Lynch v. Murphy

Citations

• 161 U.S. 247
• 16 S. Ct. 523
• 40 L. Ed. 688
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 2160

Syllabus

<p>Arndt v. Griggs, 134 U. S. 316, affirmed to the point that the duty of determining unsettled questions respecting title to real estate is local in its nature, to he discharged in such mode as may be provided by the State in which the land is situated, when such mode does not conflict with some special prohibition of the Constitution, or is not against natural justice.</p> <p>Applying that doctrine to this case it is held that the decree in the equity cause of Pippert v. English was not void for want of personal service on English and his wife, as the laws relating to the District of Columbia permit service by publication upon absent defendants.</p> <p>And further, as the evidence shows that Pippert had no knowledge of the attempt by Mrs. English to incumber the land in question by a deed of trust, the recording of the instrument did not give him constructive notice of it, as the formalities required by law to authorize the recording were not complied with.</p> <p>That deed of trust was inoperative as a legal instrument.</p> <p>There being no actual notice, and the recording of the defective deed not operating as constructive notice, the alleged equitable lien is wholly inoperative against those holding under the decree below.</p>