Chittenden v. Page
Chittenden v. Page
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The plaintiff being a judgment creditor of the defendant, on the 20th of November, 1840, issued his execution, which on the-same day was levied on a large quantity of household furniture, which is claimed by the intervenor, who alleged, he purchased it on the 19th of November, 1840, for a valuable consideration, as will appear by a notarial act, filed with his petition of intervention.
The plaintiff denies, the intervenor is owner of the furniture; he says, if it ever was sold, it was not delivered before his seizure; that the sale was fraudulent and void, as the defendant was in insolvent circumstances at the time, to the knowledge of the intervenor; that he knew of the judgment, as he had ohce been summoned to answer, if he had not property of defendant’s in his hands; that although $1000 was paid in cash when the sale was passed, and a note given for $1,500 more, yet it was all done for the purpose of defrauding him; that the money belonged to defendant, and the note was not to be paid; that the intervenor has no means whatever and defendant knew it, that the sale was made for $2,500, whilst the property was worth upwards of $5,000; that the intervenor has no family, keeps no boarding house, the property cannot be used by him as he is not engaged in trade, and the purchase will prove a loss to him, if he is in good faith; that defendant is to keep the boarding house and the purchase was made to assist her; and lastly, he has a privilege on a quantity
To these interrogatories, the intervenor seems to have answered with much good faith, that he borrowed the $1000 from a friend and returned it in a few days after, as he got a note discounted in hank to repay it, that he has some promissory notes and furniture, also thirty eight lots of ground in the parish of Jefferson, which are paid for. That there was no understanding between him and defendant that the furniture was to remain in defendant’s possession, that the sale was not made with the intention of defrauding plaintiff, but to assist defendant, who is, as he believes able to pay her debts as far as he knows any thing about them, but is temporarily embarrassed, and that he expects to pay the note he has given when it becomes due.
This suit is an instance of the trouble and difficulties a creditor may sometimes bring on himself, by pursuing a harsh and vexatious course towards his debtor. The demand of the plaintiff is for less than $900, a person who appears to he entirely solvent, and proved to he honest, acknowledges he owes the defendant $1,500, payable in one year. Yet in place of calling upon him in the manner prescribed by the act of the Legislature of 1839, the creditor pursues a course calculated to harrass all the parties and cast odium on-them, without advancing his own interests. When he requested the sheriff to make a levy, that officer told him the property had been sold, yet he persevered and gave a bond to indemnify him, for seizing in the hands of a third person.
The evidence shows that Brower & Co. had an attachment and sequestration for about $1000 against the defendant, the
As to the sale being fraudulent on account of the known insolvency of the vendor, we think the allegation is not sustained. It is not shown the defendant owed any person hut Brower & Co. and plaintiff. Their debts were less than $2000. The sale was made for $2,500, and plaintiff'says, defendant’s furniture was worth upwards of $5000. The intervenor denies on oath in his answers to interrogatories that defendant was insolvent, and no effort is made to contradict him.
After the admissions that $1000 in cash was paid as a part consideration of the sale, and a note for $1,500 more executed; it is difficult to conceive an intention to defraud the plaintiff out of a debt of less than $900, when the $1,500 was more than sufficient to pay it. The intervenor says on his oath, he expects to pay that note at maturity.
It is proved that the intervenor is a clerk in a hank, at a 1 - beral salary, that he has some property, and although the purchase he has made, may not prove a profitable one, we cannot on that account say the salo is fraudulent. The jury’
The judgment of the Commercial Court is therefore affirm' ed with costs.
Reference
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