In re Ketterer Mfg. Co.
In re Ketterer Mfg. Co.
Opinion of the Court
At the time of its bankruptcy, March 2, 1907, the Ketterer Manufacturing Company was the owner of a valuable leasehold on certain property in AVest Hanover, Pa., where it carried on its business, which was disposed of by the trustee at public sale, September 10, J 907, for $11,500; the sale being finally-confirmed November 7th following. This leasehold was subject to a
There was due for the rent of the leased premises on March 2, 1907, the date of the petition in bankruptcy, the sum of $592.70, and from then to December 1, 1907, when the purchaser went into possession, the further sum of $750, making a total of $1,342.70. This amount, by order of the referee, at the instance of the present owner of the leasehold, has been directed to be paid over by the trustee to the Hanover Savings Fund Society, to be credited on the mortgage, in compliance with the terms of the lease. This payment is resisted by C. P. Ketterer, the lessor, who has made due proof of his claim for rent, and the propriety of it is the question to be disposed of.
The clause of the lease which is relied on was, no doubt, inserted for the protection of the lessee, in order to secure payment, within the life of the lease, of the mortgage to which it was subject, and it had so far been carried out at the time of the trustee’s sale that the mortgage had been reduced to $7,500. The purchaser’s rights attached at that time, and are governed by conditions as they then existed, by which he must be assumed to have been guided in his bidding, and they cannot be carried back of or beyond that. He is entitled to have the lease lived up to from that time on, but he is not concerned with whether it has been or not before that, at least not so far as regards the application of the rent to the payment of the mortgage. If nothing, for instance, had been so applied, so that $10,000 was due upon it, instead of $7,500, he would have to take the situation as it stood and could not ask to' have it remedied. The mortgage is not against the leasehold, but the fee, and, except as it is an incumbrance which if foreclosed would avoid the lease, the amount due upon it does not affect the value of the lease, which depends solely on the rent reserved as compared with the rental value of the premises. Practically, therefore, it is of no moment to the lessee what is the amount of the mortgage, or how fast it is paid off, so long as it does not threaten him, of which, as now reduced at least, there seems to be no danger. But, even if there were, the mortgage being $7,500 when he bought, he must take the estate with that burden, and is not in a position to -ask that the unapplied rent which had accrued before he came in shall be applied for his benefit, to the detriment of others. It is possible
The order of the referee is therefore reversed, and the sum of $1,-342.70 is directed to be paid to C. P. Kettcrer on the claims for rent which he has proved.
The exceptions to the item of $1,000 allowed to C. J. Delone as. attorney for the trustee must also be sustained. Judging by the services rendered, with which I am familiar, $500 is abundant compensation, and that will be the amount to be paid.
The case will therefore be sent back to the referee, with directions to revise the account of the trustee in conformity with the views expressed in this opinion.
And it is so ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re KETTERER MFG. CO.
- Status
- Published