Title: North American Finance Corporation v. Circle-B, Inc.

State: kansas

Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court

Document:

180 Kan. 34 (1956)
299 P.2d 576
NORTH AMERICAN FINANCE CORPORATION, Appellee,
v.
CIRCLE-B, INC., et al., Appellant. STEFFEN DAIRY FOODS COMPANY, INC., Appellee,
v.
CIRCLE-B, INC., et al., Appellant.
Nos. 40,068, 40,069

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed June 30, 1956.
Roy S. Trail, John E. Lancelot and Garner E. Shriver, all of Wichita, were on the briefs for the appellant.
Charles L. Davis, Jr., of Topeka, argued the cause, and Howard A. Jones, William E. Haney and Ted R. Morgan, all of Topeka, and Everett C. Fettis, Keith M. Curfman and Robert C. Allan, all of Wichita, were with him on the briefs for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
FATZER, J.:
These are appeals from an order denying motions of appellee Steffen Dairy Foods Company, Inc., and appellant Circle-B, Inc., to confirm the sale of real property ordered sold in a mortgage foreclosure proceeding. Since each appeal is from the same order denying confirmation, they were ordered consolidated in this court.
On November 15, 1952, Steffen Dairy Foods Company, Inc. (hereafter referred to as Steffen Dairy), instituted an action to foreclose its first mortgage covering the real estate involved. A few days later appellee United Finance and Thrift, a corporation, successor to North American Finance Corporation (hereafter referred to as North American), instituted a separate action to foreclose its second *35 mortgage lien on the same real estate. The trial court consolidated North American's action with the Steffen Dairy action and tried the issues in one case. Additional junior lien holders were joined in the action together with the appellant, Circle-B, Inc., who was the owner of the real estate involved but not the maker of any of the mortgages. Judgment decreeing foreclosure was entered December 17, 1954. The real estate was advertised for sale and sold June 8, 1955, to Steffen Dairy for the sum of $15,218.38, the full amount of its first mortgage, interest, taxes and costs. Steffen Dairy filed its motion to confirm the sale and North American filed objections to the confirmation on the grounds that the sale price was grossly inadequate, and offered to tender into court a sum in excess of $20,000 as a fair and reasonable price for the real estate. The appellant, Circle-B, Inc., filed a motion to confirm the sale, and for an order overruling the objections to the confirmation filed by North American.
On June 30, 1955, the trial court sustained North American's motion objecting to the confirmation, and overruled the motions of Steffen Dairy and Circle-B, Inc., to confirm the sale. Circle-B, Inc., has appealed from the order denying confirmation.
North American appeared and argued these appeals; the appellant did not. Sometime prior to the argument North American filed a motion to dismiss the appeals on the grounds that the appellant's brief, which was ordered by this court to be filed by May 1, 1956, was not received by counsel for appellee until May 21, 1956, and further, that appellant failed to include specifications of error in its abstract of record in volation of Rule No. 5 of this court.
The contention of North American cannot be ignored. This court has repeatedly held that the purpose of Rule No. 5 of the Supreme Court, which, in part, reads:
is for the benefit of the Bench and Bar alike, and is designed to promote definiteness, fairness and orderly procedure of litigation on appellate review. It is to advise both the appellee and this court concerning error or errors, which appellant claims were committed by the trial court when it rendered its judgment.
Error is never presumed and it is incumbent upon the party complaining to indicate wherein error was committed. Although an appeal *36 may be timely perfected, error or errors complained of must be specified and briefed in conformity with the published rules of the court, to obtain appellate review.
Here, the record contains no specifications of error and is in violation of Rule No. 5. North American cites authorities only in support of its motion to dismiss the appeals  no doubt, for the reason that it was not advised what errors appellant contends the trial court committed.
Following repeated warnings to attorneys for litigants, this court, in 1940, in Biby v. City of Wichita, 151 Kan. 981, 983, 101 P.2d 919, announced its future intention to require compliance with Rule No. 5 when it said:
Subsequently, this court pointed out that there is no substitute for the specifications of error and that an assignment or specification of error that states only the trial court erred does not suffice. (Lambeth v. Bogart, 155 Kan. 413, 415, 125 P.2d 377.) In this case it was said:
By the year 1943, this court was disposing of this question peremptorily. (See, Hall v. Eells, 157 Kan. 551, 142 P.2d 703; Topping v. Tuckel, 159 Kan. 387, 155 P.2d 427.)
In 1950, this court pointed out how attorneys had failed to heed the court's warning when Justice Parker, in Dupont v. Lotus Oil Co., 168 Kan. 544, 213 P.2d 975, said:
This court is firmly committed to the rule that when a party's right to be heard on appeal is challenged on the grounds of noncompliance with Rule No. 5 of this court, and it appears from the record he has made no attempt to comply with it, his appeal will be dismissed (Biby v. City of Wichita, supra; Lambeth v. Bogart, supra; Hall v. Eells, supra; Carrington v. British American Oil Producing Co., 157 Kan. 101, 138 P.2d 463; Topping v. Tuckel, supra; Dupont v. Lotus Oil Co., supra; Miller v. Rath, 173 Kan. 192, 244 P.2d 1213; Gilley v. Gilley, 176 Kan. 61, 268 P.2d 938; Quick, Receiver v. Purcell, 179 Kan. 319, 295 P.2d 626).
These appeals are dismissed.