The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1922-04-05
AGED COUPLE
WIN IN suit
AGAINST SHARPER
MASON COUNTY JURY DECIDED
FORMER BELDING PEOPLE
HAD BEEN SWINDLED


A lot of local people will read with
interest the following article which
we clip from a recent issue of the
Hart, (Mich.) Courier, regarding two
of our former well known people.
Mr.. and Mrs. Frank Taylor, who up
to the time of leaving this city, oc-
cupied the premises on south Bridge
street where w. E. Smith and fam
lily now live.
Sterling, the man with whom Mr..
and Mrs. Taylor dealt, is also well
known to local people.
follows:
Last week at Ludington, in the
Circuit court there a jury rendered
judgment against Lew Sterling,
formerly of Pentwater, but now of
Stanton for $3,3OO.00 and costs on
account of a fraud perpetrated on
the plaintiffs in trade of some real
estate.
The facts of the case are inter-
esting In 1918, Lew Sterling then
residing in or near Pentwater. ad-
vertised "a splendid farm for sale or
trade. An old couple by the name
Of Frank Taylor and wife, then liv-
ing at Belding, saw this advertise
ment and wrote Mr.. Sterling in re-
gard to it. He sent them back a
glowing description of this farm,
telling them that it was a clay and
loan soil, covered with Canadian
Blue grass and that it would raise
any crops grown in Michigan, in
abundance.
The old people were very much
txyif ha g
farm and in February, 1918, came
and saw the farm; Mr.. Sterling took
them around the outside of the farm
and again praised up its good quail
tiles and advised the Taylors that
the farm was worth at least $4,000
put that on account of his other bus
iness, he would take $4,000 and would
take the home of the old people at
$1,700. The deal was closed on this
basis and Taylor and his wife decided
to Mr.. Sterling their home in Bel
ding and gave back to him a mort
gage on the new farm for $4,000.
When spring opened and the Tay-
lors began to look for their clay and
loan soil, it was not to be found but
they did find that the farm was COW
cred, not with Canadian Blue grass,
a
quack grass and sand burrs.
They also found that the soil was
of such light quality that it would
blow away in places. They there
upon began a suit against Mr.. Ster-
ling for damages. On the trial it
was proved that the land was not
worth to exceed $1,000 or $1,000,
and the jury evidently placed the
value at the lesser figure for they
found a verdict in favor of the Tay-
lors for $4,000 and $500 as interest.
This will wipe out the mortgage
on the place and will give the old
people their farm home free from
this mortgage and they can undoubt-
edly, now make a living on this place
and take care of themselves.
The court and jury are to be
thanked and congratulated on ac-
count of this verdict; it is well known
that about the blackest mark against
this county, has been just this kind
of practice, where an unscrupulous
agent has imposed upon people and
sold or traded to them land for sew
eral times its value, taking all that
the purchaser had and taking back
a contract or mortgage for more than
the actual value of the lands, and in
short time, the inevitable happen
ed; the purchaser could not pay the
encumbrance against the lands and
lost them, and we now have in this
county, several who have been so
defrauded, and who are or soon will
become public charges.