Hardy

Action to foreclose a mechanic’s lien. Judgment went against plaintiff, from which he appeals upon the judgment-roll alone.

It appears from the findings that on October 9, 1914, defendant Elizabeth C. Frey acquired by purchase a lot, title to which prior to said date had been vested in the Los Angeles Trust & Savings Bank. In anticipation of the purchase and while negotiations therefor were pending, she, on September 17, 1914, entered into a contract with plaintiff whereby he undertook and agreed to erect a dwelling-house upon the lot for her. In pursuance of the contract he, on October 5, 1914, entered upon the lot and commenced the work of constructing the house. Four days later, to wit, on October 9th, the property was conveyed to Mrs. Frey, at which time a mortgage thereon, which, known to plaintiff, she had theretofore signed and acknowledged, was, by the party in whose hands it, with other papers, had been deposited in escrow, delivered to defendant John F. Tanner and filed for record. Upon these facts the trial court as a conclusion of law found the mortgage so given to Tanner was superior to plaintiff’s lien for constructing the house.

In so doing the court, in our…