moneys to make a disposition of them in accordance with general equitable principles. There is no .fund in court to be thus■ disposed of. We must confine ourselves, therefore, strictly to the question of whether there was a right on-the part -of the complainant to enforce the application of these insurance moneys, in the hands of the companies or of the defendants, to the payment of these bonds, and a corresponding liability of defendants to apply these moneys for the benefit of the bondholders, free from any assumed power .of ' the court to'make a disposition of. the funds on general equitable principles because they'are in its possession, and to that extent subject to its immediate control.

It is claimed that the mortgagor company became liable to insure by reason of the provision in article tenth of the mortgage, or at least that it became thus liable to insure, when under that provision, it was required to do so by the mortgagee.' That portion of the article directly in question here, after providing that it should be no part of the- duty of the trustee to do certain .things therein named, continued : “ Nor shall it be any part of its duty to effect insurance against fire or other damage on any portion of the mortgaged property, or to renew any policies of insurance, or to keep itself informed or advised as to the payment of any taxes or assessments, or to require such payment to be made ; but the trustee may in its discretion do any or all of the matters and things in this paragraph set forth or require the same to be done.”

It is argued that by this language a covenant arose on the part of the mortgagor, by which it covenanted to insure the property if required to do so by the mortgagee. Beading the whole of that article with the other provisions of the mortgage, we think'there is great force in the reasoning of Judge Gray in the Circuit Court of Appeals, by which he concludes that there was no original obligation imposed by the mortgage on the mortgagor to insure for the benefit of the mortgagee. But we do not ourselves decide that no such obligation existed. The Court of Appeals did not place its determination upon that ground alone, but after discussing it and coming to the conclusion which it did, it then proceeded to discuss the question whether the defendant company was liable upon the assumption that there rested upon the mortgagor an original obligation imposed'upon it by the mortgage to insure for the benefit

Kann became the purchaser under a receiver’s sale ordered by the court and pursuant to its directions, and he received from the officer conducting that sale a deed conveying to him the premises subject to the mortgage of the complainant. He thus occupies the position of a purchaser at a judicial sale which was ordered to be made subject to the lien of an existing mortgage upon the premises to be sold, and he made no agreement which in terms obligated him to pay á dollar of the mortgage or to comply with a single one of the covenants of the mortgagor. Whatever his obligations may have been in regard to the mortgage or to the covenants of the mortgagor arising from the simple fact of his taking a deed subject to that mortgage, the obligations of his grantee are no greater than his own. The Penn Company took the title which he had subject to the same mortgage as in his case, and with no promise on its part, in terms, to pay the mortgage or to insure the premises for the benefit of any other interest than its own.

Counsel for the complainant argue that the extent of the obligation of grantees or purchasers subject to a mortgage in Pennsylvania has always been, at the least, that by taking such a deed the grantee impliedly agrees to indemnify the grantor against his liability on the mortgage. Many cases are cited by the parties on both sides in relation to this question.

In Moore's Appeal, 88 Penn. St. 450 , decided in 1879, Chief Justice Sharswood, delivering the opinion of the court, it was held that such a clause was a covenant- of indemnity only, as between the grantor and the grantee for the protection of the former. Or, in other words, it was held that on taking .the land the grantee will indemnify the grantor to the extent of the mortgage, in the same manner as if the consideration had been paid in cash and then applied by the mortgagor at the time. It was also held that an agreement to pay the encumbrance might be implied from the circumstances of any particu

“ Why should a covenant be inferred from these words by the vendee to the vendor to do more than protect the latter from loss ? If there is no existing personal liability in the vendor by reason of his bond or promise under which he can be compelled to pay if the mortgaged premises prove insufficient, what reason is there that he should exact a covenant from his vendee for the benefit of a stranger ? If such personal liability does exist why should he exact anything more than indemnity ? Surely, then, something should appear to create the inference of such a covenant. The words ‘ under and subject ’ import no’ such thing. They import that the vendee takes the land encumbered, and at most that so taking it at an agreed consideration, which includes the encumbrance, he will indemnify the vendor to the extent of that consideration, in the same manner as if it had been- paid in cash and so applied at the time. It is unwise to give an arbitrary, artificial meaning to words commonly- used in contracts and conveyances, and thus entrap parties into engagements into which they had no reason to suppose, in the common use of language, they were entering. The act of assembly of June 12, 1818, Pamph. L. 205, has very wisely provided that the grantor shall not be personally liable unless he shall expressly assume such liability by agreement in writing, or condition in the conveyance.”

In Blood’s Executors v. Crew Levcik Co., 171 Penn. St. 328 , the import of the clause “ under and subject to the lien of ” a mortgage was under consideration, and it was held that an implied covenant to indemnify arose from that language. , It was also held that the vendor had no right of action against the vendee in such a deed unfil he had been forced to pay the mortgage, either in whole or in part. This was also held in a case between the same parties, reported in the same volume (171 Penn. St.) at page 339.

