Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/137/556/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 03:53:45+00:00

Document:
The plaintiff, having averred in his complaint the execution of a deed by him to his father, and having conceded its delivery, and there being no prayer for specific relief as to it, and no averments that would entitle him to have it set aside for want of acknowledgment under the prayer for general relief, he cannot set up that the deed is not operative, even as between the parties, for want of proper acknowledgment and record.
When a deed is void on its face, the interference of a court of equity is unnecessary.
Where the difficulty of doing entire justice by reason of the death of the principal witness or witnesses, or from the original transactions' having become obscured by time, is attributable to gross negligence or deliberate delay, a court of equity will not aid a party whose application is thus destitute of conscience, good faith, and reasonable diligence.
The mere assertion of a claim, unaccompanied by any act to give effect to it, cannot avail to keep alive a right which world otherwise be precluded.
Negotiations for settlement of a disputed matter, which one party hopes may result in a settlement and adjustment, do not operate to bar in equity the defense of laches when the other party gives no encouragement to such hopes, never promises a settlement, never concedes that his own claims are doubtful, and never recognizes the other's claims.
The bill in this case alleged that in a suit in equity in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in which the plaintiff here was defendant, the conveyance under which the plaintiff in this suit claims had been decreed to be invalid, from which decree the plaintiffs in that suit had appealed as to other matters involved, and it set up the pendency of that suit as excuse for the delay of nineteen years in bringing this one.
(1) That, the plaintiff not having appealed, it was difficult to see why that decree was not a bar in this suit.
(2) That it furnished no satisfactory explanation of his laches herein.
no money being ever paid by Hill, and his name being used that it might not appear that the trustee was a purchaser at his own sale. That this was a scheme devised by the father to divest the son of his property and obtain it himself without paying anything whatever for it. That, in pursuance of such scheme, a deed (a copy of which was annexed) was executed by Brooke Mackall, Sr., as trustee, to Hill for the nominal consideration of $2,000, though Hill paid nothing. And complainant charged that the deed was void and of no effect. This deed was dated June 26, and recorded July 2, 1873.
"As to Casilear, he at all times has protested against his claim, notifying him at the time of his purchase that he should not submit to the sale, and he has since then been engaged in negotiations from time to time with him, orally and by mutual correspondence in writing, which he has hoped would result in a settlement and adjustment of their differences in regard to the property held by him. He has received large amounts by way of rents and profits of said property, and has made no substantial improvements thereon."
"As to the remainder of such property, he says that soon after the execution of the deeds made in 1874, the said B. Mackall, Sr., became reconciled to complainant, they living together and sharing the benefit of all property possessed by each in common. He, said B. Mackall, Sr., constantly assured complainant that he would rectify all that was wrong in said conveyances to the best of his ability, which assurance was relied upon by complainant, and was satisfactory to him."
"Said B. Mackall, Sr., drew up forms of reconveyance to complainant of such property or parts thereof, one of which he signed and delivered to complainant, and which are now in possession of complainant."
the complainant, though such reconveyance was attacked by his said brothers and sisters, and a decree was made adjudging the same to be void as to the property herein claimed by complainant, from which decree, however, they claim to have taken an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, and which appeal they claim is now pending, though such claim is not admitted by complainant. While such litigation was pending, however, there was, as believed by complainant, no propriety in bringing suit to enforce what he claimed to have been sufficiently performed by the execution of said deed of his father's to him of February 28, 1880, and such litigation was pending at a very recent date."
Complainant prayed process, and that the defendants might answer the bill under oath; that the two deeds of B. Mackall, Sr., trustee, and Brand, trustee, to Hill be adjudged and decreed to be null and void, together with all deeds, etc., under the same; that complainant be adjudged to be the owner of the property free and clear of all claims and demands of the defendants, and entitled to an account, and that an account be taken, and for general relief. To this bill the defendants Casilear and wife demurred upon the ground of multifariousness, laches, and want of equity, and the other defendants also demurred upon the ground of prior decree, multifariousness, etc. The latter demurrer was sustained January 19, 1886, and the bill dismissed. On the 28th day of January it was stipulated on behalf of the Casilears that the bill might be considered as amended by adding the averments "that the complainant had no knowledge of the sales to Hill or either of them at the time of the conveyance to McKelden and McB. Timoney;" that "the fair value of the property sold by McKelden and McB. Timoney, trustees, to Casilear was $7,500;" and that "Brooke Mackall, Sr., left complainant only one dollar by his will, giving all the rest of his estate to his other children," etc. The demurrer on behalf of the Casilears was then sustained and the bill dismissed. The cause was taken from the special to the general term of the court, and the decree of the special term affirmed. Thereupon an appeal was taken to this Court.
Apart from the prayers for process, an account, and for general relief, the specific relief sought is that the two deeds of B. Mackall, Sr., trustee, and Louis Brand, trustee, to Joseph B. Hill be decreed to be null and void, together with all deeds, written instruments, and claims of title whatever derived through the same, and that complainant be adjudged to be the owner of the property, free and clear from all claims and demands of the defendants, or either of them.
