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74 N.Y. 133

Goodwin v. . Simonson

New York Court of Appeals

Decided June 11, 1878

New York Court of Appeals · decided 1878-06-11

<p>Defendant S. conveyed certain premises subject to a mortgage executed by her. In an action to foreclose the mortgage S. did not appear. The decree directed judgment against her for any deficiency. The premises on sale under the decree were bid off by H. for a sum sufficient to pay the mortgage. By the terms of sale five per cent of the purchase-money was required to be paid down; this provision was waived, and the time for completing the sale was postponed from time to time, an order was subsequently granted requiring H. to complete his purchase; he having failed so to do, an order was granted directing a re-sale, which was had, and the premises were sold for $2,000 less than the bid of H.,' leaving a deficiency for which judgment was entered up against S. On appeal from order denying motion to set aside this judgment, held, that conceding the liability of S. to be only that of surety, he was not discharged, as it did not appear that payment could have been enforced against II., that S. requested plaintiff to enforce it, or that there was any fraud on the part of plaintiff; that, in order to discharge a surety in such case, it should be made to appear that some injury was done him by the acts complained of; also that plaintiff had the election either to proceed against the purchaser for contempt, or to apply for a re-sale, and having chosen, and the court having granted the latter remedy, the order, was conclusive, and released plaintiff from any obligation to institute proceedings to recover the deficiency of H.</p>

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1878-06-11

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently October 1991

6 state decisions

201878188018901900191019201930194019501960197019801990decided

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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Miller, J.

¶1 Conceding that the appellant’s liability to pay the mortgage debt is that of a surety, it is by no means clear that any act was done by the plaintiff to relieve the defendant from the judgment against her for the deficiency upon the foreclosure sale. The alleged grounds upon which it is claimed that the defendant was discharged, are that the purchaser was not compelled to make a deposit, as was required by the terms of the sale; that the time for closing the sale was extended, and that no proceedings were instituted to obtain an attachment, as in a case of a contempt. The agreement to give time is not distinctly sworn to, and is positively denied by the plaintiff, as well as the purchaser. At most, it is a matter of inference, from the fact of the postponements of the sale. It is exceedingly questionable whether the proof should not have been more satisfactory, in order to discharge a person as surety, than such as is presented upon this motion. But even if the fact was made sufficiently apparent that the act of the plaintiff was the cause of delaying the sale, and of not compelling the payment of the purchase-money, as the terms required, and not proceeding by attachment, there are other obstacles in the way of releasing the defendant from liability. First. It is not shown by proper proof that the appellant was injured, or suffered anything by reason of the delay, because it does not appear that the purchaser possessed any pecuniary responsibility, so that payment of the bid could be enforced against him for the same, and for the amount to be paid down as cash upon the sale, or that proceedings by attachment could have been effectual for such a purpose. Second. It does not appear that, if a re-sale had been had, upon the failure of the purchaser to pay the percentage demanded, that the premises would have brought as much as upon the first sale, or sufficient to have satisfied the demand of the plaintiff. In a case like this, in order to discharge a person as a surety, it should *136 be established that some injury was done to the defendant by the acts complained of, and that his. rights as surety were compromised or affected.

¶2 Third. There is no proof of fraud in the proceedings on the part of the plaintiff, and they appear to have been conducted with a view of making the property produce the largest amount. In fact, it is shown that the waiver of the payment of the deposit and the adjournments were had at the request of the defendant’s son, who claimed to act for her, and was himself a defendant. Nor was any request made by the defendant to the plaintiff to compel the bidder to fulfill the terms, or to institute any proceedings against him personally to enforce the conditions of the sale without delay. Ordinarily, to discharge a surety by reason of . a neglect to proceed against a solvent principal, on request, it must be shown that the creditor was requested to enforce the collection of the debt “ by due process of law.” Nothing short of that will exonerate the surety. (Singer v. Troutman, 49 Barb., 182; see, also, Fulton v. Matthews, 15 J. R., 433.) We do not discover any reason why the same principle should not apply to the defendant in the case at bar.

¶3 Aside from the considerations suggested, there is another reason for sustaining the order. A purchaser at a foreclosure sale may be compelled to complete his purchase, or may be discharged and a re-sale ordered, (Requa v. Rea, 2 Pa., 339; Miller v. Collyer, 36 Barb., 250.) The plaintiff had an election either to proceed against the purchaser for a contempt, or to apply for a re-sale; and the omission to take the former course did not discharge the surety. As the court granted a re-sale, the purchaser was discharged from liability to make good the deficiency arising in the last sale, by the order of the court. This order is conclusive, and relieved the plaintiff from any obligation to institute proceedings to recover the deficiency of the purchaser.

¶4 The order must, for the reasons stated, be affirmed.

¶5 All concur.

¶6 Order affirmed.

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