Bancroft Trust Co. v. Corey
Bancroft Trust Co. v. Corey
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an order "Report dismissed. No prejudicial error found” of the Appellate Division for the Western District. The appellants are the defendants in an action of contract brought on their joint and ° several promissory note by the plaintiff, a banking corporation in possession of the commissioner of banks, in liquidation under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 167. The trial judge
Succinctly stated the facts are as follows: In May, 1925, the plaintiff lent the defendants $5,000, and they gave the note declared on in the plaintiff’s declaration and executed a mortgage deed to the plaintiff as security for the loan on property owned by the defendant Thomas Corey at 76 Lake Avenue, Worcester.' On February 17, 1926, they paid $1,000 on the principal of said note. The back of the note bore the following words and figures: “Payments on Account of Principal Date Feb. 17, 1926 Amount $1000 Balance Due $4000.” On January 1, 1932, the defendants defaulted in payment of the quarterly interest on their note.
There was evidence that the plaintiff as mortgagee on December 7, 1932, made an open, peaceable and unopposed entry on the premises described in said mortgage for the purpose of foreclosing the mortgage for breach of conditions thereof; that this declaration of purpose was duly recorded; that after due and sufficient legal notice the plaintiff on January 5, 1933, sold the premises described in said mortgage to itself for $100; that just before the foreclosure sale the value of the mortgaged property was between $4,000 and $5,000; that the defendants occupied the premises until they received notice to leave from the plaintiff; and that the plaintiff never made to the defendant Thomas
The defendants’ contention as we understand it is that the mortgaged property has been carried as an asset of the plaintiff at a valuation of $4,000 and not as mere security for the payment of the $4,000 note. The defendants also contend that the property after the foreclosure was carried as an asset of $4,000 during the years of 1933 and 1934 to the end of the record. It is also contended by the defendants that the ledger record shows that the plaintiff transferred the property to a holding corporation to secure a loan and took a retransfer of the mortgaged property.
It is plain the evidence does not require such a legal conclusion. The property was held in mortgage, and not as an asset of credit at a fixed value. There was no surplus for which the plaintiff is bound to account and no payment of principal or interest after October 1, 1931, and there is no evidence of any voidable foreclosure sale. Johnston v. Cassidy, 279 Mass. 593. Cambridge Savings Bank v. Cronin, 289 Mass. 379.
Order dismissing report affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.