Longmaid v. Coulter

Citations

• 123 Cal. 208
• 55 P. 791
• 1898 Cal. LEXIS 1015

Syllabus

<p>Vendor and Purchaser—Contract of Sale—Retention of Title as Security—Assignability of Debt Secured.—Under an executory contract for the sale of land, where the legal title is retained by the vendor, as security for the payment of the purchase money, the vendee has only an equitable estate in the land, and the security is in the nature of an imperfect or equitable mortgage, and the land is by express contract held in pledge for such payment, and the interest of the vendor is assignable, and the assignee of notes given for the purchase money is entitled to the benefit of the security.</p> <p>Id.—Indorsement of Note fob Purchase Money—Waiver of Lien.— The lien of a vendor who has made a conveyance of the legal title is waived by an assignment or indorsement of the note or notes given for the purchase money; but the lien existing in favor of a vendor who retains the title as security for the purchase money is not waived by the assignment or indorsement of a note given therefor or by an unsatisfied judgment obtained thereupon, and upon the reindorsement of the note to the vendor, he may enforce a lien upon the land for the unpaid purchase money.</p> <p>Id.—Right to Sue for Purchase Money—Construction of Code—Enforcement of Lien.—The vendor who had retained the title as security for the purchase money, or his assignee of the debt, may sue for and collect the unpaid purchase money in an action ' at law without, in the first instance, resorting to an action to enforce the lien for the debt; and section 726 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not apply to such a case. Such action at law does not waive or affect the right of the vendor or his assignee to enforce the security for any uncollected and unsatisfied portion of the purchase money.</p> <p>Id.—Estoppel—Unsatisfied Judgment.—A proceeding upon the note by the vendor or his assignee, and the obtaining of an unsatisfied judgment upon the debt, cannot operate to estop the vendor or his assignee from foreclosing the lien