Municipality of Cabo Rojo v. District Court of Mayagüez
Municipality of Cabo Rojo v. District Court of Mayagüez
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The Municipality of Cabo Rojo brought an action of debt
The Caja de Economías y Préstamos de Cabo Bojo filed an unverified answer, making a general denial of all of the allegations of the complaint, whereupon the plaintiff moved the court to render judgment against the defendant.
Before this motion was ruled on Antonio Martin appeared in the action and stated that after the filing of the complaint in the present action he was appointed receiver of the defendant in another proceeding; that the sum claimed by the municipality is owed to it by the defendant and that as the hank is under receivership, he should have intervention in the proceedings brought against it, wherefore he prayed the. court to consider him subrogated in representation of the defendant and as acquiescing in the motion for a judgment-on the pleadings, but that the execution of the judgment be^
The plaintiff opposed the suspension of the execution of the judgment and the prayer that no costs be imposed, and the court overruled the motion of the plaintiff for a judgment for the reason that the defendant was under receivership. The record does not show the date of that ruling, but according to a sworn petition of the plaintiff it was made on January 19, 1927. From that ruling the plaintiff municipality brought the present certiorari proceeding in which we have heard the parties interested.
. A judgment on the pleadings may be rendered in favor of a plaintiff when his verified complaint is not answered by the defendant under oath, as held in the cases of Tettamanzi et al. v. Zeno, 24 P.R.R. 724, and Candal v. Pierluisi, 28 P.R.R. 564; and as the only reason which the trial court had ■for its refusal to render judgment is that the defendant is under a receivership*, the question to be decided is whether or not that condition justifies its refusal to render judgment as prayed for by the plaintiff.
There is no provision in the Banks and Banking Act, No. 18 of 1923, p. 82, nor in the amendments made thereto by Act No. 68 of 1925, p. 352, that in actions against a bank judgment should not be rendered after a court has ordered a receivership or its dissolution and liquidation. It was provided by section 26 of the Act of 1923 only that if in consequence of an examination made or a report from an examiner of banks, the Treasurer of Porto Rico should have reason to believe that a bank or foreign bank is not in a sound financial condition to continue doing business., after hearing the bank he may recommend to the Attorney General that he institute proper action or proceeding for having the bank declared in liquidation. This provision was . amended by the Act of 1925 to the effect that if in consequence of the
The last paragraph of section 35 of the Banking Act of 1923 provides for the application thereto of the provisions of the Private Corporations Act of 1911 and its amendments in so far as they are not in conflict therewith; and section 32 of the Act of 1911, pag’e 102, reads as follows:
“PENDING Suits not Affected by Dissolution.— Any suit now' pending or hereafter to be begun against any corporation which may become dissolved before final judgment, shall not lapse by reason 'of such dissolution; but no judgment shall be entered in any such action except upon‘notice to the trustees or liquidators of the corporation. ’ ’
The notice required by that provision for rendering judgment in a pending suit refers to the case of a dissolution, but
For the foregoing reasons the order appealed from is set aside and the case remanded to the lower court for a judgment to be rendered in accordance with the prayer of the plaintiff.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.