The act of June 12, 1878, of the Pennsylvania legislature, (P. L. p. 205,) provides as follows :

“ Grantees of real estate which is subject to ground rent or

bound by mortgage or other encumbrance shall not be personally liable for the payment of such ground rent, mortgage or other encumbrance unless he shall, by an agreement in writing, have expressly assumed a personal liability therefor, or there shall be express words in the deed of conveyance stating that the grant is made on condition of the grantee assuming such personal liability therefor : Provided, That the use of the-words ‘ under and subject to the payment of such ground rent, mortgage or other encumbrance, shall not alone be construed so as to make such grantee personally liable as- aforesaid.”

Under the various cases cited, and the statute above quoted, we may assume that by the law of Pennsylvania the grantee who simply takes a deed subject to the lien of a mortgage is at most nothing more than an indemnitor of his grantor against the payment of the mortgage or any part of it by such grantor. There is no liability on the part of the grantee to the mortgagee so that the latter has any cause of action against him for the payment of the mortgage. If the mortgagor be not liable to pay at all there is no liability resting on the grantee to pay.

It then becomes necessary to .determine what liability, if any, rested upon the mortgagor. By reference to the fourth article of the mortgage, already set forth in the statement of facts, it will be seen that there is no personal liability on the part of the mortgagor. There is no - obligation, therefore, on the part of The Penn Company to indemnify the mortgagor company for any personal liability to pay the mortgage or any part thereof, for no such liability exists. However much below the amount of the mortgage the land should sell for is, so far as this question is concerned, a matter of no legal interest to the mortgagor company,'and the fact in no way creates any liability on its part. As there was no liability on the part of the mortgagor to pay any portion of' the debt secured lyy the mortgage, and the liability, if any, to indemnify the mortgagor on its covenant to insure is, as stated by the judge delivering the opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals, incidental and subordinate to its liability to indemnify the mortgagor regarding the mortgage debt, no such liability to indemnify upon the insurance covenant would seem to rest upon the defendant com

The covenant' to insure does not run with the land, so that one taking a conveyance comes under a primary obligation to insure, over and above that of a mere indemnitor. Columbia Ins. Co. v. Lawrence, 10 Pet. 507 , 513; The City of Norwich, 118 U. S. 468 , 494.

But, assuming the law of Pennsylvania' to be that there is an obligation on the part of these defendants, by reason of their taking the deeds subject to the mortgage, to indemnify the mortgagor on its covenant to insure, contained in the mortgage, what is the extent and character of that obligation thus assumed ? The covenant on the part of the- mortgagor, which we assume exists by reason of the language contained in the mortgage, was a personal obligation ‘ or covenant. The question then arises, what consequences would follow upon a breach of the covenant by the mortgagor? Suppose it had not conveyed the property and still remained the owner and in possession, and yet refused or omitted to insure, as it had covenanted to do in the mortgage, what remedy under this mortgage existed because-of this violation by the mortgagor? The complainant might have taken out insurance and claimed reimbursement or added the premiums paid to the amount of the mortgage debt. It did not do so. What other remedy it had for a violation of any covenant by the mortgagor is stated in the mortgage. It is therein expressly understood and agreed between the parties “ that no other suit or proceeding for the collection of the bonds shall be commenced, except such suits or proceedings as shall be necessary to recover the possession of the premises mortgaged, or to subject the same to the payment of the debts, and that the sale of the mortgaged premises, whether under the power of sale granted or any other power of sale, or by or under any judicial proceeding whatsoever, shall operate as a fall and complete satisfaction and discharge of the indebtedness of the mortgage and of the obligation of the covenants therein contained, whether the premises should be bidden in for the whole amount of the indebtedness or for a less price, anything in the bonds or coupons to the contrary

The alleged contractual obligation to indemnify, as well regarding the covenant to insure, as that regarding the payment of the bonds and coupons, does not help the complainant in this case, because of the affirmative • provisions of the mortgage. Whether the sale, under the foreclosure prayed for in this case, has taken place or not, there is no-other or personal liability of the mortgagor to respond for its breach of covenant to insure than that which it has provided for in the mortgage. If it be under none other, then the indemnitor-has nothing to idem-nify.

