## Facts

- Eaton, a Maine resident, held a mortgage on real property located in Nova Scotia and sought to foreclose the mortgage by a bill in equity filed in Maine.
- McCall, also a Maine resident, did not appear; the bill was taken pro confesso.
- When Eaton moved for a final decree, the trial-level justice questioned whether a Maine court could foreclose a mortgage on land outside Maine and reported the case to the full court to determine whether the bill should be sustained and what decree should enter.
- The mortgage’s validity under Nova Scotia law was not disputed; the dispute concerned the Maine court’s equitable jurisdiction to grant foreclosure-related relief involving foreign land.

## Issues

1. Whether a Maine court of equity, having personal jurisdiction over the parties, may entertain a foreclosure action concerning land located in another country.
2. Whether equitable relief concerning foreign land is permissible only if the decree operates in personam (compelling the defendant to act) rather than in rem (directly affecting title).

## Decision

- The court held that a Maine court of equity may exercise jurisdiction over the parties and grant relief relating to foreign land when the decree operates in personam.
- The court explained that it could compel the mortgagor to take acts necessary to effect foreclosure consistent with the law of the situs, even though the land is outside Maine.
- The court dismissed the bill without prejudice because the bill, as framed, did not properly seek the form of in personam relief the court could award.

## Legal Principles

- Equity jurisdiction is fundamentally in personam: when the parties are within the court’s jurisdiction, equitable remedies may be granted even if the property concerned is outside the forum, so long as the decree compels personal acts rather than directly operating on title.
- A state court cannot, by its own force, adjudicate or transfer title to foreign land against the world; the limitation is on in rem power, not on compelling residents to act regarding foreign property.
- When granting in personam relief affecting foreign land, the court may order acts needed to carry out the parties’ rights under the governing law of the land’s location.

## Conclusion

The court recognized equity’s power to compel parties before it to perform acts affecting foreign land, including acts necessary to accomplish foreclosure under the situs law, but dismissed the particular foreclosure bill without prejudice because it was not properly framed to seek enforceable in personam relief.


Eaton v. McCall, 86 Me. 346 (1894)