Mitchell v. Shortt

Citations

• 113 Ill. 251
• 1 N.E. 909
• 1885 Ill. LEXIS 687

Syllabus

<p>1. Fraud—divestiture of title by collusion between vendor and purchaser to defeat an intermediate sale on execution or by voluntary conveyance. Where the owner of land under a lost unrecorded deed sells the same to another, who sells to A, who takes possession through a tenant, and A’s equitable title is divested by a sheriff’s sale and deed to B, if G obtains a deed from the original owner after his sale, by the direction of A, to defeat the sheriff’s deed, the deed to 0 will be fraudulent as against the grantee in the sheriff s deed, and a deed made by 0 to his wife, through his son, will be equally so, and will be set aside by a court of equity, the wife having the same notice of A’s title as her husband.</p> <p>2. Delivery of deed—without authority. Where an equitable owner of land, in the possession thereof, procures the holder of the legal title to make a deed to 0, which is left with the equitable owner’s son, with directions to return the same to the grantor and procure a deed to D, and the son delivers the deed to 0 without the direction or consent of the equitable owner, no title will pass by such deed.</p> <p>3. Jurisdiction in chancery—removing cloud upon title. A court of equity has no jurisdiction of a bill by the holder of the legal title to remove a cloud from the title held by parties claiming adversely, and in the actual possession of the land; but where the apparent legal title is in the party in possession, and it is necessary to set the same aside before the equitable or real owner’s title can prevail at law, a court of equity will have jurisdiction to set aside such apparent legal title, and having obtained jurisdiction for that purpose, will retain it, that full justice may be done to all parties concerned.</p>