Opinion

Briant v. . Corpening

  • 62 N.C. 325
Court
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Filed
Jan 5, 1868
Status
Published
Author
Battle
On the bench
Battle
Cited by
6 cases
Authority
More cited than 72.2%

The opinion

Battle, J.

The bill is filed for the purpose of converting a deed absolute on its face into a mortgage. To accomplish this, it must be alleged and proved that the clause of redemption was omitted by reason of ignorance, mistake, fraud, or undue advantage taken of the bargainor. There is no such allegation in the present bill. In one place it is stated that the plaintiff “ executed a deed of conveyance for the above described land to defendant Corpening absolute upon its face, but intended simply as a mortgage, as will

*326

more fully appear by the proofs.” To this is added that

“

plaintiffs show that it was the contract and agreement of the parties that defendant Corpening, having paid the debt to Harper, took the deed absolute on its face, but agreed to make a title bond at a subsequent day to the plaintiffs, conditioned to reconvey on the payment of the debt, interest, &c., on the judgment in favor of Harper.”

These are all the allegations on the subject, and not one of them amounts to a statement that the clause of redemption was omitted by reason of ignorance, mistake, fraud, or undue advantage. The necessity for such an allegation is shown by the case of

Brown

v.

Carson,

Bus. Eq., 272, and by several other cases contained in 3d Bat. Dig., Tit. Mortgage.

The defect in the bill for the want of proper allegations is not at all obviated by the statement that the facts “will more fully appear by the proof.” A bill seeking relief in equity must contain all the necessary allegations, and then the proofs must correspond with and support the allegations, or there can be no decree in the plaintiff’s favor. See Abstracts in 3 Bat. Dig., Tit. Pleading, Subdiv. m

It is unnecessary to go into an examination of the answer or the proofs, as the bill does not state a sufficient case for the relief which it seeks; and it must therefore be dismissed with costs.

Per Curiam

Bill dismissed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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