1. Chattel Mortgages — Filing of Mortgage Made by One Never Owner of Property not Constructive Notice to One Dealing With Owner. The filing of a mortgage on personal property, made by one who was never the owner of the property, is not constructive notice to anyone dealing with the owner of the property, and such filing places the mortgagee in no better position than an unfiled mortgage, and such mortgage is void as against a subsequent bona fide purchaser under section 11277, O. S. 1931, as amended by Laws 1935, c. 56, art. 2, par. 1 (46 Okla. St. Ann, sec. 57). (People's Finance Thrift Co. v. Shirk, 191 Okla. 418, 74 P.2d 379.) 2.
An examination of the records of the Oklahoma Tax Commission would have revealed that the Original Manufacturer's Statement of Origin had been assigned to Peaches Moore and the original certificate of title issued to her. An examination of the chattel mortgage records would not disclose that anyone by the name of Peaches Moore or the Lauderdale Motor Company had ever placed a mortgage on the car and reasonable diligence would not require them to examine the entire records of county clerk to ascertain if the automobile was subject to mortgage. See People's Finance Thrift Co. v. Shirk, 181 Okla. 418, 74 P.2d 379. However, would reasonable diligence require defendants to examine all the recorded chattel mortgages under the name of "Moore" since there was a mortgage of record under the name of W.C. Moore?
While the facts are not exactly the same, the holding in the following cases support the conclusion that a mortgage by one not in the chain of title though recorded is not constructive notice to subsequent purchasers: Ohio Finance Co. v. McReynolds, 27 Ohio App. 42, 160 N.E. 727; Rhea Mortgage Co. v. Lemmerman, (Tex.Civ.App.) 294 S.W. 959; Id., (Tex.Com.App.) 10 S.W.2d 690; Southwest Securities Co. v. Jacques, (Tex.Civ.App.) 31 S.W.2d 1098; Id., (Tex.Com.App.) 42 S.W.2d 232; People's Finance Thrift Co. v. Shirk, 181 Okla. 418, 74 P.2d 379; Fitzgerald v. People's Finance Thrift Co., 184 Okla. 44, 84 P.2d 625; Kurtz v. Adrian, 46 S.D. 125, 191 N.W. 188. And see 5 R.C.L. 415; 10 American Jurisprudence, Chattel Mortgages, sec. 116, p. 791; 14 C.J.S., Chattel Mortgages, sec. 164, page 772.)
It is evident that effort has been made to use this authority in support of the minority rule that the recording of a chattel mortgage by a stranger to the title thereof constitutes notice to subsequent purchasers and incumbrancers of said property. See People's Finance Thrift Co. v. Shirk, 181 Okla. 418, 74 P.2d 379, wherein the court discusses the Texas cases of Rhea Mortgage Co. v. Lemmerman (Tex. Com. App.) 10 S.W.2d 690, and Southwest Security Co. v. Jacques (Tex. Com. App.) 42 S.W.2d 232. Therein this court follows the rule supported by the overwhelming weight of authority to the effect that the filing of a chattel mortgage on personal property by a stranger to the title thereof is void as to a subsequent bona fide purchaser. Such is not the question decided in the case of Iowa Nat. Bank v. Citizens Nat. Bank, supra.