Nash v. Minnesota Title Ins. & Trust Co.
| Decision Date | 24 July 1893 |
| Parties | NASH et al. v. MINNESOTA TITLE INSURANCE & TRUST CO. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
NASH et al.
v.
MINNESOTA TITLE INSURANCE & TRUST CO.
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.
July 24, 1893.
Report from superior court, Suffolk county.
Thirteen actions (tried together) by E.M. Nash and others against the Minnesota Title Insurance & Trust Company for false representations as to the value of and title to certain real estate situated in the city of Minneapolis. There was a verdict in each case directed by the court in favor of defendant, and the cases were reported to the supreme court for determination. Verdicts set aside.
[159 Mass. 445]
[34 N.E. 626]
R.M. Morse and J.M. Keith, for plaintiffs.
A.A. Strout, W.H. Coolidge, and E.L. Rand, for defendant.
[159 Mass. 439]KNOWLTON, J.
This is an action for deceit, which was one of thirteen cases tried together, founded on alleged false representations of the defendant contained in a letter as follows: (Printed heading of the corporation.) “Minneapolis, Minn., Feb. 16, '90. Mr. George W. Davis, Minneapolis, Minn.-Dear Sir: We have in our possession the original documents printed in the advertisements of your bonds secured by mortgage to this company as trustee upon the Hedderly tract in this city. We indorse the estimates of value contained therein made by Messrs. Marsh and Bartlett, I.C. Seeley, Jones, McMullen & Co., and E.A. Harmon, all of whom are known as men of integrity and sound judgment touching local real-estate value. That we consider the title good in you will appear from the fact that we have engaged to issue our policies of title insurance to the several holders of your mortgage bonds to the aggregate amount of $150,000, fully protecting such holders against loss or damage arising from any defect in said title or prior incumbrance thereon. From our knowledge of the mortgaged property, and from its situation and prospects, we are of the opinon that the mortgaged property is adequate security for the amount of your proposed loan. Yours, very truly, Minnesota Title Insurance & Trust Company. J.U. Barnes, President.” Mr. George W. Davis, to whom the letter was addressed, made a mortgage to the defendant as trustee to secure the payment of 200 bonds signed by himself, and amounting in the aggregate to $150,000. These bonds were designed to be sold in the market for the benefit of one Hedderly, who had conveyed to Davis the land covered by the mortgage for an expressed consideration of $300,000, and the defendant was to hold the mortgage as security for the benefit of bondholders. The documents referred to in the first sentence in the letter were certificates giving estimates of the value of the mortgaged property, signed by Marsh and Bartlett and the other persons mentioned in the next sentence. These estimates gave the value of the land as about $250,000. There were nearly 10 acres of this land, situated on the Mississippi river in the city of Minneapolis. About one acre of it was on the grade of a street adjacent to it, and of the remainder about one-half was the bed of a quarry which had been excavated 50 feet below the level of the street, and the other half was low land along the river, which was covered with [159 Mass. 440]water in times of flood. On this low land were some very cheap houses, occupied by tenants. There was evidence tending to show that the whole tract was not worth more than from $20,000 to $50,000; that Davis was a person of no pecuniary responsibility; and that the making of the bond and mortgage was part of a scheme of...
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