Henley v. Wheatley
Henley v. Wheatley
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The plaintiff commenced this action to recover a judgment against George W. Wheatley and Pearl M. Wheatley upon the recitals in a chattel mortgage. The defendants filed separate demurrers to the petition, which were sustained and judgment rendered thereon against the plaintiff for costs. To reverse this judgment proceedings in error are prosecuted.
1. “Provided always, and these presents are upon this express condition, that if said parties of the first part shall pay or cause to be paid unto the said party of the second part, or to his executors, administrators or assigns, the aforesaid sum of six thousand (6000) dollars, according to the terms of one certain promis-, sory note and payable at the Citizens’ Bank, of Galena, Kan., said note bearing date March 1, Í900, with interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum from date of March 1, 1900, and which note the said party of the first part hereby agrees to pay, then these presents and everything herein contained shall be void, anything herein' contained to the contrary, notwithstanding.
‘ ‘And it is hereby mutually covenanted and agreed between the parties hereto that if default be made in the payment of said sum of money or any part thereof, or interest thereon according to the tenor and effect of said note when the same becomes due and payable, or upon failure to conform to, or comply with, any of the conditions or agreements herein mentioned, then the whole sum of money hereby secured shall, at the option of the legal holder or holders thereof, become due and payable at once without notice. And it is
2. “And if from any cause said property shall fail to satisfy said debt and interest aforesaid said party of the first part hereby agrees to pay the deficiency.”
The specific provisions of the mortgage relied upon for a personal judgment against defendants we have marked “1” and “2.”
The mortgaged property was sold and the proceeds applied’so far as it would go to the payment of the note.
A different question arises as to the liability of Pearl M. Wheatley upon the mortgage. As to her there is no promissory note : her promise is in the mortgage. If she can be held at all for the debt, it is because of the binding force of the conditions in the mortgage and the purpose for which it was given. The provision of the mortgage marked “1” contains a definite and specific promise by both the mortgagors to pay the note described in the mortgage at its maturity, and the provision marked “2” is a promise to pay the debt in case the mortgaged property shall, when sold, bring an amount insufficient for that purpose. The petition alleges that this property was sold and the proceeds thereof were insufficient to pay the debt. Thereupon the personal liability of Pearl M. Wheatley to pay the debt became fixed.
It is not necessary that the obligation of a surety be written upon the same piece of paper with that of the original promisor. It is just as effective and obligatory when written upon a separate sheet. The vital question in actions arising out of such transactions is,. Was it the intention of the party to be bound as' surety? It is alleged in the present case that the execution of the note and mortgage was one contemporaneous act. The promises in the mortgage that the1 parties thereto would pay the note at maturity or would pay it in case the proceeds of the mortgaged property, when sold, should prove .insufficient, are alleged in the petition to be parts of one transaction, and are specific enough to make a prima facie case against Pearl M. Wheatley and sufficient to withstand an attack by demurrer. For these reasons the
The cause is therefore remanded, with instructions to set aside the judgment and overrule both demurrers.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting) : I do not agree with the reasoning of the court or the law announced as to Pearl M. Wheatley. The petition as to her is lacking in at least one very essential averment — it does not state that the mortgage was given as an original promise by Pearl M. Wheatley, but does state that it was given as security for the debt of George W. Wheatley.
The provisions of the mortgage marked “1,” relied • upon by the plaintiff, and from which this court has inferred the liability of Pearl M. Wheatley, are only the ordinary defeasance provisions found in all mortgages, the intention and effect of which is • that if the debt shall be paid the mortgage shall become void. There are no allegations in the petition that Pearl M. Wheat-ley agreed to be bound, or that it was her intention, or the expectation of the plaintiff, that by signing the mortgage she would be personally liable for the debt of her husband. She did not obligate herself in the usual way by signing the note, notwithstanding it is alleged that the making of the note and mortgage was one transaction. Apparently, and so far as the allegations of the petition go, Pearl M. Wheatley signed the mortgage for the one purpose for which wives usually sign mortgages with their husbands — to relinquish any interest they may have in their husband’s property.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- A. Henley v. George W. Wheatley
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. Chattel Mortgage — Petition against Wife on Debt Evidenced by Mortgage Only Held Sufficient. A petition to recover a personal judgment against a wife upon stipulations in a chattel mortgage given by her husband and herself to secure the payment of his note, to which she was not a party, that “ these presents are upon this express condition, that if said parties of the first part shall pay or cause to be paid unto the said party of the second part . . . the aforesaid sum of six thousand (6000) dollars, according to the terms of one certain promissory note . . . which note the said party of the first part hereby agrees to pay,” and also that “if from any cause said property shall fail to satisfy said debt and interest aforesaid said party of the first part hereby agrees to pay the deficiency,” states a cause of action against the wife, notwithstanding the absence from the petition of a statement that it was the contract or intention of the wife, or the expectation of the mortgagee, that she should become personally liable for the payment of the debt by signing the mortgage.