Kansas Loan & Trust Co. v. Love
Kansas Loan & Trust Co. v. Love
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This action was commenced by George W. Love in the district court of Coffey county against J. W. Parker and the Kansas Loan and Trust Company, to recover a balance alleged to be due plaintiff below in consideration of the execution and delivery of a certain note and mortgage to the Kansas Loan and Trust Company. The plaintiff below alleged that on the 1st day of October, 1886, he executed a note and mortgage to the loan and trust, company for the sum of $2,500; that the note and mortgage were received and the mortgage placed or.
The case was tried before the court with a jury. Upon the conclusion of the evidence of the plaintiff below, the defendants interposed a demurrer, which was sustained as to the defendant J. W. Parker, and overruled as to the loan and trust company. The trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff below for $325 against {¡he loan and trust company. Exceptions were taken and the case was taken to the supreme court on error, where it was reversed. (Loan Co. v. Love, 45 Kan. 127.) The case having been remanded to the district court, plaintiff below filed an amended petition, alleging, in substance, that it was
The defendant answered by a general denial and alleged that George W. Love, by his agent, J. W. Parker, made application to it in writing to negotiate for him a loan of $3,000 on the premises described in his amended petition, to bear interest at 6 per cent, per annum; that among the various terms, conditions and agreements on which said loan was to be made, and set forth in said written application, were agreements that $400 of the proceeds of said loan might be retained by the Kansas Loan and Trust Company until the frame dwelling intended so be erected was up, and that insurance on the frame building to the amount of $800 was to be assigned as a part of the' security for said loan; that said Kansas Loan'and Trust Company duly considered the application, and informed said George W. Love that it would negotiate for him a loan of $2,500 on security offered, to bear interest at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum; that said George W. Love accepted the proposition, •and that the loan was negotiated in accordance with
The case was tried the second time before a jury. The defendant objected to the introduction of any evidence under the petition, upon the ground that the petition did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against it, which objection was overruled, and excepted to by the defendant. Plaintiff then introduced his evidence, to which the loan company filed its demurrer, which demurrer was overruled. To this ruling the company excepted. The jury returned a verdict against the defendant for $399.22. A motion for a new trial was duly filed, overruled, and exceptions taken, and the case brought, here for review.
The first errór complained of in plaintiff’s brief is,
The evidence on the trial shows that Love made an application in writing to the Kansas Loan and Trust Company for the loan of $3,000, for a term of five years, at 6 per cent, per annum, payable semiannually, to be secured by first morgage or trust deed upon the following lands in Coffey county, Kansas : North half of northwest quarter,'and southwest quarter of northwest quarter, and north half of southwest quarter, of section 28, township 20, range 17. The company, on investigation of the farm, notified Love that it could not loan him that amount of money on the security offered, and it could not let him have the money at 6 per cent". ; that it would loan him. $2,500 on the farm at 7 per cent. ; ■ and under that arrangement Love and his wife executed their note to the Kansas Loan and Trust Company for $2,500, and a mortgage on the farm to secure the payment of the money mentioned in the note, according to the terms and conditions thereof; that this arrangement was about a month or six weeks after the written application was sent it. It seems that the matter of the loan of the money and the security therefor was first introduced by the written application, but the contract was afterward made upon a different arrangement between the parties.
This loan was procured through the agency of J. W. Parker, a loan agent located at Burlington. On the
“The real controversy in this cáse is, whether or not the plaintiff ever authorized the retention of any portion of the loan until the frame of a proposed dwelling was up, and certain insurance was effected for the benefit of the mortgagee, and this matter depends largely upon the question of Parker’s agency. The plaintiff below contended that Parker was not his agent, and had no authority to make the statement he did in regard to the retention of a portion of the loan until certain conditions were complied with. The loan company, on the other hand, insisted that Parker was not its agent, but was the agent of the applicant for the loan ; that after the money in controversy had been in Parker’s hands for some time plaintiff requested the company to recall it, and that it held the sum of $300, which it was willing to pay upon the performance of the conditions mentioned.”
