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63 N.H. 577

4 A 876

Stratton v. Putney

Supreme Court of New Hampshire

Decided December 5, 1885

Supreme Court of New Hampshire · decided 1885-12-05

The two cases are bills in equity to remove a cloud from the title to land in Antrim. Facts found by the court. July 7, 1882, the defendant Putney, being the owner of the land in question, conveyed it to the defendant Elliott by a deed absolute on its face, but in reality to secure a loan of 82,000 about that time made by Elliott to him. The conveyance was not made to hinder or delay creditors, nor with any intent to defraud them.

Relies on Coolidge v. Melvin · Ladd v. Wiggin · Coburn v. Pickering

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1885-12-05

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently January 1931

6 state decisions

20188518901900191019201930decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Smith, J.

¶1 The conveyance by Putney to Elliott, and the agreement executed by them in pursuance of the understanding entered into at the time of the negotiation for the conveyance of the land, that Elliott would reconvey to Putney upon repayment of the purchase-money, were in effect a loan by Elliott to Putney of $2,000, and a taking of security for the loan by deed absolute upon its face. The value of the land exceeded the amount of the loan, and Putney was in embarrassed circumstances. The law does not permit debts to be secured in this manner as against creditors. A secret understanding, that on payment of the debt the land shall be reconveyed, constitutes a secret trust that renders the conveyance void against subsequent as well as existing creditors. The conveyance is deemed fraudulent, whether the actual purpose to defraud is found as a fact, or is conclusively presumed from admitted facts. The trust being established, the intent to defraud creditors is conclusively presumed. Such a trust is inconsistent with an absolute sale. Smith v. Lowell, 6 N. H. 67; Paul v. Crooker, 8 N. H. 288; Winkley v. Hill, 9 N. H. 31; Tifft v. Walker, 10 N. H. 150; McConihe v. Sawyer, 12 N. H. 403; Page v. Carpenter, 10 N. H. 77; Towle v. Hoit, 14 N. H. 61; Ladd v. Wiggin, 35 N. H. 421, 426; Coolidge v. Melvin, 42 N. H. 510; Putnam v.

¶2 Osgood, 51 N. H. 192—S. C., 52 N. H. 148; Ranlett v. Blodgett, 17 N. H. 298; Coburn v. Pickering, 3 N. H. 415; Lang v. Stockwell, 55 N. H. 561; Cutting v. Jackson, 56 N. H. 253 ; Plaisted v. Holmes, 58 N. H. 293—S. C., 58 N. H. 619; Sumner v. Dalton, 58 N. H. 295.

¶3 Decree for the plaintiffs.

Allen, J., did not sit: the others concurred.
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