Bell v. Buffinton
| Decision Date | 02 March 1923 |
| Citation | 244 Mass. 294,137 N.E. 287 |
| Parties | BELL v. BUFFINTON. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Exceptions from Land Court. Suffolk County.
Proceeding by Charlotte L. Bell, trustee, against Ernest R. Buffington, on a petition for the registration of title to two lots of land. The court found for the petitioner and the respondent brings exceptions. Exceptions overruled.
The petitioner claimed under mortgages under which entry was made for the purpose of foreclosure for breach of condition while the respondent, the original mortgagor, was in the military service. The respondent contended that the foreclosures were invalid and requested a ruling that the entry was illegal, void, and of no legal effect, and that, if legal, the time for redemption had not expired, and excepted to the refusal to so rule. Respondent also excepted to the court's ruling that the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act did not apply and to the court's order for final decree.
Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act. s 302 (U. S. Comp. St. 1918, U. S. Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, s 3078 1/4 ff), prohibiting sales under powers of sale or judgments entered on warrants of attorney contained in mortgages, etc., on property owned by a person in military service, does not apply to mortgage foreclosures under R. L. c. 187, s 1, authorizing the mortgagee to make peaceable entry after breach of condition.
R. L. c. 187, s 1, providing that mortgagee, after breach of condition, may recover possession by open and peaceable entry and that such possession, if continued peaceably for three years, shall foreclose the right of redemption, is not a statute of limitation, within Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act, s 205 (U. S. Comp. St. 1918, U. S. Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, s 3078 1/4 e), providing that the period of military service shall not be included in the time limited by statute for the bringing of actions.
Coggan & Coggan and Allan Robinson, all of Boston, for petitioner.
John S. Richardson, of Boston, for respondent.
The petitioner claims title to two lots of land in Roxbury through the foreclosure of mortgages by entry and three years' possession, under R. L. c. 187, §§ 1, 2. The entries were made November 23, 1918, and the statutory certificates recorded December 12, 1918. The respondent was the original mortgagor, and his wife later became owner of the equity of redemption. He was in the military service of the United States from June 15, 1918, until August 28, 1919, and contests the validity of the foreclosures solely by reason of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act ().
[1] Section 302 restricts sales under powers, and under warrants to confess judgment; but it has no application to mortgage foreclosures by entry and possession under R. L. c. 187, § 1. John Hancock Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Lester, 234 Mass. 559, 561, 125 N. E. 594. See Morse v. Stober, 233 Mass. 223, 226, 123 N. E. 780, 9 A. L. R. 78. Presumably Congress did not deem such extraordinary relief measures...
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Blazejowski v. Stadniki
...the period of military service shall not be included in the time limited by statutes for the bringing of actions.’ Bell v. Buffinton, 244 Mass. 294, 295, 137 N.E. 287. The ‘meaning and purpose of section 205 was to extend the time in which an action could be brought by or against the person......
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In re Inst. for Sav. In Newburyport & Its Vicinity
...by entry and possession for three years, G.L.(Ter.Ed.) c. 244, §§ 1, 2, a method to which § 302(3) did not apply, Bell v. Buffinton, 244 Mass. 294, 137 N.E. 287, and (b) foreclosure by bill in equity in which an order of sale could be obtained that would satisfy § 302(3). John Hancock Mutua......
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State ex rel. Com'rs of Land Office v. Warden
... ... Plaintiff ... cites and relies largely upon Ebert v. Poston, 266 ... U.S. 548, 45 S.Ct. 188, 69 L.Ed. 435, Bell v ... Buffinton, 244 Mass. 294, 137 N.E. 287, and other ... similar cases. Ebert v. Poston, supra, has no application for ... two reasons. First, ... ...
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Petition of Institution for Savings in Newburyport and Its Vicinity
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