CREDITOR IN DEBTOR'S PROPERTY   719

estate of the deceased debtor, when it is plain that if it is damaged by fire a pecuniary loss must ensue to the creditor thereby.9 * * Judgment reversed [because of breach of warranty.]

SPARE v. HOME MUT. INS. CO.
Circuit Court, D. Oregon, 1883. 15 Fed. 707, 8 Sawy. 618.

Action to Recover Damages on Fire Insurance Policy.

DEADY, J. The plaintiff, a citizen of Oregon, brings this action against the defendant, a corporation formed under the laws of California and doing business in Oregon, to recover the sum of $900 with interest since March 1, 1882, on a policy of insurance for that amount against loss by fire. The case was heard upon a demurrer to the complaint. The question argued was, had the plaintiff an insurable interest in the property destroyed?

From the amended complaint it appears that on July 26, 1881, Aaron and Ben Lurch were partners under the name of "Lurch Brothers," and as such, owned a lot in Cottage Grove, Lane county, Oregon, of the value of $100, together with a warehouse thereon of the value of $1,300 ; that on December 1, 1878, the plaintiff obtained a judgment against said firm, in the circuit court of the state for said county, for the sum of $4,500, which judgment was duly docketed before said July 26th, and thereafter was a lien thereon; that on said last-mentioned date the defendant, in consideration of the premium of $18.90, paid to it by plaintiff, insured him against loss or damage by fire, to said warehouse, for one year, in the sum of $900; and that on February 14, 1882, said warehouse was totally destroyed by fire, whereby the plaintiff was damaged $1,300. The complaint also states that on March 1, 1882, the proof of loss was furnished and the same adjusted at $900, and that the defendant at all the times mentioned well knew that the property was owned by Lurch Brothers, and the nature of the plaintiff's interest therein.

A contract for insurance against fire with a person not having an insurable interest in the property, or subject of the insurance, is a mere wager, and considered void on grounds of public policy. For where the only interest that the assured has in the property

9 Suppose the debtor is insolvent or that it appears there is not sufficient personal property to satisfy the debt. Does the creditor have an insurable interest in the real property? See Creed v. Sun Fire Office (1893) 101 Ala. 522, 14 So. 323, 23 L. R. A. 177; Sheppard v. Peabody Ins. Co. (1883) 21 W. Va. 368.

Compare: Tischendorf v. Lynn Mut. Fire Ins. Co. (1926) 190 Wis. 33, 208 N. W. 917, 45 A. L. R. 856, where a lessor was held to have an insurable interest in the lessee's crops because of unpaid rent, although the lessor did not have a lien on such crops. For other cases discussing insurable interest of a landlord in the property of his tenant, see 45 A. L. R. 863.