The deed of complainant to Mackall, Sr., was dated May 5, 1866, and recorded June 5, 1867. The deed of Mackall to Hill was dated June 26, and recorded July 2, 1873. Brand's title was derived through a conveyance by complainant to Morsell, dated March 13, 1867, and the conveyance of Morsell, Mills, and complainant to him, dated July 14, 1868. The deed from Brand to Hill was dated and acknowledged July 29, 1873, and presumably recorded the same day, though the record gives the date as July 28th. The bill was filed June 1, 1885. The death of Mackall, Sr., was stated to have occurred February 28, 1880. This attack was delivered, then, more than nineteen years after the deed to Mackall; about seventeen after that to Brand, and nearly twelve years after the other two deeds were recorded.
It is charged that the deed of May 5, 1866, was given to secure complainant's two notes amounting to nearly $600 in the aggregate, for the purpose of borrowing money for the use of father and son, but that no money was ever borrowed thereon, and that the deed to Brand was given to secure a note for $2,000, payable to Mackall, Sr., for the same purpose, likewise not carried out.
these transactions were merely covers for the purchaser by Mackall himself in fraud of complainant's rights.
If the general rule that an acknowledgment is not essential to the validity of a deed as between the parties applies here, the fact that a grantee cannot take the acknowledgment of a conveyance to himself would be immaterial in this case. The execution of this deed to Mackall was expressly averred by complainant, and its delivery conceded; but he alleged that it was given to secure notes for the purpose of borrowing money for himself and his father, and that this was not done.
There is no prayer for specific relief in relation to it, nor do we think the averments such as would entitle complainant to resort to the prayer for general relief to set it aside by reason of the want of acknowledgment, if that were a proper ground, and, if void upon its face, as now contended, the interference of a court of equity would seem to be unnecessary. Phelps v. Harris, 101 U. S. 370, 101 U. S. 375. We shall not, therefore, review the various statutes of Maryland, acts of Congress, and authorities referred to by counsel as tending to justify the position that in the District of Columbia a deed is not operative, even as between the parties, notwithstanding delivery, unless it be acknowledged and recorded.
"in February, 1880, he did execute a reconveyance of all his interests in said property, which was entirely satisfactory to complainant, though such reconveyance was attacked by his said brothers and sisters, and a decree was made adjudging the same to be void as to the property herein claimed by complainant, from which decree, however, they claim to have taken an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, and which appeal they claim is now pending, though such claim is not admitted by complainant. While such litigation was pending, however, there was, as believed by complainant, no propriety in bringing suit to enforce what he claimed to have been sufficiently performed by the execution of said deed of his father's no him of February 28, 1880, and such litigation was pending at a very recent date."
a deed from his father completely condoning the causes of complaint which he alleges he had against him, he now, after his father's death, seeks to go behind that final and satisfactory compromise, because upon some ground, outside of anything litigated in this suit, his brothers and sisters succeeded in defeating the deed in a controversy between him and them. This, we think, he cannot do, nor can we admit complainant's ideas of propriety in bringing this bill while that was pending, or in declining to litigate these matters in that action, as furnishing any satisfactory explanation of the laches which has characterized his conduct. If that laches could in any respect be held to be excused by reason of his expectations from his father, we cannot allow him to plead that, because those expectations in part failed of realization through some external cause, therefore he is any the less bound, so far as his dead father is concerned, by a delay which would otherwise be fatal.
The doctrine of laches is based upon grounds of public policy, which requires for the peace of society the discouragement of stale demands, and where the difficulty of doing entire justice by reason of the death of the principal witness or witnesses, or from the original transactions having become obscured by time, is attributable to gross negligence or deliberate delay, a court of equity will not aid a party whose application is thus destitute of conscience, good faith, and reasonable diligence. Jenkins v. Pye, 12 Pet. 241; McKnight v. Taylor, 1 How. 161, 42 U. S. 168; Godden v. Kimmell, 99 U. S. 201; Lansdale v. Smith, 106 U. S. 391; LeGendre v. Byrnes, 44 N.J.Eq. 372; Wilkinson v. Sherman, 45 N.J.Eq. 413.
of the bill fall far short of discharging the burden, which rested on the complainant, of satisfying the court that his delay had not operated to the prejudice of these parties.
Without regard to the deed of February, 1880, the rule in question would forbid relief, and, so far as that deed is concerned, complainant could not elect to take under it and then claim that delay was excused while he experimented in trying his case by piecemeal. Of course it must be admitted that an affectionate son would feel a natural reluctance to make a charge of fraud against his father, but where the time consumed in overcoming this is prolonged as in this instance, we cannot recognize the relationship as sufficient explanation of the laches.
These views are applicable to the defendants Casilear. Casilear purchased at a sale under a trust deed given to secure a note for $3,000, in respect to which there is no allegation that the note was not for value received. The excuse for the delay is that complainant protested against Casilear's claim, and notified him that he would not submit to the sale; but the mere assertion of a claim, unaccompanied by any act to give effect to it, cannot avail to keep alive a right which would otherwise be precluded. It is said, however, that complainant had been engaged in negotiations from time to time with Casilear, orally and by mutual correspondence, in writing, which complainant hoped would result in a settlement and adjustment of their differences in regard to the property held by him; but the bill does not state that Casilear gave any encouragement to such hopes, or ever promised any settlement or adjustment, or ever conceded that his purchase was in any respect doubtful, or ever in any way recognized the claims of the complainant.

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