Case v. Kloppenburg
Case v. Kloppenburg
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff having a judgment against Kloppenburg and Schneider in solido and another against Schneider alone, caused executions to issue, and proceeded to seize the entire contents of a barroom or drinking saloon kept by Schneider at the corner of -G-ravier and Baron ne streets. Mrs. Lenes, claiming to be the owner
It is a trite maxim that the property of a debtor is the common pledge of his creditors; by which we understand that every creditor has the right to look to the property of his debtor for the payment of his debt. Where the law creates privileges in favor of certain creditors on the property of the common debtor, it leaves to the creditors not preferred their residuary rights whatever they may be against the property of the debtor, notwithstanding the privileges imposed upon it, and they may exercise those rights subsidiarily to those enjoyed by the preferred creditors; and the reason of this right is obvious, for the value of the property may exceed in amount the debt of the privileged creditor and leave something for the ordinary creditor. It seems to us that the interpretation of the articles of the Code referred to, contended for in behalf of the opponent tends to ignore this well settled principle which accords to all creditors the equal right to pursue the property of the common debtor. The terms used in article 3218 of the
The authorities relied upon on the part of the opponent we are not prepared to admit are conclusive. The case in 5 An. 11.1 is very briefly reported. It seems to consist of an abstract from the judgment rendered in the case by the district judge and adopted as the decree of this court.
The facts of the case are not fully given. At all events the purport of the decision seems to be that, where property on which a landlord has a privilege for rent has been seized on execution at the suit of a third person, the landlord has two remedies, either by way of third opposition or by injunction. The case in 23 An. 605, like the one in 5 An., merely recognizes the right of detention as expressed in the Code. In the case in 23 An. the only question was, whether a lessor who has not recorded his lease has a better right to the proceeds of cotton, mules, etc., on the leased premises sold under execution, than the seizing creditor who has not himself registered his seizure. In the case of Robert Lynn Tanner, Administrator of William B. Pierce’s estate, v. Asa Tanner, 6 Rob. 35, the question came up more directly in a contestation between a lessor and an overseer for superiority of privilege on the crop raised on a plantation leased to the defendant. There, as in the case at bar, the lessor asserted his right to be of a higher nature than a mere privilege and claimed to have the right to take the effects themselves on which his lien existed and retain them until he was paid. The court said in that case : “ This right of detention which is a part of the lessor’s remedy, affords him, to be sure, much greater security; but like the pledgee and the creditor, having only a privilege, he must have the thing subject to his lien sold in the manner provided by law. When this takes place, if a conflict should arise in consequence of adverse claims on the same fund, a distribution of it must be made,” etc. We can find no satisfactory reason why the lessor’s rights should not be determined and his privileged claim ascertained and settled like those of every other creditor holding privilege or mortgage. We suppose that nothing is better established in our jurisprudence than that a creditor who has a mere right of preference on the proceeds of property seized under execution, has not the legal right to arrest the sale of the property, but is given the right to interpose his opposition and claim the proceeds under a distribution to be made according to law. In the case of Herbert’s Heirs v. Babin et al. 6 N. S. 614, Judge Porter said “the plaintiff's right is one of privilege, and as the law requires that property put up at auction by the sheriff shall be sold subject to all the privileges and hypothecations with which it is burdened, their position can not in any respect be altered
In the case of Glerses v. McHatton, ibidem 560, where the question was whether property seized under execution was held by simulated title or by pledge, the court sustained the seizure and said: “ Considered as a pledge of the property, the plaintiff had no right to enjoin its sale under the executions of the defendants. He should in strictness have proceeded by way of third opposition to claim a priority upon its proceeds.”
Our conclusion is that the injunction was illegally issued, and that the plaintiff’s remedy was by third opposition, claiming her priority of privilege on the proceeds of the property seized and subject to the lessor’s privilege.
It is therefore ordered that the judgment of the district court be annulled, avoided and reversed. It is further ordered that the injunction be dissolved; that the plaintiff, Josephine Elliot, wife of Joseph Lenes, as principal, and Alfred Phillips, her surety, be condemned to pay in solido to the defendant in injunction ten per cent, on the amount of the judgments enjoined as damages, and all costs of suit.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. Mrs. Josephine Lenes leased certain houses to the defendants; during the existence of the lease the plaintiff, a judgment creditor of the lessees, seized the contents of the houses — - whereupon the lessor, alleging that the property seized was not sufficient to satisfy her claim for the lease, enjoined the sheriff and plaintiff from taking said property and from selling it. She asserts her right of detention of the property under her right of pledge as lessor. It is contended that notwithstanding the lessor’s rights, the plaintiff may seize and sell the property, and that the lessor must assert his right against the proceeds.
If the lessor had only a privilege to secure his rents, the position would be correct. But the Code says: “The right which the lessor has over the product of the estate, and on the movables wlxich are found on the place leased, is of a higher nature than a mere privilege. The latter is only enforced on the price arising from the sale of movables to which it applies. It does not enable the creditor to take or keep the effects themselves. The lessor, on the contrary, may take the effects themselves, and detain them until he is paid.” 3218.
In Robb v. Wagner, 5 An. 111, it was decided that a lessor had “ a lien and right of detention upon the property on the premises for the security of his rent. The lien was his property, and as valuable to him as if he were the owner of the property itself; and no sheriff or marshal, under execution against a third person, had any right to take away the property before paying the landlord.” The same principle was recognized in Arick & Walsh v. Boisseau, 23 An. 605.
The case of Tanner v. Succession of Pearce is not in point. The organ of the court in that case'said : “The only question which this case presents for our solution is, whether the lessor or the overseer has the superior privilege on the crop of a plantation leased to the defendant.” And the court decided that the overseer’s privilege was superior. The court, it is true, said afterwards : “The right of detention, which is part of the lessor’s remedy, affords him, to be sure, much greater security; but, like the pledgee, and the creditor having only a privilege, he must have the thing subject to the lien sold in the manner
Rehearing refused.
Concurring Opinion
concurring. I concur in the conclusion of Mr. Justice Taliaferro on the ground that I know of no law that enables a landlord and his tenant to shield the property of the latter from the pursuit of his creditors. When any other creditor than the landlord gets a judgment against a tenant, such creditor can seize the property of the tenant, so far as seizable under any execution, and sell it. Then the landlord may assert his preference on the proceeds for what is due him at the time j but he has no legal power or right to prevent by injunction the seizure and sale of the property subject to his privilege, if he has not by some judicial proceedings or some legal mode taken possession of it.
Article 2709 R. C. C. says: “In the exercise of this right (i. e., his right of pledge), the lessor may seize the objects which are subject to it, before the lessee takes them away, or within fifteen days after they
Until he seizes the property as provided by the law, any other creditor with a writ may seize under the general laws on the subject of seizing the property of debtors. All the articles of the Code relating to lease must be construed together.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Frank F. Case, Receiver v. H. W. Kloppenburg Same v. William Schneider. (Consolidated)
- Status
- Published