Fitch v. Goetjen

Citations

• 83 Wash. 355
• 145 P. 447
• 1915 Wash. LEXIS 699

Syllabus

<p>Chattel Mortgages — Foreclosure Before Maturity of Debt— Reasonable Cause. Reasonable cause to believe that mortgaged horses and farm machinery will be lost or removed, justifying immediate action for the recovery of the debt under the provisions of Rem. & Bal. Code, § 1111, is not shown by the fact that the mortgagee believed that the property might be stolen and removed by members of a family in the neighborhood, his suspicions being based only upon gossip, rumor, and hearsay and general reputation of the community for horse and cattle stealing, where it appears that the mortgagee, at the time of the execution of the mortgage, had knowledge of the reputation of the neighborhood and of the intention of the mortgagors to pasture the horses upon the neighborhood range; that there had been no change in conditions and reputation of the neighborhood as to horse and cattle stealing; and that the mortgagors had done nothing themselves to impair the safety of the property at any time (Chadwick, J., dissenting).</p>