First National Bank v. Silva (1927)
Citation: 200 Cal. 494 · Decided: February 21, 1927 · Opinion: Waste, C.J., adopting the Court of Appeal’s analysis.
Source note (2026-10-18):
- Links on this page to
https://static.case.law/cal/200/cases/0494-01.jsonare an (unofficial Caselaw Access Project copy, retrieved before 2026-10-18; host disallows automated access); no official or otherwise permitted full-text copy was located on 2026-10-18.
Facts and holding
Silva mortgaged cattle, then placed them with pasture operators who claimed an undisputed USD 1,890 possessory agistor’s lien. The issue was priority against the earlier chattel mortgage. The majority held the agistor’s statutory lien preferential and affirmed the judgment (pp. 495–502).
Reasoning and limits
The majority read Civil Code §§ 3051–3052 and the 1907 extension of the sale remedy together: statutory liens in the covered possessory classes did not simply lose to an earlier mortgage under the ordinary first-in-time rule. Justice Shenk concurred in the judgment on the narrower ground of the lender’s consent, but dissented from the majority’s general statutory-priority rationale (pp. 502–504).
This historical priority decision is not a modern vehicle-title case and did not adjudicate every auction purchaser’s discharge protection. Registrable vehicles/vessels now have separate statutes; modern possessory lien priority must also be read with Com. Code § 9333 and any express contrary provision. Do not confuse the historical agistor’s lien with the separate nonpossessory meatpacker-delivery lien in Food & Agricultural Code §§ 55701–55704. No comprehensive subsequent-history certification is claimed.
Source scope
The complete majority and separate opinion were retrieved on 2026-10-17 at the frontmatter URL, an unofficial Caselaw Access Project reproduction of primary court-decision text. Current statutes were separately retrieved from the official legislative bulk export. Review record: schema/verification/california-independent-review-2026-10-17.md.
Applies in →
california · towing-storage-and-mechanics-lien-sales · equipment-and-machinery
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify current authority and consult a licensed California attorney before acting.