Peek v. Heim
Peek v. Heim
Opinion of the Court
This was a feigned issue under the sheriff’s interpleader act. The pivotal question is, whether the property levied upon by the sheriff had been consigned to Hill, the defendant in the execution, as the factor or consignee of Peek & Son, to be sold by him on their account, or whether the transaction amounted to a conditional sale with an attempted reservation of a lien for the price. The court below took the latter view of it and instructed the jury accordingly. All of the assignments of error bear upon this point.
We see no error in the ruling of the court. The whole contract appears from the two papers, the one headed “ Terms of Consignment,” and signed by Peek & Son, and the other headed “ Consignee’s Agreement,” and signed by F. K. Hill. It is true the words “consignor” and “consignee” appear sufficiently conspicuous, but these are merely labels which the parties have placed upon the transaction; we must look within to see its real nature, and it is immaterial what the' parties designate it. We thus learn from the “Terms of Consignment ” that the piano named and invoiced, and consigned to Hill, “is the property of Peek & Son, of New York city, and is to remain their property until fully paid for; and the said Peek & Son ship and deliver the same upon the express condition that F. K. Hill of Sunbury, in the state of Pennsylvania, shall remit the sum of one hundred and sixty-five dollars to them therefor, within.....from the date hereof, or return the said piano to them at the expiration of the said time, at the expense of the said F. K. Hill.” Then follows the “Consignee’s Agreement,” by which Hill acknowledges having received the piano on consignment; that it is to remain the property of Peek & Son until paid for, and if not paid for, to be returned at his own expense, etc.
That this was not an ordinary transaction between consignor
Judgment affirmed.
On October 14,1889, a motion for a re-argument was refused.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- D. T. PEEK v. D. HEIM
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (a) By the “terms of consignment” attached to an invoice and accepted by the consignee, it was stated that the goods consigned were the properly of the consignors, were so to remain until fully paid for, and that the consignors shipped and delivered them upon the express condition that the consignee should remit a sum certain therefor, within a time certain, or return the goods. 1. The transaction, evidenced by such tei-ms, was not a bailment but a sale to the consignee, with an agreement that the title was to remain in the consignors until the price was paid: the arrangement was valid between the parties to it, but the secret lien attempted to be created could not affect the consignee’s creditors. 2. Whatever the form of the agreement, if the pur-pose of it is to coverup a sale and preserve a lien in the vendors for the price of the goods, it is void as respects creditors of the vendee, whether the credit is given before or after the delivery of the goods; a consignment for such an object is no better than any other device.