Citizens Mutual Investment Ass'n v. Glass
Citizens Mutual Investment Ass'n v. Glass
Opinion of the Court
Citizens Mutual Investment Association, as assignee, brought suit in the municipal court of Atlanta against S. F. Glass, W. W. Wells, and E. D. Mobley, the petition alleging that the defendants, on June 15, 1933, executed a contract to City Investment Company, a copy of which contract was attached to the petition as exhibit A and made a part thereof; that plaintiff was the owner and holder of the contract and also of the note referred to therein, a copy of the note being also attached to the petition as Exhibit B; that the last payment on the said note was made by the maker, E. M. Brantley,-on November 30, 1934, leaving a balance of $185.10 at that time, and that on or about August 3, 1935, the defendants paid $35 on the settlement of a suit brought by City Investment Company on said contract, said amount including $6 as. court costs, and that a balance of $166.10, besides interest at 8% per annum from November 30, 1934, remained unpaid; that notice was mailed to the defendants as provided for in the contract, tendering the note referred to and as also provided in the contract, but that the defendants have failed and refused to pay the said indebtedness or perform the duties imposed upon them by such contract; that the defendants are jointly and severally indebted to plaintiff in the sum of $166.10, besides interest from November 30, 1934, and judgment therefor was prayed.
The contract, evidenced by exhibit A, recites that “E. M. Brantley, hereinafter referred to as the applicant, having made application to you for a loan of $340 to be made by you to said applicant, said loan, if made, to be repaid by said applicant in twelve monthly instalments of $30 each, the first one of which will be due on the 15 day of July, 1933, and one on the same day of each succeeding month thereafter, with interest from date, payable monthly on unpaid balance of principal, at the rate of 3%% per month until paid, and said loan applied for by said applicant as aforesaid not having yet been made by you, we, the undersigned, as an inducement' to you to make said loan to said applicant, hereby recommend the solvency and good character of said applicant and request that you make said loan for which said applicant has applied as aforesaid upon the terms stated. In consideration of your making said loan to said applicant, and in consideration of the option which you, by the acceptance hereof, give to us to purchase the note which is to be executed by said applicant evidencing his said indebted
The note signed by E. M. Brantley was dated June 15, 1933. In the upper left-hand corner an amount was stated as “$240” without more, and the recitals of the note Avere in part as follows: “For value received-promise to pay the principal sum of two hundred forty and no/100 dollars to City Investment Company, or order, at its office, in 12 monthly instalments of $20 each, the first one of which will be due on the 15 day of July, 1933, and one on the same day of each succeeding month thereafter, with interest from date, payable monthly on unpaid balances of principal, at the rate of three and one-half per cent, per month until -paid. . . It is hereby agreed that should any one of the above sums not be
Assuming, but not conceding, that the plaintiff legally became the assignee of the contract, and of the note aaTlícIi Avas made payable to City Investment Company or order, and not to the City Investment Company or bearer, we think that the petition and exhibits did not set forth a cause of action. The contract executed by the defendants provided that if the City Investment Company Avould make a loan of $240 to E. M. Brantlejr, payable in tAvelve instalments of $20 each, bearing interest at 3%% on unpaid balances until paid, the defendants would, upon any default and certain described notice thereof, pay to the City Investment Company the amount of the unpaid principal, together AArith interest thereon at 8% per annum from the date of the last interest payment by Brantley. They did not obligate themselves to become liable on any other kind of note AAdrich Brantley might execute, and the record does not show that the condition precedent named in the contract was performed by the obligee. The copy of the note at
Section' 15 of the “small-loan act,” Code, § 35-315, provides in part as follows: “No licensee shall take . . any note, promise to pay, or security that does not state the actual amount of the loan.” Inasmuch as no penalty is provided in the Code for a failure to comply with this particular section, it was held in Snider v. Industrial Finance Cor., 54 Ga. App. 676 (188 S. E. 917) : “Failure to comply with section 15 of the small-loan act of 1930 (Code, § 35-315), does not render the loan void and unenforceable in toto, as the act makes no provision for a penalty for a violation of said section; but such failure will prevent the lender from collecting the 3% per cent, interest authorized by the small-loan act, and will work a forfeiture of the entire amount of interest under the general provisions of law that where usurious interest is charged the interest is forfeited.” Consequently, under that decision, the note taken by the City Investment Company was a note which carried an obligation for the principal amount stated, but not for any interest whatever. Being so, it was not such a note as was within the expressed agreement of the defendants as to their liability. They were not bound to take over any indebtedness on a note which did not carry legal interest, but were entitled to have the exact condition precedent performed 'by the obligee before any liability could
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.