In re Empire Cork Co.
In re Empire Cork Co.
Opinion of the Court
Between November 29 and December 3, 1909, the bankrupt was unable to secure supplies of cork-wood which it required. Joseph B. Regan, the president, J. B. Ribas, the treasurer, and Charles F. Lehmann (who- seems to' have then agreed to get security for further purchases of corkwood by the company), were unable to obtain further unsecured credit from A. S. Gouvea & Co., who already had a claim of some $7,000 which they were
The motion has now been brought on for final disposition; the accounts having been collected, and some $561.28 being in the hands of the trustee. The total amount of "credit extended was $1,345.21, and Gouvea & Co. have already collected on account of the assigned claims $799.12, leaving unpaid $546.09, which is demanded from the fund in the trustee’s hands. The assignment in question is to secure credits to the sum of $500, and provides for the collection of the accounts assigned (amounting, as has been said, to some $1,383.01) to Gouvea & Co., until the amount of credit is repaid. In other words, these accounts were transferred to Gouvea & Co. merely as security for what, according to,the instrument, appeared to be a future credit for $500, but, according to the findings of the commissioner, was a simultaneous or subsequent execution of an assignment for $500 to pay an existing debt of over $1,300.
As was said in the previous memorandum, an assignment to secure an indebtedness, which is shown by the testimony to have been incurred for a present valid consideration, would seem to be a debt incurred for the enrichment of the estate, and would have to be paid in full, as it could be held neither preferential nor fraudulent. Hence the issue which was previously referred, and which still exists undetermined, is whether or not the assignment was- exchanged for the goods already delivered, and whether, if given, the assignment was valid to the extent of over $1,300, although in terms being for but $500.
Certain things can be presumed. It is not disputed that the amount of cork delivered between November 29th and December 3d was worth what is claimed, namely, over $1,300, nor would it seem to be possible of dispute that the assignment of accounts when made, whether it be upon the 29th of November or the 3d of December, was delivered as a part of one transaction. The testimony shows that further credit rtas refused until security was promised, and the execution of the agreement, even assuming that it was made at the interview upon the 3d of December, at the instance of Lehmann, was evidently a mere carrying out of the purchase not yet completed. Such a payment would be- no more preferential nor fraudulent than if cash had
It is apparent that the corporation was in difficulties, and that this condition was known to its officers, to Lehmann, and to Gouvea & Co. If the deliveries of cork on November 29th and December 1st were made upon credit without security, or upon the guaranty of Lehmann alone, then a payment to the Cork Company, on December 3d, of such a debt, would have been preferential and could be avoided by the trustee.
But the evidence would seem to show that Gouvea & Co. refused to extend further credit except upon actual payment by the assignment of accounts, which was equivalent to the giving of collateral to them for their claim, and in this instance this assignment of accounts was accompanied by delivery of the evidences of those accounts, when the assignment was completed. In fact, Gouvea & Co. collected these assigned accounts until bankruptcy intervened, and since that they have been collected subject to Gouvea’s title thereto. Hence it seems necessary to hold that even if the Empire Cork Company was insolvent upon the 29th day of November, and the assignment was not executed until the 3d of December, and dated back to the 29th of November, it would be valid as a transfer of these accounts to the extent of $500. But for this amount when collected by Gouvea & Co. an accounting could be had, and as to any balance they would be trustees for the bankrupt estate.
It Is then necessary to determine whether or not Gouvea & Co., having an indebtedness of over $7,000 with an additional debt of $1,-345.21, to secure which they had a written assignment for $500, while claiming the right to apply the security beyond that amount, applied the $799.12 first collected to their original debt, or to the new debt not covered by the terms of the assignment, or to the indebtedness which the assignment expressly referred to. There is nothing to indicate that they did, or claimed the right to, apply this sum to their general indebtedness of $7,000. The agreement in writing which they received, and under which they acted, and as to which they claimed there was an oral promise to increase the amount, provides that the collection shall be applied first to the payment of $500 actually assigned therein. A knowledge of what it contains must be presumed from possession on the part of Gouvea & Co., and they must therefore be held to have applied the first $500 to the satisfaction of the amount ordered by that agreement. That leaves them with $299.12 in their hands to apply upon the balance of $1,345.21, and it apparently ivas so applied. They are now claiming, as has been said, the right to apply the balance actually collected by the trustee of
The motion for the reclamation of the goods and for payment of collection beyond that already in the hands of Gouvea & Co. must be denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re EMPIRE CORK CO.
- Status
- Published