Merchants & Manufacturers Transfer Co. v. Auto Rental & Leasing, Inc.
Merchants & Manufacturers Transfer Co. v. Auto Rental & Leasing, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
Most of the leases here are agreements directly made between the parties involved in this litigation. We shall discuss these first, since the language in each of these leases is virtually the same. It thus appears from the reading of the portions of the contracts involved in this motion for partial summary judgment that even though the leases are indeed harsh, the language states that the “customer shall remain liable for payment of charges . . . during such period of default” and even though the owner has elected to terminate by written notice to the customer (the customer being in default by reason of nonpayment of the indebtedness due under the rentals) yet the contracts as written would require the customer to be liable for continued payment of the rentals throughout the period of the lease or as long as the default lasted. This is true as to all the contracts having the same language therein. The leases of the equipment were for a period of five years, and from year to year thereafter. A reading of the whole contract shows that the rental charges were to abate only under certain circumstances set out in the lease, the contract being, in effect, a lease-purchase agreement requiring the purchase and sale of the vehicles upon cancellation and only in accordance therewith. While the contracts are quite favorable to the lessor, viewing each as a whole, we find no ambiguity, and a strict construction thereof finds the defendant liable for the payments of the charges thereunder. See Sinclair Refining Co. v. Reid, 60 Ga. App. 119 (3 SE2d 121).
As to the four vehicles involved in the contract received from the other lessor, the language is quite different. It provides that the lessee “shall thereafter remain liable to the lessor for any payments theretofore accruing as well as for the damages caused by such termination.” (Emphasis supplied.) Since the
2. Cross appeals are authorized under Code Ann. § 6-803 (Ga. L. 1965, pp. 18, 21; 1966, pp. 493, 496; 1968, pp. 1072, 1077), and all errors affecting the appellee may be presented for adjudication under this portion of the statute, since Code Ann. § 6-701 (b) authorizes a review of all ancillary rulings “which may affect the proceedings below” without regard to their appealability at the time of the appeal. The subsequent amendment of the Appellate Practice Act draws in question the right of appeal of certain rulings but not this ruling. Accordingly, the motion to dismiss the cross appeal is not meritorious.
The only error enumerated in the cross appeal is that the court erred in granting a motion to dismiss the levy of attachment as to certain personal property. Where attachment issues before suit is pending, the plaintiff shall file his declaration in attachment within 15 days after the levy of such attachment, and the same shall thereafter be governed as ordinary civil actions. Code Ann. § 8-117 (Ga. L. 1962, pp. 520-521).
Judgments affirmed on the main appeal; reversed on the cross appeal.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.