Bailey v. American National Bank
Bailey v. American National Bank
Opinion of the Court
The Flanders Dry Goods Company was a Colorado corporation doing business in Denver. It became insolvent and on the 20th day of April, 1895, gave a mortgage to the American National Bank in the sum of fl5,000, and by the same instrument secured Arnold, Constable & Company, a New York firm, for 121,979.28. The mortgage was delivered in the evening of that day which was Saturday. The following Monday the company executed a general assignment of all of its property to Joseph E. Bates for the benefit of its
Both these suits were on motion consolidated and tried together. The bank and the assignee were made parties and came in and answered; the bank setting up the mortgage, its character, good faith, purpose and intent, the sale under it, and the rights thereby acquired; the assignee came in both by answer and by petition of intervention. Arnold, Constable & Company were not served and did not appear. In his answer he admits the incorporation of the dry goods company, of the bank, and the partnership of Arnold, Constable & Company, the execution and delivery of the mortgage, the execution and delivery of the deed of assignment, and denies that the mortgage and the deed were executed simultaneously or that the deed was made in furtherance of any fraudulent purpose, but alleges that it was made in good faith and for the benefit of all creditors and in accordance with the provisions of the statute. In his petition of intervention he proceeds to restate these general facts and sets up that the mortgagees took possession under the mortgage which covered the entire property and sold it at public sale for f35,600 to Howard Evans who bought it for the use and benefit of the mortgagees, though he sets up that the price was never paid except as the sum was realized from the sale
We are unable to discover in either of the bills filed any allegations whereon could be predicated the right to cancel the assignment or whereon and whereby should evidence thereof be taken, the assignment could be adjudged invalid. The general provision of our statute undoubtedly is that no assignment is invalid because of any-misappropriation of the property by the debtor prior to the assignment, but the assignee is given the express right- to bring such action as may be necessary for the purpose of recovering property fraudulently or wrongfully disposed of prior to the execution of the instrument. Nowhere in either of the bills, in the answer of the assignee or in his petition of intervention is there anjr statement or allegation of any matters which would tend to show that the assignment was invalid under the act relating to general assignments for the benefit of creditors. So far as we can discover from the charge in the several bills the instrument is entirely valid and regular unless it was rendered inoperative because of the antecedent misappropriation of the property by the Flanders Dry Goods Company prior to its execution. The statute expressly provides that under
Under these circumstances the assignment was valid as between the Flanders Dry Goods Company and the assignee, and the assignee toot title to all the property belonging to that company which had not been otherwise disposed of antecedent to the delivery of the instrument. It is also true, that if the property had been misappropriated and misapplied the right of action, if any, inured to the assignee who might bring such suit to recover it as circumstances warranted. These simple suggestions together with what appears in the statement of facts dispose of the appeal so far as Bailey & Company and McClean & Company are concerned. They evidently were without right, and if a cause of action existed it was in the assignee, and he had a right to bring suit to recover the property, the mortgage being invalid.
We are relieved from any necessity to fully or elaborately discuss the question of the rights of the assignee and mortgage creditors because as we look at it the only question presented on the appeal, and in fact the only question argued by counsel, has been, subsequent to the taking of the appeal, but prior to the rendition of this decision, fully disposed of by the decisions of this and the supreme court. The truth is the appeal rests wholly on the assertion of the legal proposition that a mortgage executed at about the time of the execution of a general deed of assignment and while the mortgagor and assignor was in fact insolvent must be in law construed to be a general assignment for the benefit of creditors and by the instrument of mortgage the secured creditors will take no rights and are debarred the assertion of any claim under the security which has been delivered to them. This is on the general theory which was for a long time declared and followed in many cases in the federal nisi prius courts but which has been repudiated by the supreme court of the United States and hi this jurisdiction. This court was first called on to
The section of the statute which has already been referred to expressly provides that nothing in the act invalidates any mortgage of personal property if it is made in good faith and for a valid consideration. We have uniformly held that this section of the statute removed any possibility to apply the doctrine of the nisi prius federal courts. The law of this state is that any debtor, whether insolvent or otherwise, whether partnership or corporation, so long as he remains in possession of his property with full power of disposition may mortgage and incumber his property for the benefit of his creditors even though the result may be that some creditors thereby obtain a preference as against the general creditors of the insolvent. There is nothing whatever in the bills, in the answer of the assignee, or in his petition of intervention to show that the mortgage was not in good faith and in a general legal sense that it was not given to secure a valid and existing debt, or that there was any fraudulent arrangement between the debtor and the creditors. So far as the averments go, it was given in good faith and for a valuable consideration, unless the fact that it was followed by a general deed of assignment in law makes it invalid. This we have repeatedly adjudged otherwise and our rulings in this respect have been followed by the supreme court. Burchinell v. Koon, 8 Colo. App. 463, affirmed by the supreme court, April term, 1898, 25 Colo. 59; McCord Bragdon Gro. Co. v. Garrison et al., 5 Colo. App. 60; Farwell & Co. v. Sweetzer et al., 10 Colo. App. 421; Burchinell v. Bennett, 10 Colo. App. 502.
Since the whole argument of the appellant is built upon a proposition disposed of by these authorities, and no other question is presented by the printed briefs, or was stated on oral argument, we regard these suggestions and this consideration as an adequate disposition of the cause.
The court did not err in ordering judgment at the time and
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.