Bullion & Exchange Bank v. Spooner
Bullion & Exchange Bank v. Spooner
Opinion of the Court
In 1890 the plaintiff was a corporation engaged in the business of banking at Carson City, in the state of Nevada. The defendant M. E. Spooner did business with the plaintiff, and on December 27, 1890, was indebted to it in the sum of $14,240.79, on an overdraft account. On that day he executed to the plaintiff a deed, absolute in form, of certain real property situated in Ash valley, Lassen county, California, and known as the “Spooner Ranch”; and at the same time he also executed to the plaintiff his promissory note for $20,000, payable “on or before three years after date,” with interest, payable monthly, at the rate of nine per cent per annum from date until paid, and a chattel mortgage, to secure payment of the note, on certain personal property situated in said Ash valley, and described as two hundred head of horses, more or less, including three thoroughbred stallions, and six hundred head of cattle, more or less, with all the increase of such horses and cattle. The mortgage provided “that, if the
One of the issues raised by the answer was as to whether the indebtedness from defendant to plaintiff was due at the time the complaint was filed; and upon this issue the court found “that it was not agreed nor intended that the principal sum of said indebtedness from said defendant M. E. Spooner to plaintiff should be paid whenever demanded by plaintiff, but it was agreed that said indebtedness should be paid on or before the twenty-seventh day of December, 1893, at the option of the said defendant M. E. Spooner; and the said indebtedness is not due, nor any part thereof.” And as a conclusion of law the court found “that no cause of action exists for the recovery of the indebtedness from the defendant M. E. Spooner to plaintiff, nor for the foreclosure of any mortgage lien or security given to secure said indebtedness, and that plaintiff is not entitled to any judgment for said indebtedness, nor to any decree foreclosing any liens upon, or for the sale of any of, the property described in the complaint.” Upon this branch of the case, judgment was accordingly entered in favor of the defendant, from which the plaintiff appeals.
Whether or not the finding above quoted was justified by the evidence is the principal question in the case. In our opinion, the finding was justified, and must be held controlling as to all other questions presented by the record. It is not controverted that the deed, agreement to reconvey, note and chattel mortgage were all parts of one transaction, and were intended by the parties to operate simply and solely as security for the payment of defendant’s overdraft account. These papers are, therefore, to be read together as one instrument; and when so read they express, in clear and unmistakable terms, the time when that indebtedness was to become due and collectible, namely, on December 27, 1893. Section 1856 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: “When the terms of an agreement have been reduced to writing by the parties, it is to be considered as containing all those terms”; and that, as between the parties,' there can be no other evidence of the terms of the agreement, except in certain cases, of which this is not one. And section 1625 of the Civil Code provides: “The execution of a contract in writing, whether
The other points discussed by counsel for appellant do not require special notice, for, conceding that the court erred in its rulings, as claimed, the errors were harmless. Where the record shows that the appellant is not entitled to recover in any event, error in the rulings of the court upon the admission of evidence cannot entitle him to a reversal of the judgment: MePhail v. Buell, 87 Cal. 115, 25 Pac. 266. And where evidence, admitted against objection, relates only to an issue which is rendered immaterial by the evidence and findings upon other issues, which are decisive of the case, any error in its admission is harmless, and is not ground for reversal of the judgment: Clavey v. Lord, 87 Cal. 413, 25 Pac. 493. So, the failure to find any fact, or an erroneous finding of any fact, unless the finding, if correctly made, would change the judgment, is immaterial: Dedmon v. Moffitt, 89 Cal. 211, 26 Pae. 800. It follows that the action was prematurely brought, and the judgment should be affirmed.
We concur: Temple, C.; Vanclief, C.
PER CURIAM.—For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BULLION & EXCHANGE BANK OF CARSON CITY v. SPOONER et ux.
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Mortgages—Foreclosure—Maturity of Debt.—When an Overdraft Account with a bank is secured by a note and mortgages payable on or before three years, and interest as due is charged in the account, the rules against parol evidence (Civ. Code, see. 1625; Code Civ. Proe., see. 1856) forbid proof of an oral agreement that the debt should be due at any time within the three years, at the bank’s option.