In regard to the contractual obligation to insure on the part of defendants, which complainant avers exists as one of the foundations for the equitable lien claimed by it, the judge, delivering the opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals, 103 Fed. Rep. 151 , said:

“ But, apart from cases of fraud, it is only when there is such

a contract or promise, which, can be so enforced, that courts of equity will recognize for that purpose the existence of an equitable lien. In such case the lien is impressed upon funds or property which,, belonging -to the promisor, were the very fuñds or property which constituted the' subject-matter of the contract or to which the contract or promise related. It is essential, therefore, that the funds or other'property, which are to’ be charged with the lien, should have, either at the time of the contract or after.wards, and while it was still unperformed, belonged to the party against whom the contract is to be so enforced,- and be so identified, even though at the. time of suit the said funds or property have come into the hands of volunteers, or of others who'may be affected with notice. There must, therefore, exist a contract by the. party owning,' either in prcesenti or in expectancy, the property sought to'be charged, which directly or by necessary implication, expresses the intention to charge such property with the lien, in favor of the other party to the contract. . . . It is not pretended that there was any contract between Kann or the appellant company and the complainant to insure for its benefit, or any promise or declaration of intention, upon any or no consideration, that they, or either of them, would so insure, or that policies or funds arising therefrom should be assigned or charged with a lien in’its favor. The. first essential requisite to an equitable lien, as above described, is, therefore, entirely wanting. There is no contractual relation of any kind between the mortgagee and the appellant,” (respondent in this court) “in whose name, and for whose sole benefit, these policies of insurance were taken out. If such a lien, therefore, exists on these insurance funds, in favor of the complainant, it mus.t-be on other grounds than these ordinary and well-understood ones. This is not the- case of a mortgagee claiming an insurance taken out by the mortgagor, who had covenanted to insure for the-benefit of the mortgagee; nor is it the case of such mortgagee, claiming such insurance funds, when they had come into the hands of third persons, ‘ who are either volunteers, or who take the estate, [the insurance funds] on which the lien is agreed to be given with notice of the stipulation.’ The complainant does not claim that the funds due on policies taken out

by the mortgagor, and which the mortgagor is held to have promised that he would assign to the mortgagee, have come into the possession of the appellant (respondent)', with notice, and are, therefore, charged with a lien in favor of the mortgagee. Its claim is that the grantee of the equity of redemption, having taken the property expressly subject to the mortgage, which contained a covenant on the part of the mortgagor •to insure, on that ground alone came either under a direct obligation to” insure the premises for the benefit of the mortgagee, or under an obligation to indemnify the mortgagor for his lia- ' bility under said covenant. But the property or ‘ estate ’ which came to the hands of the appellant, as grantee of the equity of redemptioh, was the mortgaged premises, subject to the mortgage. There is no difficulty in determining what that .estate is to be charged with. The court here, however, is asked to impress a lien in favor of the mortgagee, not on this estate, but upon funds which were never .in any sense the property of the mortgagor, and could never have been the subject-matter of a promise on its párt. It is the first branch of the claim above stated (i. e., the alleged direct obligation) that we are now considering.”

¥e fail to see any contractual obligation on the part of the. defendants to insure for the benefit of the bondholders further than we have stated, as indemnitors of' the mortgagor for its breach, if any, of its covenants.

The case of Wheeler v. Insurance Company, 101 U. S. 439 , is founded upon the existence of the obligation of the mortgagor to insure, and it is said that under such circumstances the mortgagee will have an equitable lien upon the money due upon a policy of insurance taken out by the mortgagor to the extent of the mortgagee’s interest in the property destroyed, and that .such equitable lien exists, although the contract provided that in case of the mortgagor’s failure to procure and assign that insurance, the mortgagee might procure it at the mortgagor’s expense.

If the insurance had been taken out .by this mortgagor company, even in its own name, we would have the same principle as decided in the last cited case, and- the complainant herein'

If there is no contractual obligation arising from the terms of the mortgage, and the taking of the deeds with an “ under and subject ” clause, as above referred to then there must have been some conduct on the part of the person to be.charged which would estop him from setting up as a defence the lack of such obligation. The- complainant urges that the defendants have been guilty of conduct which does estop them from denying their'liability. This is a different claim from that first remarked upon as to the treatment of. defendants as receivers. This claim is based upon a survey-of the whole conduct of defendants in' connection with the mortgagor company and the insurance upon the property. The record in this case, in our opinion, discloses no conduct on the part of the defendants which estops them or either of them from showing the lack of any obligation on their part to apply any portion of the insurance moneys to the payment of the bondholders. There has been no wrecking of the mortgagor company by either or both defendants, and neither has done .anything depriving himself or itself of any defence he or it might otherwise, have. In other words, both defendants have; so far as this record shows, full liberty to set up as a defence the want of any contractual or other obligation to insure. The opinion of the Circuit Court, of Ap

After a careful consideration of the whole case, we. are of opinion that the judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals was right, and it is, therefore,

Affirmed.

Me. Justice Gray did not hear the argument and took no part in the decision of this case.