Opinion ID: 1250561
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: whether swib is entitled to the owners' leasehold interest in lot 1.

Text: In May 1978, Mall assigned its lease of Lot 1 to Fred O. Watson Co. (Watson). In April 1983, Owners amended their lease with Mall to include only Lot 2. Apparently Owners then contracted directly with Watson for the lease of Lot 1. SWIB amended its complaint to assert the right to foreclosure on Lot 1. The trial court denied this claim and held that the mortgage held by SWIB was secured by Lot 2 only. SWIB does not claim Owners mortgaged their fee interest to Lot 1, but only their leasehold interest on the lot. SWIB's claim is based on the following alleged facts: The Owners/Ericson's lease and lease amendment describe the entire twenty-acre tract; Owners mortgaged their interest as lessors under the ninety-nine-year lease, including their rights as lessors to Lot 1; the second amendment to the lease which noted that the leased property had been platted into Lots 1 and 2 and that Mall assigned its interest in Lot 1 to Watson, was not executed until April of 1983, after the mortgage was executed. SWIB also alleges that the mortgage itself indicates that Owners mortgaged their interest in Lot 1. However, the portions of the lease to which SWIB points are ambiguous, and the trial court properly received extrinsic evidence to assist it in ascertaining the parties' intent. It is true that Owners included their lessor rights in the written mortgage. However, because the mortgage itself states on its face that the encumbered property included only Lot 2, the trial court was not clearly erroneous in holding that the lessors' interest was mortgaged only as to that lot. Affirmed.