Signal Oil & Gas Co. v. Taliaferro

California Court of Appeal Aug 30, 1962 No. Civ. 20124Published

Before: Sullivan

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Holding. The court affirmed a judgment in interpleader discharging a lessee from liability for rent upon compliance with court-ordered deposit conditions, finding that the trial court properly relied on judicial notice of stipulations from a related action to resolve conflicting claims. The court also held that an award of attorney fees was proper as it was intended to be satisfied from both current and future rental deposits.

Issues

Whether the trial court erred in taking judicial notice of records and stipulations from a related pending action between the same parties.
Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the judgment in interpleader and the discharge of the lessee from liability.
Whether the award of attorney fees was improper because it exceeded the amount of the single rental payment currently on deposit.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“While a court normally will not in one case take judicial notice of the records in another case, even though pending in the same court and between the same parties, it may do so where under the circumstances the interests of justice will be advanced”

“Since the above stipulations conclusively determined the disposition of the rental payments we need not discuss appellant’s claim that the judgment was erroneous”

“we are convinced that the judgment operated prospectively as well as in the present and that the court was awarding attorney fees with respect to the one month’s rent already deposited and the rentals to be deposited in the future.”

SULLIVAN, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the plaintiff in interpleader, Signal Oil and Gas Company, hereafter referred to as Signal, discharging it as lessee of certain real property from liability to the lessor and other claimants for rent accruing under the terms of the lease, upon compliance with certain conditions set forth in the judgment. Appellant appears here as he did below, in propria persona.

According to the complaint in interpleader, filed March 17, 1960, Bankline Oil Company, hereafter referred to as Bank-line, a California corporation and Signal’s predecessor in interest, on August 26, 1955, leased from Eugene A. Taliaferro, appellant herein, for a term of 10 years and 10 months, certain real property in San Pablo, Contra Costa County, to be used as a gas station. The lease provided for monthly payments of rent, calculated on the gasoline sold, but not less than $300 nor more than $550. Bankline went into possession on June 1, 1956. Thereafter, on July 10, 1959, it was merged with and into Signal, which acquired all rights and became subject to all liabilities of Bankline under the lease.

The complaint alleged that on December 30, 1955, appellant notified Bankline that he had assigned to the Anglo California National Bank all his rights to moneys due or to become due under the above lease and directed Bankline to pay all said' moneys to the above bank until notified by the bank that a certain loan for which the assignment had been made as

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collateral, had been fully paid. Thereafter Bankline, until merged with Signal, and Signal after the merger, paid all rent to the Crocker-Anglo National Bank in San Francisco (successor by merger to Anglo California National Bank) up to and including the rent paid on December 15, 1959, for the month of November 1959.

According to the complaint, on January 4,1960, the defendant, Dorothy Davis Taliaferro, notified Signal that she had purchased the real property covered by the above lease and demanded that all rent accruing under said lease from and after December 17, 1959, be paid to her. On January 13, 1960, appellant notified Signal that the real property had

not

Signal Oil & Gas Co. v. Taliaferro

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SULLIVAN, J.

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