Saylor v. Crooker

Citations

• 97 Kan. 624
• 156 P. 737
• 1916 Kan. LEXIS 365

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Attachment Lien — Attaches Only to Existing Interest of Debtor. Rule followed that an attaching or judgment creditor can not subject to the satisfaction of his claim or judgment any greater interest in property than that owned by the debtor.</p> <p>2. Same. Where a debtor holds only the naked legal title to property, and that title was vested in him only as a mortgagee, and the mortgage itself was unenforceable and void, an attaching or judgment creditor can not subject such property to the payment of the debts or judgment liabilities of the debtor.</p> <p>3. Endless Chain Contract — Patent Right Agency — Exchange for Deed —Rights of Attaching Creditors. The plaintiff purchased from a patent holder of a crude oil burner an agency contract to sell “family rights” and “agency contracts.” The agency contract was a characteristic scheme in the nature of “an endless chain,” and void as against public policy. To secure the purchase price of the agency contract the plaintiff gave the patent holder a deed to some property, the deed being intended to operate as a mortgage. An attaching and judgment creditor of the patentee sought to subject the property to the satisfaction of his claim and judgment against the patent holder. Held, that the fact that the plaintiff, in the original contract, was in equal wrong with the patent holder will not prevent a court of equity from granting plaintiff relief when its refusal to do so would in effect give countenance, force and effect to the original illegal contract between the plaintiff and the patentee and carry its consequences even further than the contracting parties intended.</p> <p>4. Practice — Wrong Reasons Given by Trial Court for Correct Decision. —Where proper findings of fact based upon the evidence have been made, it is not ordinarily important what course of judicial reasoning is announced by the trial court in arriving at its decision when the decision itself is correct.</p>