## Facts

- In 1907, Doffing conveyed an 80-acre tract to Rockafellor by warranty deed; Rockafellor assumed and agreed to pay a \$500 mortgage held by Gray.
- Gray later foreclosed the mortgage, and a sheriff’s deed issued to Connelly in 1911.
- Connelly conveyed the tract to Dixon in 1911 by a deed containing the usual covenants of warranty, including seisin, reciting \$4,000 consideration.
- Dixon conveyed to Hansen & Gregerson in 1911 by special warranty deed, reciting \$7,000 consideration; Hansen & Gregerson took possession.
- In 1918, Rockafellor sued in equity to vacate the foreclosure sale and set aside the sheriff’s deed, alleging the foreclosure was void for lack of jurisdiction over him.
- In 1920, Hansen & Gregerson cross-petitioned against Connelly, seeking damages on Connelly’s covenants if the foreclosure and sheriff’s deed were set aside.
- The district court held the foreclosure void, set aside the sheriff’s deed, and awarded Hansen & Gregerson \$4,000 plus interest from Connelly for breach of the covenant of seisin; Connelly appealed that damages award.

## Issues

1. Whether a remote grantee may maintain an action for breach of a grantor’s covenant of seisin contained in a prior deed in the chain of conveyances.
2. When a grantor lacks title at conveyance, whether the covenant of seisin is breached immediately upon delivery of the deed.
3. What measure of damages applies for breach of the covenant of seisin where the grantee receives no title.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Iowa affirmed the decree awarding damages to Hansen & Gregerson against Connelly.
- The court held that a remote grantee may enforce the covenant of seisin contained in a prior deed in the chain, because the right of action passes by subsequent conveyance.
- The court held that because the foreclosure and resulting sheriff’s deed were void, Connelly had no title when he conveyed, so the covenant of seisin was breached at delivery.
- The court upheld damages measured by the consideration recited in Connelly’s deed (\$4,000) plus interest, absent proof that the actual loss was less.

## Legal Principles

- A covenant of seisin is breached, if at all, immediately upon delivery of the deed if the grantor is not seised of the estate purportedly conveyed.
- A remote grantee may sue for breach of a covenant of seisin made by a prior grantor when the right of action on the broken covenant passes through the chain of conveyances.
- For breach of the covenant of seisin where title fails, the ordinary measure of damages is the consideration paid (as fixed by the relevant conveyance) plus interest, subject to reduction only upon proof of a lesser loss.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed that a void foreclosure left the supposed purchaser without title, making the covenant of seisin in his subsequent deed immediately broken, and allowed remote grantees to recover the stated consideration plus interest because the right to sue on the broken covenant passed through later conveyances.


Rockafellor v. Gray, 194 Iowa 1280, 191 N.W. 107 (Iowa 1922)