Mid-State Investment Corporation v. O'Steen
Florida First District Court of Appeal
133 So. 2d 455 (1961)
The O'Steens (plaintiffs) financed a home purchase by assigning the deed to Mid-State Investment Corporation (Mid-State) (defendant) in exchange for a contract for deed conditioned on monthly payments, which let Mid-State terminate the contract and repossess the property upon a missed payment, forfeiting all sums the O'Steens had already paid. After the O'Steens fell behind, a Mid-State agent broke in through a window to repossess the home and its contents, and Mid-State then sold the property; the O'Steens sued for trespass and conversion. The trial court found Mid-State liable, and a jury awarded $2,750 in damages based on an instruction valuing the O'Steens' property interest as of the time of the trespass; Mid-State appealed.
Whether, if a party makes a conveyance of property to a lender to secure a loan, such conveyance constitutes a mortgage to which ordinary foreclosure rules apply.