Silva

This action was instituted by the plaintiff to quiet her title to a certain lot of land, situate in the city of Oakland, of which she claimed to be the owner in fee and which the appealing defendants claim under a sheriff’s deed, made pursuant to a judgment foreclosing a lien of a street assessment levied upon the property. Appellants, answering the plaintiff’s complaint, denied plaintiff’s ownership and affirmatively alleged that defendants Jack M. Silva and Ellen J. Silva, his wife, were the owners of the land and that defendants R. D. Beals and Anson S. Bilger were the owners and holders of a deed of trust covering said land which secured the payment of certain indebtedness of said Silva and his wife to defendant, Oakland Paving Company. The facts of the case are conceded to be these:

On August 11, 1908, while the legal title to the land in controversy was vested in Mrs. M. A. Cornelius, she entered into a conditional contract of sale and purchase with G. H. and C. P. Lee whereby she agreed to convey to them the land in suit for a specified purchase price, which was to be paid in stipulated monthly installments. This contract was recorded on November 20, 1911. Subsequent…