Rawson v. Fox

Citations

• 65 Ill. 200

Syllabus

<p>1. Limitations—what is color of title under act of 1839. Where a mortgage given by two owners hacl been foreclosed in a proceeding in which a party holding an undivided half of the equity of redemption was not made a party, and the purchaser at the master’s sale, after receiving the master’s deed, made a deed to it which purported to convey the premises in fee: Held, that the latter deed was color of title under the limitation law of 1839.</p> <p>3. It has been held, since the first cases decided under the act, that the claimant is not required to trace title through a chain to any source to constitute color of title. The case of Irving v. Brownell, 11 Ill. 413, announcing a different rule, was overruled by the case of Woodward v. Blanchard, 16 Ill. 434, and the rule here stated has since been followed.</p> <p>3. So it has been held that where there was an ineffectual effort to obtain a strict foreclosure of a mortgage, but where the holder of the equity of redemption was not made a party, the mortgage and decree became color of title.</p> <p>4. And it has been held that an assignment of shares of land among tenants in common in a proceeding for partition, where one of the co-tenants was not made a party to the decree, constituted color of title to each of the tenants for the share set off to him under the decree, and that such omission of parties will not overcome the presumption of good faith.</p> <p>5. Same—good faith in party holding color of title. The courts will not hold that the party claiming the benefit of the limitation under color of title, is chargeable with bad faith, because the registry of deeds or the judgment dockets may show a paramount outstanding title, or that the title of the claimant is defective, as that would be to render the statute practically inoperative.</p> <p>6. The manifest object of the statute was to protect those who purchase land and pay their money therefor, under the belief that they are acquiring title. The fact that they p