Melhop, Son & Co. v. Tathwell
Melhop, Son & Co. v. Tathwell
Opinion of the Court
The agreement pleaded by defendants is as follows: “We, the undersigned creditors of the firm of Tathwell & Brownell, of Springville, Iowa, do hereby agree to accept, in full payment and satisfaction of our accounts and claims against said firm, fifty per cent, of said accounts, the consideration therefor being that all of the creditors of said firm shall accept said fifty per cent, of their said accounts or claims in full payment thereof upon a composition of said firm with their creditors ; said fifty per cent, to be paid, one-half thereof in cash whén the creditors shall all consent thereto, and the remaining’ one-half of fifty per cent, to be paid in six months, with eight per cent, interest, secured by note of J. S. Tathwell, indorsed by J. C. Goudy; said firm, however, have the option to pay said entire fifty per cent, in cash.” That agreement was signed by plaintiffs and certain other creditors of defendants. At the same time a further agreement was entered into by which defendants agreed to pay a specified amount as attorney’s fees to plaintiffs’ attorney; the suit having been instituted before the contract was entered into. Defendants alleged a tender of the amount due under the contract. It was proven on the
The judgment that defendants are liable for the full amount of the indebtedness is based upon the following facts, which were specially found by the court, viz.: (1) That defendants had neither paid nor tendered the amount which plaintiffs, by the terms of the contract, agreed to accept in satisfaction of the debt; and (2) that it did not appear that all of defendants’ creditors had consented to the composition. If either of these findings was fairly arrived at it will afford sufficient support for the judgment; for, by the terms of the agreement, defendants were to be discharged from liability for the full amount of their indebtedness to plaintiffs only on the payment, at the time and in the manner named in the contract, of the stipulated amount, and in case the other creditors would consent to accept the same proportion of their claims in full satisfaction thereof; and, to entitle defendants to relief under the agreement, it is essential that they show a compliance or a tender of compliance with its requirements. The evidence which they offered for the purpose of establishing an offer of payment of the stipulated proportion of the debt, and which the district court excluded, consisted of certain letters written by their attorney to the attorney for plaintiffs, in which he was advised that'the amount of money necessary for the discharge of the indebtedness under -the provisions of the contract was on deposit in a certain bank, and would be paid or remitted to him when he sent to or deposited with the bank a receipt in the name of his clients acknowledging full satisfaction of the indebtedness. It is very clear, we think, that the action of the court in excluding that evidence is right. It did not tend to show an unconditional offer by defendants to perform their covenants in
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.