Branham v. Mayor & Common Council

Citations

• 24 Cal. 585

Syllabus

<p>Power of Ayuntamiento.—An Ayuntamiento was a municipal body, and could take and exercise only such powers as were conferred upon it by the will of the sovereign, as expressed in the laws creating it.</p> <p>Complaint—Averment of Conclusion of Law.—An averment in a complaint that an Ayuntamiento had full power and lawful authority to do a particular act, is an averment of a conclusion of law, and does not tender an issue of fact.</p> <p>Demurrer—What it Admits.—A demurrer to a complaint containing such allegation does not admit its truth.</p> <p>Same.—A demurrer admits the truth of such facts only as are issuable and well pleaded.</p> <p>Pueblo Lands—Mortgage of.—An Ayuntamiento had no power to mortgage the lands of the pueblo, and a mortgage on such lands given by it was a nullity, and vested in the mortgagee no interest in the lands.</p> <p>Void Mortgage—Decree Foreclosing.—A decree foreclosing a mortgage made by the Ayuntamiento of San José on the pueblo lands, in an action in which the City of San Jose, the successor of the Ayuntamiento, was a party defendant, did not affect the city, nor estop it from setting up its title to the lands.</p> <p>Sheriff’s Sale under Void Decree.—A judicial sale under such decree, and the execution of a Sheriff’s deed to the purchaser, did not vest in him any title to the lands, but all the proceedings, including the decree sale and Sheriff’s deed, were utterly void.</p> <p>Sheriff’s Deed—What it Conveys.—A decree foreclosing a mortgage, and directing a sale of the mortgaged premises, and the execution of a Sheriff’s deed under the decree, transfers to the purchaser whatever interest the mortgage created and vested in the mortgagee, and nothing more.</p> <p>Parties Dealing with Municipal Corporation.—Parties dealing with a municipal corporation are chargeable with full knowledge of its powers, and act at their peril.</p> <p>Same—Confirming Void Sale.—An agreement made between the municipal authorities of San José on the one part,