Tacking is a legal concept arising under the common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 relating to competing priorities between two or more security interest

Security interest

A security interest is a property interest created by agreement or by operation of law over assets to secure the performance of an obligation, usually the payment of a debt. It gives the beneficiary of the security interest certain preferential rights in the disposition of secured assets...

s arising over the same asset. The concept is best illustrated by way of example.

1. Bank A lends a first advance to the borrower, which is secured by a mortgage over the borrower's property. The mortgage is expressed to secure this advance and any future advances.
2. Bank B subsequently lends more money to the borrower and takes a second ranking mortgage over the same property.
3. Bank A then subsequently lends a second advance to the borrower, relying on its original mortgage.

Bank A will always have a first priority claim against the property for the full amount of its first advance. But it will be able to claim against the property in priority to Bank B with respect to its second advance only if it is permitted to tack the second advance to the mortgage that was taken at the time the first advance was made. If Bank A is not permitted to tack the second advance, then Bank B's claim in respect of the sums that it lent will have priority over Bank A's claims with respect to the second advance.

In American jurisprudence, Black's Law Dictionary

Black's Law Dictionary

Black's Law Dictionary is the most widely used law dictionary in the United States. It was founded by Henry Campbell Black. It is the reference of choice for definitions in legal briefs and court opinions and has been cited as a secondary legal authority in many U.S...

defines tacking in slightly narrower terms:

"The uniting of securities given at different times, so as to prevent any intermediate purchaser from claiming a title to redeem or otherwise discharging one lien

Lien

In law, a lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation...

, which is prior, without redeeming or discharging the other liens also, which are subsequent to his own title. The terms is particularly applied to the action of a third mortgagee who, by buying the first lien and uniting it to his own, gets priority over the second mortgagee."

Separately, in the definition of tabula in naufragio

Tabula in naufragio

Tabula in naufragio is a legal Latin phrase, literally interpreted as "a plank in a shipwreck".The phrase is used in law metaphorically to designate the power subsisting in a third mortgagee, who took the third mortgage without notice of the second mortgage, and then acquired the first mortgage...

, Black's comments:

"It may be fairly said that the doctrine survives only in the unjust and much criticised English rule of tacking."

The common law rules

The first case which approached the position in relation to competing mortgagees was Gordon v Graham (1716) 2 Eq Cas Abr 598. Surviving reports of that case are extremely short, and during the nineteenth century, the authority of the decision came to be doubted. It was questioned whether it had been correctly reported and, even if correctly reported, whether it correctly stated the law.

The matter subsequently came before the House of Lords

Judicial functions of the House of Lords

The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...

 in Hopkinson v Rolt (1861) 9 HL Cas 514, 11 ER 829. In the case the borrower entered into a mortgage over his land which was expressed to "secure the sums due and which shall from time to time become due" to the bank. Later, the borrower granted a second mortgage in favour of another creditor. Notice of the second mortgage was given to the bank. The borrower was later declared bankrupt, and a dispute arose as to the priority of the bank with respect to advances which were made under the first mortgage after it had received notice of the second mortgage.

The three law lords who heard the case were divided, with a majority favouring priority for the second mortgagee. Lord Campbell

John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell

John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell PC, KC was a British Liberal politician, lawyer, and man of letters.-Background and education:...

, the Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

, opined:

"I must say that the doctrine [in Gordon v Graham] seems to me to be contrary to principle. Although the mortgagor has parted with the legal interest in the hereditaments mortgaged, he remains the equitable owner of all his interest not transferred beneficially to the mortgagee, and he may still deal with his property in any way consistent with the rights of the mortgagee. How is the first mortgagee injured by the second mortgage being executed. . . ? The first mortgagee is secure as to past advances, and he is not under any obligation to make any farther advances (emphasis added). He has only to hold his hand when asked for a farther loan. Knowing the extent of the second mortgage, he may calculate that the hereditaments mortgaged are an ample security to the mortgagees; and if he doubts this, he closes his account with the mortgagor, and looks out for a better security.

Lord Chelmsford agreed with Lord Campbell.

The dissenting judge, Lord Cranworth

Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth

Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth PC was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He twice served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...

, was in favour of upholding the rule in Gordon v Graham as it was reported. He expressed his view in a dissenting opinion:

"I certainly had understood that in such a case, excluding all special circumstances, the first mortgagee would be secure for any subsequent advances covered by his security, even though he had notice of the second mortgage. This is so laid down on authority, has, I believe, been often acted on, and seems to me perfectly just and reasonable.

