Standfield v. Phœnix Loan Ass'n
Standfield v. Phœnix Loan Ass'n
Opinion of the Court
— The plaintiff recovered a judgment against the defendant for $193, as abalance of a loan of $1200, made by defendant to plaintiff, and defendant appealed.
The case may be stated thus: In July, 1890, plaintiff owned a vacant lot in St. Joseph; and with a view of erecting a house thereon applied to, and secured from defendant a loan' of $1200, and executed a note
The defendant by its answer admits the agreement to loan the $1200, but alleges that such agreement was coupled with the condition that the plaintiff should put that amount in the building and improvements on. the lot which should stand as security for the debt; that it ■was expressly agreed that defendant should pay the bills for materials used in the improvement as well as for labor performed in constructing the building, other than that performed by plaintiff, to the extent of $1200, provided the cost of such building should not be less than that sum. Defendant further alleges that plaintiff did not construct a house costing $1200, and that it •only required about $900 to pay the bills for labor and materials; that it paid all such bills as per agreement, costs of insurance, examining title, etc, and having paid all said sums that there still remained unexpended of said $1,200 the net of $193, which the •defendant credited on plaintiff’s note.
It is contended by the defendant’s counsel, and with some apparent reason, that under the evidence (consi deredin the light of his petition) the plaintiff ought not to. recover, and that the lower court should have given a peremptory instruction for defendant. From' a reading of said petition, quoted from in the foregoing .statement, the nature of the complaint is not clear. It
Amount of note and mortgage ..............................$1,200.00
Prom this take amount paid by defendant on account of labor and materials that went into the building, as also membership fee in association, cost of insurance, appraisment and examination of title, interest and dues charged to plaintiff for months of July, August, September and October (the correctness of which is scarcely disputed), and which amounts to the sum of.............................................$1,006.99
There remained unexpended the balance...............$ 193.01
However, the plaintiff’s evidence tends to prove that he did not agree to expend the entire amount borrowed in improvements on the mortgaged real estate; but that he proposed and agreed to build a house of certain dimensions, character and quality as shown by certain plans then furnished by defendant’s manager, and that he did erect the identical improvement contemplated by the parties at the time the money was borrowed. And if plaintiff is correct in this contention then clearly he ought to recover the $193 left unexpended after such improvements were paid for. The substantial controversy between these parties seems to have been this: Plaintiff’s claim is that he contracted with defendant for the loan of $1,200, and that to add to the security covered by the mortgage he agreed to erect a certain building according to apian then understood and agreed on; that it was agreed that defendant should retain the money
There was evidence adduced at the trial tending to support these respective theories, notwithstanding the uncertain nature of the petition. Under such circumstances then we do not think a demurrer to plaintiff’s evidence ought to have been sustained. We would advise, however, that, when this case shall be remanded, the plaintiff amend his petition so as to conform more definitely to the facts upon which he seems to rely.
The trial court over the defendant’s objection submitted the case to the jury on the following instructions, given at the plaintiff’s request:
“1. The court instructs the jury, if they believe that the plaintiff negotiated a loan with the defendant on the second day of July, 1890, for $1,200, and that there is any part of said sum so loaned the plaintiff that he has never received the benefit of, then he is entitled to recover in this suit.”
“That if the plaintiff negotiated a loan upon representations made by plaintiff to the defendant, and they accepted the security offered, and discounted his note, he was entitled to receive the full amount of the same as discounted under the contract as introduced by the defendant, and if there is any part of the said loan of which the plaintiff has not received the benefit, the jury may find for him such sum.”
The instructions are practically to the same effect, and exclude entirely defendant’s theory of defense.
The judgment then will be reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial in accordance with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.