Commonwealth v. Monongahela Valley Bank
Commonwealth v. Monongahela Valley Bank
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This is an appeal from the decree of the court below confirming the report of an auditor upon the final account of a receiver, and making distribution of the funds in his hands. The record is so defective that it is impossible for us to deal intelligently with all of the questions raised by this appeal. The receiver filed two accounts and two reports were filed by an auditor. No exceptions seem to have been taken to the first account, or to the first report of the auditor making distribution. But in his second report, the'auditor relies .upon his first report for some of his findings, and that report not being printed, these facts do not appear before us. The result is that we lack knowledge of facts which may be material to a proper decision here, or which are at least necessary to a complete understanding of the case. .The appeal is taken by four stockholders of the Monongahela Valley Bank, which became insolvent and passed into the hands of a receiver. The extent of the interest held by these stockholders in the capital stock, or the amount in-which that interest would be benefited in case the claims which they here make should be sustained, does
In the fourth and fifth assignments of error complaint. is made of the action of the court below in overruling appellants’ exceptions to the report of the auditor with respect to the allowance made to the receiver for commis
In the sixth assignment of error, complaint is made of the allowance of credit to the receiver of the sum of $226.79, being the amount of a dividend from the bankrupt estate of McQuaide, received and paid over to the purchaser of the assets after the date of his bid. The auditor found that this sum represented the proceeds of a claim which was fairly to be considered as part of the assets for which the bid was made, and that its conversion into money did not alter the case. The court below coincided in this view, and it seems to be justified. There is nothing on the record to sustain the eighth assignment of error. It is an attempt to raise the question of a surcharge of $430.17, the amount of a deposit in a trust company, which it is averred was turned over by the receiver to the purchaser of the assets. The record
The fourth, fifth and tenth assignments of error are sustained, and the decree of the court below, confirming absolutely the report of the auditor, is reversed, and the record is remitted, in order that specific findings, upon adequate proof, may be made, as to the value of the services rendered to the receiver by counsel, and as to whether all the payments made by the receiver for counsel fees, for which credit is claimed in his account, were reasonably justified.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Commonwealth, ex rel. v. Monongahela Valley Bank of Duquesne
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Insolvency — Banicing corporation — Receiver — Indebted stockholder — Right to retain dividends — Res adjudicata — Allowance for fees — Burden of showing the unreasonableness of fees — Findings of fact — Surcharge. 1. On an appeal from a decree of court confirming the report of an auditor upon the final account of a receiver, a question arising out of the alleged failure of the receiver to retain dividends, etc., accruing to a stockholder, to discharge his liabilities to the bank will not be considered where it appears that while the bank might have successfully asserted its right, nevertheless the court permitted the receiver to dispose of the obligations of the stockholder which it held, and in the order authorizing such disposition a clause was inserted directing tbe payment to the purchaser of any dividend which might be declared upon the stock, and that this disposition was afterwards confirmed and no exceptions were filed or appeal taken. 2. Where in such a case an objection is made to the amount allowed to the receiver as fees and expenses, the burden is upon the receiver to show that the payments were reasonable, and it is his duty to make proof of the services rendered, and to show the fair value of the time and labor actually required in the discharge of these services; and the presentation of a bill containing a series of unitemized charges in lump sums of considerable amounts is not sufficient. 3. In such a case it is not error to allow the receiver credit for a sum of money, the amount of a dividend from the estate of a bankrupt debtor, received and paid over to the purchasers of the assets of the insolvent company after the date of the latter’s bid where the auditor justifiably found, which finding was sustained by the court, that the sum represented the proceeds of a claim fairly to be considered as part of the assets purchased and that its conversion into money did not alter the case. 4. In such a case the question of a surcharge cannot be considered on appeal where the record shows no request to the auditor to make any such surcharge, no evidence to support such a request, and no exception to the refusal of any such surcharge.