In re Gendron
In re Gendron
Opinion of the Court
From the referee’s certificate for review the following facts appear:
That bankrupt was conducting a retail shoe store under the name of “Leo’s Boot
It is clear from the referee’s certificate that the element of fraud is not present in-the transaction; The creditor, and not the bankrupt, is responsible for the mistake. In England and in this state some doubt is expressed as to whether, in ease of a sale to a swindler, the seller could recover the property ■or its value of an innocent purchaser. Cundy v. Lindsay, 3 Appeal Cases, 459; Lindsay v. Cundy, 1 Q. B. D. 348; Samuel v. Cheney, 135 Mass. 278, 46 Am. Rep. 467; Edmunds v. Merchants’ Dispatch Transportation Co., 135 Mass. 283.
The case principally relied upon by the creditor (Newberry v. Norfolk & S. R. Co., 133 N. C. 45, 45 S. E. 356) is a case where a deliberate fraud was perpetrated and the purchaser was not an innocent purchaser. In the case at bar the situation is quite different. The order was received from Leo’s Boot Shop. The merchandise was sent to Leo’s Boot Shop. The seller was honestly mistaken as to the proprietor of the Boot Shop, but that mistake was not mutual. The bankrupt did not share in the mistake, nor was he in any way responsible for it. This situation does not entitle the vendor to the redress' it seeks. Williston on Sales, § 656. I am of the opinion that, under the circumstances disclosed in the referee’s certificate, the claimant does not show a title to the merchandise good as against the trustee in bankruptcy.
The order of the referee, dismissing the petition for reclamation, is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re GENDRON
- Status
- Published