Chaffin v. Doub

Citations

• 14 Cal. 384

Syllabus

<p>The rule, under our statute, as to delivery of possession of mortgaged personal property, is not more strict than that held by the English and United States Courts under the Statute of Frauds.</p> <p>What constitutes delivery, depends on the character of the article and the circumstances of the case.</p> <p>Hay cut on land in possession of B. lies in three fields, of about one hundred and fifty acres, in swaths, cocks, windrows, and stacks. Plaintiffs mowed it, and boarded with B. B. mortgages the hay to plaintiffs for work, and they cease to board with B. whose dwelling is separated from these fields by a fence. Plaintiffs proceed to gather and stack the bay, until the levy of an execution on it, eight days afterwards, by defendant as B.’s property. Held, that, even conceding removal from the premises to be essential to a complete delivery of the hay, still, plaintiffs were entitled to reasonable time to do it, and, that the Court erred in assuming as matter of law that eight days was too long.</p> <p>But we do not decide, that any removal from the land was necessary to vest a perfect title as against the creditors of B.</p>