Mortgages are but contract

Contract

A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...

s; and when once the rights of parties under them are defined and understood, it is impossible to say that any rule regulating their priority is unjust. If the law is once laid down and understood, that a person advancing money on a second mortgage, with notice of a prior mortgage covering future as well as present debts, will be postponed to the first mortgagee, to the whole extent covered or capable of being covered by the prior security, he has nothing to complain of. He is aware when he advances his money, of the imperfect nature of his security, and acts at his peril.

The rule ... is a convenient rule, causing injustice to no one. It has, probably, been often acted on, and to depart from it may, I think, retrospectively cause great injustice, and prospectively prevent advances of money by bankers or others, where such advances might be safely and usefully made"

Actual notice

Although for years it had been supposed that it was sufficient for the first mortgagee to have either actual or constructive notice

Constructive notice

Constructive notice also known as the Doctrine of Constructive Notice is a legal fiction used in the law of both common law and civil law systems to signify that a person or entity is legally presumed to have knowledge of something, even if they have no actual knowledge of it.-Intellectual...

 of the second mortgage, in Westpac Banking Corporation v Adelaide Bank Limited [2005] NSWSC 517 it was held that constructive notice was not sufficient, and that a first mortgagee could tack future advances unless it had actual notice of the second ranking security.

Term loans and overdrafts

The common law rules relating to tacking caused most difficulty in relation to overdraft

Overdraft

An overdraft occurs when money is withdrawn from a bank account and the available balance goes below zero. In this situation the account is said to be "overdrawn". If there is a prior agreement with the account provider for an overdraft, and the amount overdrawn is within the authorized overdraft...

s and revolving loan facilities. This was because of another common law rule: the rule in Clayton's Case

Rule in Clayton's Case

The rule in Clayton's Case is a common law presumption in relation to the distribution of monies from a bank account...

. That rule provided that in relation to any account

Bank account

A Bank account is a financial account recording the financial transactions between the customer and the bank and the resulting financial position of the customer with the bank .-Account types:...

, payments into the account are presumed to discharge the earliest debts first. The rule is only a presumption of convenience, but in practice it is difficult to displace, and can have a devastating effect on the security rights of first mortgagees.

For example, suppose a customer secures an overdraft with a mortgage against their house. Then at a time when the overdraft stands at £100,000, the customer grants a second mortgage over their house as security for a term loan to another bank. If over the following nine months, the customer was to pay £90,000 into the account and draw a further £70,000 out of the account, the amount owed to the first bank would be reduced to only £80,000, but they would only have first ranking security for a mere £10,000. For the remaining £70,000 they would rank behind the second mortgagee.

Accordingly, in practice a bank will normally "break" an account when they receive notice of a subsequent charge over property which stands as security for an overdraft.

Statutory modification

Ultimately, the decision was thought to cause more inconvenience than it solved, and a number of common law jurisdictions have sought to modify the position by statute (see for example, section 49 of the Land Registration Act 2002 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, section 28 of the Law of Property Act 1929 of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and section 82 of the Property Law Act in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

).

Section 49 of the of the Land Registration Act 2002 provides that:
The proprietor of a registered charge may make a further advance on the security of the charge ranking in priority to a subsequent charge if he has not received from the subsequent chargee notice of the creation of the subsequent charge.
Notice given for the purposes of subsection (1) shall be treated as received at the time when, in accordance with rules, it ought to have been received.
The proprietor of a registered charge may also make a further advance on the security of the charge ranking in priority to a subsequent charge if—

(a) the advance is made in pursuance of an obligation, and

(b) at the time of the creation of the subsequent charge the obligation was entered in the register in accordance with rules.

The proprietor of a registered charge may also make a further advance on the security of the charge ranking in priority to a subsequent charge if—

(a) the parties to the prior charge have agreed a maximum amount for which the charge is security, and

(b) at the time of the creation of the subsequent charge the agreement was entered in the register in accordance with rules.

Rules may—

(a) disapply subsection (4) in relation to charges of a description specified in the rules, or

(b) provide for the application of that subsection to be subject, in the case of charges of a description so specified, to compliance with such conditions as may be so specified.

(6) Except as provided by this section, tacking in relation to a charge over registered land is only possible with the agreement of the subsequent chargee.

External links

• Report of the Law Commission of Alberta on the law of priorities, which contains an excellent discussion on the law of tacking
• Sibbles v. Highfern Pty Ltd (1987) 164 CLR 214, 76 ALR 13, the Australian High Court considering common law tacking rules