Nesbitt Auto Co. v. Kirby
Nesbitt Auto Co. v. Kirby
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The plaintiff sold to the defendant an automobile truck part cash and part credit. The credit portion was secured by notes of the defendant and a chattel mortgage of the truck. The defendant paid two of the notes, and then made default in the payments of the other notes. The plaintiff brought an action in claim and delivery, claiming the possession under his mortgage. The defendant surrendered the possession of the truck, which the plaintiff sold to foreclose his mortgage. The truck was bought in by the plaintiff for $75, and resold by the plaintiff for $663. The plaintiff gave the defendant credit for the resale price, and brought this action for $172.28, the balance due on the notes. To this action for the balance the defendant set up fraud in the original sale. The plaintiff set up the former action, and claimed that the defendant is estopped by the former action from now calling m question the validity of the mortgage. The presiding Judge sustained the plaintiff’s claim, and held that the defendant was bound to set up *202 this defense in the former action, and is now estopped. The te;'m “res adjttdicata” was not used, but that is the meaning of it.
The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded for a new trial.
Reference
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- Nesbitt Auto Co. v. Kirby.
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- Syllabus
- 1. Judgment — Validity of Mortgage Involved in Judgment in Claim ' and Delivery Brought by Mortgagee. — An action in claim and delivery is ordinarily a simple action for possession, but when the right of the plaintiff is based upon a mortgage, then the validity of the mortgage is necessarily involved, and a judgment for the plaintiff for the possession necessarily includes a judgment that the mortgage is valid. 2. Judgment — Not Res Adjudicata in Absence of Judgment. — Where the record does not show that there was a judgment in a prior proceeding, there can be no res adjudicata.