Opinion ID: 1249448
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Did The District Court Err In Granting Chambers A Right Of Redemption?

Text: This case is a suit in equity. Statutory redemption is a legal remedy. Thus, we are not dealing with statutory redemption. Instead, we are dealing with equitable redemption. Specifically, we are dealing with the following: The trial court, sitting in equity, granted Chambers' request for redemption and fashioned its remedy with the procedures set forth in the statutes for statutory redemption. Nonetheless, it is still equitable redemption and must be examined from that perspective. Equitable redemption was first dealt with by this Court in Machold v. Farnan, 20 Idaho 80, 117 P. 408 (1911), a case for specific performance of a contract for the sale of real estate. Machold, the plaintiff-appellant, alleged that the repayment of money which had been loaned to him was secured by a deed from a third party to Farnan, the defendant-respondent, and a contract between himself and Farnan; these two documents being intended as a mortgage. Machold, 20 Idaho at 84, 117 P. at 409. Farnan denied these allegations and prayed for quiet title. Machold, 20 Idaho at 84, 117 P. at 409. The trial court ruled the deed and contract to be a mortgage securing the repayment of the loan along with interest and taxes to the date of trial and that Machold would have ninety (90) days to pay it off, or, if he failed, have the title to the property quieted against him. Machold, 20 Idaho at 84-85, 117 P. at 409. This Court affirmed the trial court in Machold. At the outset, we noted that Machold had not requested permission to redeem from the mortgage, and that there is: [N]o such thing as an action for the sole object of declaring a deed to be a mortgage, as the court will not grant that relief unless the plaintiff shall be willing to have the whole controversy disposed of by offering to redeem from the mortgage so established. Machold, 20 Idaho at 85, 117 P. at 409, citing Mack v. Hill, 28 Mont. 99, 72 P. 307 (1903). However, since the trial court treated the case as one where the plaintiff requested redemption, we found its remedy proper. In this regard, we stated that when [the mortgagor] does sue, offering to redeem and praying that the premises may be reconveyed to him, the court is authorized, if the facts warrant it, to declare that the deed, absolute in its terms, was intended as a mortgage, and to prescribe the terms of redemption and reconveyance. Machold, 20 Idaho at 86, 117 P. at 409, quoting Mack, 28 Mont. at 103, 72 P. at 308, quoting Cowing v. Rogers, 34 Cal. 648, 11 Pac. States Reports (1868). Further, we recognized the general rule is that it is not necessary that there be any provision in the decree for the sale of the property when the court finds the deed and agreement to be a mortgage because the action is not an action to foreclose, and therefore the usual order of sale in foreclosure cases is not required. Machold, 20 Idaho at 86, 117 P. at 410, citing Cowing, 34 Cal. 648, 11 Pac. States Reports; Cline v. Robbins, 112 Cal. 581, 44 P. 1023 (1896); Mack, 28 Mont. 99, 72 P. 307; Decker v. Patton, 120 Ill. 464, 11 N.E. 897 (1887); Martin v. Ratcliff, 101 Mo. 254, 20 Am.St. 601, 13 S.W. 1051 (1890); and Rodman v. Quick, 211 Ill. 546, 71 N.E. 1087 (1904). Finally, we also recognized the distinction between statutory redemption and equitable redemption: The distinction must be carried in mind between a statutory redemption which is from the sale, and not from the mortgage, and the equitable redemption established by the courts, in which the redemption is from the mortgage and not from any sale, and out of which springs the rule that the redemptor must do equity and pay all that is due under the mortgage. Machold, 20 Idaho at 87-88, 117 P. at 410, quoting Rodman, 211 Ill. at 544, 71 N.E. at 1090. In the instant case, the trial court, exercising its equitable power, elected the redemption procedure set forth in the statutes as a mechanism to carry out its remedy. We hold that the trial court's action was a proper exercise of its equitable power.