JOSEPH MARUCCI, JAMES A. BACCUS, H. G. ARENSON AND SARA Z. ARENSON, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
MILLIE LINDER, APPELLEE
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In this equity case, a mortgage lender challenged a trial court's decision canceling a mortgage as to the borrower's home and furnishings while preserving it on the duplex property. The court affirmed the cancellation of the mortgage on the home property, finding that the lender engaged in constructive fraud by obtaining the borrower's signature on documents that encumbered more property than the purchase price warranted, and that the mortgage assignee had sufficient notice of infirmity in the transaction.
The court affirmed the cancellation of the mortgage as to the home and furnishings while preserving it on the duplex. A court of equity may grant relief where constructive fraud occurs, particularly where sophisticated parties with superior knowledge exploit an unsophisticated party, and an assignee who receives notice of infirmity is not a bona fide purchaser entitled to protection.
“Thus it appears that these men, armed with professional training and a superior knowledge of customs and usages in such affairs, worked this gullible and confiding woman for an unfair contract which a person aware of current business practices would not have signed. This was constructive fraud.”
The court's finding of constructive fraud based on the superior knowledge and bargaining power of the defendants exploiting the plaintiff's lack of business sophistication.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMillie Linder, an African American woman with little business experience, was persuaded by two white men (an attorney and real estate broker represent…
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Appellants, Defendants in an action to cancel a mortgage imposing a lien upon the home and furnishings and an adjacent “duplex” owned by Appellee, appeal a decree cancelling the mortgage as to the home and furnishings but leaving it intact as to the duplex. Appellants Arenson, husband and wife, are assignees for value of the mortgage from Appellant Marucci, who was represented in mortgage transactions by his agent, Appellant Baccus. We affirm.
The Chancellor issued a Final Decree containing findings on conflicting evidence which in part are as follows :
“The Bill of Complaint in this cause prays that a mortgage ‘be cancelled and decreed null and void’ as to a part of the real estate therein described. *238Plaintiff, a negro woman, with little or no business experience, became involved in the transaction out of which the mortgage arose, when she was prevailed upon by two white men to purchase a lot upon which was a ‘duplex’. One of the men was an attorney at law, practicing in Miami, and the other a real estate broker in Palm Beach County. They purported to represent the owner of the ‘duplex’, one Marucci. The attorney also was an agent of United Mortgage Company of Miami, which later negotiated the sale of the mortgage to the Defendant
“The attorney prepared and submitted to Plaintiff for signature, a contract of purchase, and, later, a mortgage. Plaintiff says the papers were in blank when she signed them. In addition to the real estate upon which is located the ‘duplex’, the contract and mortgage likewise encumber three adjoining lots upon which is located Plaintiff’s home place. The mortgage also includes ‘all furniture, furnishings, fixtures and equipment contained therein’. The home place was in no-wised involved in the sale, and no indebtedness whatever was incurred or existed at any time regarding the home place or the furnishings. The sole indebtedness existing between the parties was for the purchase of the ‘duplex’. Plaintiff now insists that she did not agree to encumber her home place and was not aware that it was involved in the transaction until after the papers were signed and had passed to Defendant.
“Plaintiff did not have the benefit of counsel in the transaction, but relied entirely on the honesty and integrity of the men with whom she was dealing. Of course, they were aware of that fact.
“The mortgage is a ‘first mortgage’ on both the ‘duplex’ and home place. It secures the payment of $7900.00, the exact amount of the purchase price of the ‘duplex’. It bears interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum and is of the ‘balloon’ type. After paying $80.00 per month for a period of five years, the mortgage requires Plaintiff to thereupon pay the remaining balance in full.
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“The mortgage is dated March 27, 1962. On April 10, 1962, through the efforts of United Mortgage Company, the mortgage was sold to Defendant for $7200.00. It was assigned to him ‘without recourse’. It is, of course, a matter of common knowledge that well secured first mortgages in this locality usually bear no more than six per cent interest. The one in question, an amply secured first mortgage, maturing in five years, with a clause accelerating maturity upon sale or mortgage of the premises, bore ten per cent interest. Nevertheless, they sold it almost immediately ‘without recourse’ for a discount of $700.00. Such a discount would yield an investor more than twice the usual rate of interest paid on mortgage investments in this locality. After paying to the Defendant $80.00 per month for a period of five years under the»terms of this mortgage, or a total of $4800.00, Plaintiff must then pay the further sum of $6806.31, or only $393.69 less than Defendant paid for the mortgage in the first place, or suffer the loss of her home and all its furnishings, concerning which she had in the beginning incurred no obligation whatever.