The very same question became' material on the retrial of the case in the district court which is now before this court for review. The plaintiff below made án application to J. W. Parker, a loan agent in Burlington, for a loan of $3,000 on his farm. Parker had in his possession blank applications for loans furnished by the Kansas Loan and Trust Company, one of which his clerk filled out. George W. Love, defendant in error, signed the first page of the sheets, as to which there seems to be no question, but it is claimed by Love that the matter contained on the third .page of this application was not signed by him or authorized by him to be signed. The third page is signed by Parker. After giving a description of the farm, with the improvements, and the value thereof, it contains the'following :
“He intends to use this money to build a house,*196 improve farm, and buy stock, and in addition to this loan he will owe $500. From the character and condition of said farm and the credit of the applicant, I belie.ve that the loan of $3,000 on said farm would be well secured, and that such a loan would prove satisfactory. He intends to use part of this money to build house. You may retain $400 until frame is up.
“Dated, Burlington, September 6, 1886.— J. W. Parker.”
It was contended by plaintiff below that the third page of this sheet was not filled out at the time he sigped the application ; that Parker was not his agent and was not authorized by him to make the statement contained on this sheet. The real questions are as to the agency of Parker, whether Love ever authorized the signing of the third sheet of the application by Parker, whether the loan was made under the written application, or whether Love, after the loan was made and the money sent to Parker, authorized or directed the loan and trust company to withdraw the $300 from Parker and retain the same until the frame of the dwelling-house was up and the house insured for the benefit of the mortgagee. They were all questions of fact for the consideration and determination of the jury. The jury returned a verdict upon the testimony, and their verdict, being sustained by the trial court, is conclusive of the questions of fact. •
Complaint is made of the charge of the court to the jury. The court charged the jury:
“ 1. That the plaintiff was entitled t'o recover whatever amount of this loan the evidence shows to have been withheld from him by the defendant, less any amount which he may have agreed to pay Parker.
“2. You will ascertain from the evidence what amount, if any, the plaintiff was indebted to Parker for his services for procuring such loan. This amount you will deduct from the amount of the loan still re*197 maining unpaid., and return a verdict for the plaintiff for the difference.
“3. You will compute interest on the amount you find due the plaintiff at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum from the date upon which the plaintiff made demand for the payment of said sum, as shown by the evidence.
“ 4. The burden of proof is upon the defendant to show by a preponderance of the evidence how much, if anything, was due from Love to Parker.
“5. A preponderance of the evidence does not necessarily mean by the greater number of witnesses, but by it is meant the degree or condition of the proof which, considered in the light of all the evidence in the case, seems to be most reasonable, the most consistent, and the most satisfactory.
“6. You are the exclusive judges of the evidence, of its weight, and of the credibility of,the witnesses.”
We do not think that there is any error in the instructions of the court to the jury. They are all applicable to the issues under the evidence on the trial in this caso. In trials by jury, it is the duty of the court to instruct the jury on questions of law which it deems applicable to the case, as appear by the pleadings and evidence, and if the instructions of the court are not as full and complete as a party desires, and do not contain all the law applicable to the case, and the party desires other or different instructions, he should.make his z'equest in writing foz' them, as provided by section 275 of the code. The record does not show that any further or different instructions were asked on the part of the defendant below. It was content simply to object and except to the instructions as given, but did not require further or different instructions to be given. The record does not anywhere show that it cozitains all the instructions given by the court to the jury in the case, and
In the case of Davis v. McCarthy, 52 Kan. 116, Johnston, J., delivering the opinion of the court, says :
“The correctness of the charge of the court, however, is not open to inquiry, as the record does not purport’ to set forth the instructions in full as given by the court, nor is there any statement that those contained in the record were the only statements of the law upon any particular branch of the case.”
In the case of Winston v. Bwmell, 44 Kan. 370, Johnston, J., speaking for the court, says :
‘ ‘ The record fails to show that all the instructions given are preserved in the record, and therefore the court cannot say that those refused were not given, or that any error was committed by the refusal.”
The final contention of the plaintiff in error is,’that the verdict of the jury is not sustained by sufficient evidence, and is contrary to both the law and the evidence. The court cannot disturb the verdict of the jury, or the judgment of the court founded thereon, unless there is such an entire want of evidence to prove some material fact necessary to entitle the party to recover, or it is such that the party was not entitled to recover under any view that may be taken of the evidence most favorable to him, or such as to show that the jury were influenced by prejudice or passion. Where there is evidence tending to prove each material fact necessary to support the verdict, and the jury have rendered their findings thereon, this court cannot disturb the verdict, although it might have come to a different conclusion upon the whole evidence. We have carefully examined the evidence C 'Utained in the record, and find that there was some evidence tending to prove each matter, necessary to
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.