Case Name: Inman H. Triplett, plaintiff in error, v. Calvin H. Parmlee, defendant in error
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Nebraska
Decision Date: 1884-07
Citations: 16 Neb. 649
Docket Number: 
Parties: Inman H. Triplett, plaintiff in error, v. Calvin H. Parmlee, defendant in error.
Judges: The other judges concur.
Reporter: Nebraska Reports
Volume: 16
Pages: 649–651

Head Matter:
Inman H. Triplett, plaintiff in error, v. Calvin H. Parmlee, defendant in error.
1. Injunction by Mortgagee against Mortgagor. A mortgagee can maintain an injunction against his mortgagor and a stranger, who are about to remove buildings from mortgaged premises, and thereby render the security scant or insufficient; add this, without regard to the responsibility or insolvency of the defendants, and for the reason that the mortgagee would be without remedy at law for such loss or depreciation of security.
2. Removal by Mortgagor of Buildings on Mortgaged Premises: payment of mortgage debt by deed: action for waste does not lie. While the mortgagor was in possession of mortgaged premises, the defendant removed buildings therefrom which materially depreciated the security, and rendered it scant and insufficient. Afterwards the mortgagee ac- ' cepted from the mortgagor a deed of the premises in full > ayment of the mortgage debt, and sued the defendant for the i ^lue of the buildings removed. 3eld, That as long as the transa ition between the mortgagee and mortgagor was allowed to stand ,as a full payment of the mortgage debt, as between them, it must he regarded as a payment as to strangers. And the mortgagee having been paid, can maintain no action against a stranger for waste of the mortgaged premises while in the legal possession of the mortgagor.
Error to the district court for Saline county. Tried below before Weaver, J.
J. JT. Qrimm and M. B. C. True, for plaintiff in error.
No appearance for defendant in e: ror.

Opinion:
Cobb, Ch. J.
It will not be deemed necessary to take up any one of the twenty points which the plaintiff in error makes in his petition in error, as I think the case turns on a single proposition.
The plaintiff below, Parmlee, held a duly recorded mort gage on the farm of one Streeter. Streeter being in possession of the farm, sold to the defendant certain buildings situated thereon, which were removed therefrom by the defendant. Afterwards, and without knowledge of the removal of said buildings, the plaintiff accepted a deed of the said farm from Streeter in full payment of the debt, to secure which the mortgage was given. Now, can he maintain an action at law against the defendant for the value of the buildings? The district court held that he could, and rendered a judgment in his favor.
The cause was argued and submitted to this court by counsel for plaintiff in error at the January term, but no appearance has been made or brief furnished on behalf of defendant in error.
The question is an important one, and one in the discussion of which we should have the assistance of counsel on the one side as well as on the other.
There can be no doubt that, had the plaintiff below known of the intention of Streeter to sell the buildings and of the defendant to remove them, before it was done, he could have maintained a suit for an injunction against them, provided the removal of the buildings from the land would so reduce its value as to render it a scant or insufficient security for the mortgage debt, and this, although Streeter might be shown to be personally responsible. Keeping this in view, and at the same time bearing in mind the great underlying principle that equity only interferes in cases where the law furnishes no adequate remedy, I see no escape from the conclusion that no, action at law can be maintained by the plaintiff either against Streeter or the defendant for waste committed on the mortgaged premises while in the legal possession of Streeter.
On the other hand, if the mortgage debt of the plaintiff is to be considered as paid by the conveyance of the land to him by Streeter; then surely the plaintiff has suffered no wrong and is entitled to no remedy, and while it is true that the plaintiff alleges in his petition and proved on the trial that the land without the buildings was of less value than the amount of the mortgage, yet he accepted the deed from Streeter as payment, and surrendered or canceled the note. And I think that as long as that transaction is allowed to stand as a full- payment of the mortgage debt as between plaintiff and Streeter, it must be regarded as a payment as to strangers. •
I am therefore of the opinion that the plaintiff's petition fails to state a cause of action, and that the verdict and judgment are unsupported by evidence.
The judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause dismissed.
Judgment accordingly.
The other judges concur.