“Thus it appears that these men, armed with professional training and a superior knowledge of customs and usages in such affairs, worked this gullible and confiding woman for an unfair contract which a person aware of current business practices would not have signed. This was constructive fraud. 3 Pomeroy’s Eq.Juris. (5th Ed.) Sec. 922 et seq. The haste at which *239they unloaded a well secured first mortgage, bearing ten per cent interest, at a discount of $700.00, to an ‘innocent holder’, and ‘without recourse’, leaves the firm impression of guilty knowledge on their part of infirmity in the mortgage, and is strong corroboration of Plaintiff’s stand in this case. The proposition that relief will be granted in such a case by a Court of Equity is well established. 3 Pomeroy’s Eq.Juris. (5th Ed.) Sec. 948a; Douglas v. Ogle, 80 Fla. 42, 85 So. 243; Hopkins v. Mills, 116 Fla. 550, 156 So. 532; Hartsfield v. Williams, 145 Fla. 709, 200 So. 220.
“As is to be expected, Defendant takes the position in this case that he is a ‘bona fide purchaser’ of the mortgage and not chargeable with any such defense. He testified that he had purchased many other mortgages. Undoubtedly, he has had much experience in this field. Before purchasing the mortgage in question, he visited the property and talked with Plaintiff. She says that when he inquired about the home place she told Defendant that the home place was not involved in the mortgage. On this point, as there is on other disputes in the case, there is conflict. It is the view of the Court that under all the circumstances here, there were sufficient facts brought to the attention of the Defendant to put him on notice of the infirmity in the mortgage insofar as the home place is concerned. Accordingly, Plaintiff is entitled to have the mortgage cancelled as an encumbrance upon the home place and furnishings. The mortgage will be recognized in all other details as a first lien upon the ‘duplex’.”
It may appear unnecessary to detail all of the foregoing. The points above quoted in the Final Decree cover issues upon which there was a direct and irreconcilable conflict of testimony. It could be possible that the author of this opinion might disagree with the veteran Chancellor; however, the Chancellor saw these witnesses, heard their testimony and strained them through the sieve of credibility and weight, and we must view the case through his eyes, absent an abuse of discretion.
“A chancellor’s decision is presumed to be correct and his resolution of an issue tried on controverted and conflicting evidence should not be rejected on appeal unless based on a misapplication of law or shown by the record to be clearly wrong, against manifest weight of evidence, or not supported by competent substantial evidence.” (Gaer v. Gaer, Fla.App. 1964, 168 So.2d 789.)
Affirmed.
SMITH, Acting C. J., and ANDREWS, J., concur.
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Cary Colvin v. State, 311 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 1975)…nson v. Roberts, 79 So. 2d 425 (Fla.1955); Equitable Life Assur. Soc. of United States v. Boraks, 276 So. 2d 246 (Fla.App.3d 1973); Kirk v. Thompson, 221 So. 2d 168 (Fla.App.1st 1969); Lazar v. Orr, 207 So. 2d 23 (Ma.App.3d 1968); Marucci v. Linder, 177 So. 2d 237 (Fla.App.2d 1965); Fla.Digest, App. & Err., § 931(1).…
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Kremser v. Hadigher Tonokaboni, 356 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)…r v. Davis, 139 Fla. 469, 190 So. 873 (1939); Penn-Mar-Florida Corporation v. Deis, 118 Fla. 766, 160 So. 191 (1935); United of Florida, Inc. v. Illini Federal Savings & Loan Association, 341 So. 2d 793 (Fla.2d DCA 1977); see also Marucci v. Linder, 177 So. 2d 237 (Fla.2d DCA 1965) and Coplan Pipe and Supply Company v. Ben-Frieda Corporation, 256 So. 2d 218 (Fla.3d DCA 1972). In that Stewart could not have enforced the note and mortgage, appellants, as assignees, were likewise barred from enforcement. Notwit…
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Diversified Enters. OF Fla., Inc. v. Holt, 188 So. 2d 693 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966)…n pending before it? We have examined the record and find there is evidence to support the findings of the Chancellor, consequently, we will not disturb those findings. See Tendler v. Gottlieb, Fla.App., 126 So. 2d 308; Marucci v. Linder, Fla.App., 177 So. 2d 237. The decree appealed from be and the same is hereby affirmed. Affirmed. ALLEN, C. J., and SHANNON, J., concur.…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Douglas v. Ogle, 80 Fla. 42 (Fla. 1920)
- Hopkins v. Mills, 116 Fla. 550 (Fla. 1934)
- Gaer v. Gaer, 168 So. 2d 789 (Fla. 3d DCA 1964)
- Hollis Rinehart, Jr. v. State ex rel. Wallace A. Bell, 145 Fla. 617 (Fla. 1941)
- Hartsfield v. Williams, 145 Fla. 709 (Fla. 1941)