Plucker v. Teller
Plucker v. Teller
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The principle that a pledgee shall not make a profit out of the pledge without liability to account for it to the pledgor is beyond question, but it is not applicable to the facts of the present action. It is not the case of a sale by the pledgee against the will or in derogation of the interest of the pledgor, or without notice to him, but one made by the pledgor’s direction or request. The interest on the mortgage pledged as well as on the prior mortgage being unpaid, its value as an investment and as collateral security for the debt was depreciating, and the appellee himself called upon the appellant to realize on it by selling it out. This could not have been done by the terms of the pledge which only authorized appellant to sell and transfer the mortgage, a power which of course would have to be strictly pursued. By waiting a few days until his debt matured, appellant under the terms of the pledge could have sold the mortgage at public or private sale with the right to purchase and hold free of any trust or claim on the part of plaintiff. This however he did not do but acquiescing in plaintiff’s request he sued out the mortgage, and in due course the property was put up by the sheriff for sale. Appellant was under no obligation to bid, but chose to do so in order to protect his interest in the mortgage as security for his debt. Had he bought in the property without further notice to the plaintiff the presumption might still have been that the purchase was to preserve the pledge for their mutual benefit according to their respective rights, and therefore that the relation of trust still continued, and the sale made, as the learned judge below held that it did, a mere substitution of the land for the mortgage. But appellant did not take this course. He gave explicit notice that he would act only for himself and would not bid up the property for any more than enough to protect the loan, and that if plaintiff desired to bid anything above that amount it would be necessary for him to be on hand himself. This relieved appellant from any trust in case he purchased, and put him in the position of an ordinary purchaser at a mortgage sale, who takes a clear title, even though he be the mortgagee.
In any view of the case it was error to disallow the claim for commissions. If the jury should find in plaintiff’s favor he would thereby get the profit of a good sale, and he should pay the commissions earned by the firm which made it.
Judgment reversed and venire de novo awarded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jacob J. Plucker v. Benjamin F. Teller
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Bailment — Sale of pledged property — Trust and trustee — Notice. Where property is pledged for the payment of a debt, the pledgee is, within certain limits, a trustee who is bound to act for the pledgor’s interest as well as his own, but the interests of the pledgor and pledgee are not identical; and where their interests may require different action, the pledgee is justified in taking care of his interests after having put the • other party on his guard by notice to him that he must look out for himself. A mortgage was pledged to secure a debt. A default having occurred in a payment on it, the pledgee, at the pledgor’s request, foreclosed it, and the mortgaged premises were put up for sale by the sheriff. The pledgee gave explicit notice to the pledgor that he would only act for himself, and would not bid up the property for any more than enough to protect his claim, and that if the pledgor desired to bid anything above that amount it would be necessary for him to be present at the sale himself. Held, (1) that the notice relieved the pledgee from any trust in case he purchased; (2) that the pledgee in purchasing bought for himself and in his own right; (3) that the pledgor was not entitled to any share of the profits realized by the pledgee on a resale of the property; (4) that the burden of proof was upon the pledgee to show the circumstances that entitled him to buy clear of any trust for the pledgor; (5) that even if the jury should decide in the pledgor’s favor in a suit to recover the profits, the pledgee was entitled to credit for commissions paid by him to' a real estate broker for selling the property, although he was a member of the firm of brokers himself.