Haley v. Traeger

HAZLETT, J.,

pro

tem.

This is an action in claim and delivery. Defendant, as sheriff of Los Angeles County, had seized the personal property in question as the property of one J. E. Lange, under a writ of attachment in an action

[362]

brought by Richfield Oil Company against Lange. Plaintiff, claiming to be the owner of the property, demanded that defendant deliver it to him, and his demand being refused brought this action, and by means of this action obtained possession of the property from defendant. Judgment was given in favor of defendant requiring that plaintiff return the property to defendant or that plaintiff pay defendant $944.20 as the value of the interest of Lange in the property, and plaintiff appeals upon the judgment-roll alone.

The court found that certain described portions of the property were owned outright- by Lange and that the remainder were being purchased by him under executory agreements of sale. Appellant contends that there is no finding of the value of Lange’s interest in the portions of the property he was purchasing under the agreements. Finding YII of the findings of facts is in part as follows: “That for some months prior to May 24, 1923, and up to the 29th day of May, 1923, and the time of taking of said property under attachment as hereinafter set out, said above described property except as hereinafter set out, was owned by, and the same was lawfully in the possession of and under the control of one J. E. Lange; that on said 29th day of May, 1923, and at the time of the commencement of this action, the Paramount Service Station, described in paragraph IV of the amended complaint, together with all the appliances and equipment used and incidental thereto, together with the reasonable value thereof was as follows: (Here follows an itemized list of all the property, showing the reasonable value of each item, totaling $2,979.45.)

Finding VIII describes those particular items of the property listed in Finding YII which Lange was purchasing under the agreements, and finds that Lange had paid $370 of the purchase price thereof, but the values of those items so being purchased' were not repeated in Finding XIII. By simple calculation from the figures as to values found and set out in Finding YII it is readily determined that the value of the portions of the property Lange owned outright was $574.20, and that the whole value of the remaining portions he was purchasing under the agreements was $2,405.25, on the day the attachment was levied.