Manshardt v. Rott
Manshardt v. Rott
Opinion of the Court
This is a petition in equity for the cancellation of certain notes and the release of a deed of trust given to secure them, on the ground that the plaintiff had paid the amount of said notes to the authorized agent of defendant, who thereupon agreed to cancel and satisfy said deed of trust. Defendant answered, averring that three of the notes held by her and secured by the trust deed mentioned in the petition were unpaid, wherefore defendant sought by cross-bill to foreclose said deed of trust. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appealed.
On the trial the evidence was that plaintiff and h.er husband purchased of Gr. H. Quellmalz a certain
Upon the execution and delivery of all of said notes, the former deed of trust on said property was released, and $500 in cash was given to the plaintiff.
The first conflict in the testimony given on the trial of this case arises from the different statements made by the parties as to what was said when the plaintiff called upon the defendant to make payment of the first maturing note. Plaintiff states, in substance, that she took the money in her hand find, after finding defendant, proffered to pay the note; that defendant replied: “Well, I can’t take the money, you will have to pay it to Mr. Quellmalz; he attends to my business.” On the other hand defendant’s version of the interview is, that she declined to receive the money because she did not have the note with her; that she told plaintiff to meet her the following Saturday at the office of Quellmalz, and that she would bring the note there and deliver it on payment to plaintiff; and that plaintiff agreed to come at the appointed time. The undisputed facts are that plaintiff, after this con
It will be perceived that the action of the plaintiff in going immediately to the office of the designated agent, is in entire accord with her account of the directions given by defendant. This fact and her second call on the next business day at said office, and the payment of the sum due on said note, clearly show her understanding of the statements of defendant as to the nature and extent of the authority of said Quellmalz to receive the money, and, taken in connection with the subsequent action of defendant in accepting and appropriating the money so given to Quellmalz in satisfaction of the note, constitute sufficient ground for plaintiff to regard Quellmalz as the agent of defendant to the extent to which he had thus been held out as such. ¥e have also less hesitation in finding that plaintiff’s account, supra, of what was said by defendant as to the agency of said Quellmalz is better entitled to belief than that given by defendant, when we consider other facts shown in the present record. It is undisputed that plaintiff never saw the defendant after the foregoing communication, until plaintiff had paid to Quellmalz for defendant on account of the loan in question the sum of $2,818, such payments extending over a period of several years. Neither is the payment of this sum questioned by defendant; her only claim is that a portion of it was paid, while the notes upon which it should have been applied were not in the possession of Quellmalz, and that he has never
We have every reason to believe from the circumstances in this case that Quellmalz not only made such an agreement when the papers were delivered to him for that purpose, but also that he was so authorized by the defendant. Among other circumstances significant of this is the fact that, at the time he received this balance of $1,648 from the plaintiff, one of the thousand dollar notes held by defendant was six months over due. On this note it also appears that Quellmalz had received partial payments, amounting to $400 before it matured, and in two of his receipts given for such partial payments had specified that the amounts were received on the loan. That defendant had allowed said note to run six months after maturity without a word
We are satisfied, after a careful examination of all the testimony in this case, that the finding of the chancellor of authority on the part of Quellmalz, implied by the conduct and acquiescence of plaintiff, to receive the payments made by plaintiff, was correct.
Appellant, however, insists that the decree of the trial court was erroneous in not awarding defendant $42 instead of the sum allowed. This assignment of error is well taken. According to the undisputed evidence in this case plaintiff, prior to November 15, 1892, had paid all notes maturing before that date, and had also made a partial payment of $400 on the thousand dollar note then maturing. Taking these facts as a basis, the loan account thereafter would stand, on May 15, 1893, when the settlement between plaintiff and Quellmalz was agreed upon, to wit:
Due defendant on note maturing November 15, 1892...........$ 600 00
Six months interest thereon at ten per cent, per annum......... 30 00
Due defendant on $1,000 note maturing November 15, 1893..... 1,000 00
Two interest notes not shown to be paid, $30 each............. 60 00
$1,690 00
Subtracting from the above aggregate the amount paid by plaintiff on settlement agreed upon May 15, 1893, to wit, $1,648, it will be seen that a balance of $42 was due defendant. The finding of .the trial judge only awarded defendant $16 instead of $42 due her, as shown above, and in that respect was incorrect. Judgment will, therefore, be entered in this court decreeing defendant $42 instead of the sum awarded her by the
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.