Pendery v. Allen
Pendery v. Allen
Opinion of the Court
The mortgage from Edward P. Allen to Emerson, having been made in contemplation of insolvency, the question is, whether, within the meaning of section 6348, Revised Statutes, it should be held to be an assignment to Emerson in trust to secure the claim of the bank as well as his own liability as surety of the Allens. .We think that such was its character, and that the court erred in dismissing the petition as amended. That an assignment in trust for the benefit of one or more creditors of an insolvent debtor may
What then was the character of the mortgage from Allen to Emerson ? On its face it secured an absolute obligation to pay two notes, one of 8,000, and the other of 10,500 dollars. The court, however, found that the consideration for the 8,000 dollar note was the promise of Emerson to pay an indebtedness of the maker in that sum to the Rowes, and for which Emerson was surety; and that the consideration for the $10,500 dollar note was the promise of Emerson to pay an indebtedness of the maker in that sum to the bank, and for which he was in no way previously liable. Hence, aside from the promise of Emerson to pay the Rowes and the bank the amounts named, there was no consideration for the mortgage, and it would have been void as against creditors, under §6344, Revised Statutes, and the court would have been required to set it aside, as prayed for by
It is a well settled rule in equity, that where a surety for his own indemnity takes a collateral securtiy from his principal, such security is regarded in equity as a trust for the better security of the debt, and chancery will compel the execution of the trust for the benefit of the creditor. Story’s Eq. §502, and cases cited; Vail v. Foster, 4 N. Y. 312; Kelly v. Herrick. 131 Mass. 373; Green v. Dodge, 6 Ohio 80: Fastman v. Foster, 8 Met. 19; Paris v. Hulett,
The rule is not limited, but applies as well to • one standing in the situation of a surety, as to one standing strictly and formally in that relation. Thus in Curtis v. Tyler, 9 Paige, 432, where the owner of a mortgage had assigned the same and covenanted with the assignee that it was due and ■collectible, and subsequently took the bond of a third person as a further security for the payment of the amount due upon such mortgage, it was held by Chancellor War-worth, that the assignee of the mortgage was, in equity, entitled to the collateral bond for the security of the mortgage debt, on the principle, that where a surety or one standing in the situation of a surety for the payment of a debt, receives a security for his indemnity, the principal creditor is in equity entitled to the full benefit of that security; and it makes no difference, as he said, that such principal creditor did not act upon the credit of such security in the first instance, or even know of its existence. And he cited the case of Ex parte Perject, Mont. Bank. Rep. 25, w7here it was decided by the vice-chancellor of England that the endorser of a bill of exchange had an equitable claim to property deposited with the drawee as security against the payment of the bills accepted by him. So in Kramer & Rahm’s Appeal, 37 Penna. St. 71, where one King residing in Pittsburgh, agreed to accept paper to be drawn on him by one Baker, in consideration of pig metal to be shipped him, for his better security, took a judgment-note on which a judgment was obtained and a levy made, from which money was realized by a sale of the property, it was decided that the holders of the acceptances were entitled to the benefit of the security taken by King, although at the time of taking the acceptances they had no knowledge of the existence of the security; citing and relying on Curtis v. Tyler, and emphasizing the fact that the rule as there stated and applied, includes all standing in the situation of surety, and not merely such as technically occupy that relation. Thompson, J., in delivering the opinion, said, “The authorities place the principle upon the
These cases and the principle upon which they proceed, make it clear, as we think, that Emerson in accepting the mortgage as indemnity against loss in the performance of his promise to pay the bank, became, within the meaning of § 6343, Revised Statutes, an assignee of the property covered by the mortgage in trust for the benefit of the bank; and, as a consequence of the provisions of that section, held it in trust for all the creditors of Allen according to the amount of their respective demands. The fact that a surety has the right to take indemnity by way of mortgage from his principal, is of no avail, so far-as he assumes the indebtedness to the bank. For this indebtedness he was not previously liable as surety; and, as said by the judge delivering the opinion in Bloom v. Noggle, the statute cannot be evaded by assuming a liability as surety for the insolvent debtor, as part of the transaction by which the mortgage is given. He might safely have secured his liability for Allen to the Rowes; but, having gone beyond this, and accepted
We are, however, confronted with the case of Bagaley & Co. v. Waters, 7 Ohio St., 359. But that case is plainly distinguishable from the case before us. There, Asa B. Waters being insolvent, made an absolute sale of certain property to his brother, Israel I. Waters, in consideration of his agreement to pay certain named creditors of the grantor. The decision was placed on the ground that the sale was an absolute one, conferring on the purchaser the right to dispose of the property as his own, subject to no trust whatever in favor of the preferred creditors. In this view of the case it is hard to find any objection to the decision. It was upon this ground that the judge, delivering the opinion, distinguished the case from the previous decisions of the court on the same subject. Referring to these cases, he said: “ In each of them it will be found that the assignee held the property as mortgagee, or otherwise, in part at least, merely to secure other creditors besides himself, or was to account for a residuum to the assignor. Such instruments might well be declared assignments in trust.” In the case before us there was not an absolute sale. The debtor executed two notes and secured them by mortgage. The only consideration, as we have shown, for these notes, was the promise of the mortgagee to pay the Rowes and the bank, and the court found as a matter of fact, that, “ The purpose in the execution of said two notes and mortgage was to provide for the payment of said debts to said Rowe and said bank.” We have shown, if any thing can be established by reason and authority, that a security so taken, inures to the benefit of the creditor, and that he may
Judgment reversed, and judgment for the plaintiff in error; and catise remanded to the court of common pleas to carry this judgment into execution.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.