Laird v. German Savings Bank
Laird v. German Savings Bank
Opinion of the Court
In November, 1908, the plaintiff was the owner and holder of a certain promissory note, executed by W. H. & F. 0. Rood, for the sum of $3,000, bearing interest at 6 per cent. This note was past due and unpaid, and was secured by a chattel mortgage, executed by the makers of the note, on certain personal property owned by them. ^ In order to save a foreclosure of the mortgage,’ it was agreed between the plaintiff and Rood Bros, that the property covered by the mortgage should be offered for sale at public auction, in the name of Rood Bros.; that the plaintiff should receive the proceeds of such sale, and apply the net proceeds thereof on the note aforesaid; that plaintiff should employ some competent party as clerk of the sale; that all notes taken at the sale should be taken in the name of the plaintiff, and that all cash received at the sale, should be the property of the plaintiff, to be applied on said note; that thereafter plaintiff entered into a contract with the defendant bank, to act as clerk at said sale, and that the bank should take all notes given for property, and collect all cash for property sold, and, at the conclusion of the sale, the defendant agreed to turn over all the cash received, and cash all notes taken, and to pay the full amount to the plaintiff, less 2 per cent, commission and 1 per cent, to the auctioneer; that, in pursuance of said agreement, the defendant sent its cashier to act as clerk at said sale, and said sale was made, and the proceeds of said sale received by the defendant, under said contract; 'that the total proceeds of said sale amounted to $1,596.35; that the discount and auctioneer’s fees amounted to $55.67, leaving net proceeds of $1,540.48.
It appears that, after this sale had been completed, the
The present action is commenced to. recover from the defendant the amount so received by it — $1,540.48—and in this suit the plaintiff also claims that the defendant entered into a conspiracy with the Lake Park State Bank to defeat plaintiff in any efforts she might make to secure the money in their hands — the proceeds of the sale — and, for that purpose, assigned the notes held by them to the Lake Park State Bank, and conspired with said bank to have a suit instituted on said notes, and to have this defendant garnished as the debtor of Rood Bros., in violation of its contract and agreement.
The defendant, for answer, admits that there is due .plaintiff $1,540.48, as the proceeds of the sale, after allowing for the discount and auctioneer’s fees, but, by way of counterclaim, says that for some years prior to 1908 Rood Bros, were tenants occupying certain land of the defendants; that it had a lien upon the property for the rent due; that the plaintiff’s mortgage was prior to defendant’s lien for rent;
Plaintiff, replying to this, alleges that defendant is now estopped to make this claim, for the reason that they did not assert it earlier in the litigation, and that, in the former litigation, this claim has been adjudicated against the defendants.
Upon, the issues thus tendered, the cause was tried to a jury, and a verdict rendered for the plaintiff for $1,107.41, being the full amount of plaintiff’s claim, less the $433.07 allowed on defendant’s counterclaim. The court, in submitting the case to the jury, did not submit plaintiff’s claim for damages based on the alleged conspiracy between the defendant and the Lake Park State Bank, and did not submit the question of estoppel pleaded in the reply.
There was a direct issue as to whether or not there was any agreement between the plaintiff and defendant, as claimed by the defendant, touching the allowance of the rent due it from Rood Bros., and their right to retain a portion of the proceeds of the sale to discharge the same, and this question was submitted to the jury, and the jury found that the agreement was made between the plaintiff and defendant, as claimed by the defendant, and that there was $433.07 due the defendant from Rood Bros, as rent, and this was allowed as
The only question submitted to the jury and determined by it was whether or not the defendant was entitled to offset against the plaintiff’s claim the $433.07 on account of rent due from the Rood Bros, to it. The jury determined this question in favor of the defendant, under proper instructions, and we are not concerned with that matter on this appeal.
In this count the plaintiff does not seek to recover for the wrongful suing out of the attachment, and, if she does, she lays no ground for it. The most that appears is that this defendant assigned its note to the Lake Park State Bank; that
That question was not involved in the suit between the Lake Park State Bank and Rood Bros., nor was it involved in the intervention filed by the plaintiff, and the garnishee was not required to make the claim. He was not a party to that proceeding, nor to the intervention. In the suit between the Lake Park State Bank and Rood Bros., in which the garnishment was issued, the only entry that could be made by the court upon the plaintiff’s petition of intervention (if the plaintiff succeeded in her intervention) was to order the property released, upon finding the intervener’s lien superior to the lien of the Lake Park State Bank under its garnishment. See Lake Park State Bank v. Rood Bros., 152 Iowa, 47.
"We think there was no error on the part of the court in refusing to submit this issue to the jury.
If you find from the evidence that there was no oral agreement between the plaintiff and defendant as claimed, then the plaintiff will be entitled to recover the net proceeds of the sale, after deducting discount and auctioneer’s expenses, . . . together with 6 per cent, interest from the 8th day of December, 1908. But if you believe from the evidence that such an oral agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant was made as claimed by the defendant, . . . then you will find the plaintiff entitled to recover the net proceeds of said sale, less the amount you find the defendant entitled, under the evidence, to retain out of the proceeds of said sale in discharge of his claim for rent, without interest.
In this, we think the court erred.
We think the defendant ought to be required to pay interest on this sum to the plaintiff from the 8th day of December, 1908, and the judgment and decree is therefore modified to this extent.
This being a mere matter of computation, the court from which this appeal was taken is hereby directed to enter judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant for $1,107.41,
As thus modified, the case is affirmed.
Modified and Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lizzie Rood Laird v. German Savings Bank of Lake Park, Iowa
- Status
- Published