B. G. Carbajal, Inc. v. Enochs
B. G. Carbajal, Inc. v. Enochs
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an interlocutory decree appointing a receiver pursuant to the prayer of a bill in equity filed July 17, 1933, for the foreclosure of a deed of trust or mortgage made by the appellant, a Louisiana corporation, covering sundry parcels of real estate in the city of New Orleans, including the Marbere Hotel, to secure the principal and interest of bonds, having serial maturities, issued by the appellant, and a chattel mortgage covering described movable property contained in the Marbere Hotel, made by the appellant to subject that movable property to the lien of the first mentioned mortgage; the mortgages covering also the income and profits from the mortgaged properties. The bill contained allegations as to the appointment, on July 14, 1933, of appellee as trustee under the mortgage as successor of the Canal Bank & Trust Company, the original trustee named therein, after the latter had become .incapable of acting as trustee, as to defaults under the mortgage by the failure of the mortgagor to pay principal and intierest of the secured bonds when duo, and to pay taxes on the mortgaged property when due, as to the appellee, after the happening of the above-mentioned defaults, and after having received a written request to do so from the holders of more than 50 per cent, in amount of the secured bonds then outstanding, declaring all the secured bonds to be due and payable immediately, and demanding the immediate payment thereof, as to the appellant having no adequate remedy at law, and as to the necessity, pending the suit, for the appointment of a receiver of the mortgaged properties for the protection of the rights of the bondholders, the bill alleging that the “property covered by the mortgage above referred to comprises a hotel
The evidence adduced in the hearing on the order to show cause and the return thereto consisted of affidavits filed by the appellant and by the appellee. Those affidavits showed the following: In September, 1932, by agreement between appellant and the Canal Bank & Trust Company, the original ‘trustee named in the mortgage (which agreement so far as appears was subject to be revoked at any time), J. J. Monaghan, as manager, was put in possession and control of the Marberc Hotel, collecting all receipts and making all disbursements, and depositing all receipts in the Canal Bank & Trust Company, the original trustee. After the formation of a committee of bondholders under a protective agreement entered into on April 25, 1933, and after the original trustee, the Canal Bank & Trust Company, on or about May 20; 1933, became incapable of further acting as trustee, Monaghan, as manager, remained in possession and control of the Marberc Hotel and deposited receipts in the Whitney National Bank, which, under the above-mentioned agreement, was the depositary of bonds and coupons. That bank was not the agent of the bondholders with reference to the possession or control of any of the mortgaged properties. The evidence did not show that the appellee or the bondholders’ committee was a party to any agreement as to the possession and control of ^ the hotel. It did not show that appellant consented to rents and income from the mortgaged properties collected during the pendency of the suit being subject to the control of the court or to be applied, under orders of the court, to the payment of taxes on the mortgaged property which ■were in default. Prior to the institution of the suit, the bondholders’ committee, through its secretary, requested the appellant to turn over to the trustee or to a representative of the bondholders all rentals collected from the mortgaged property. That request was not complied with. At the time of the hearing, collections from rentals of mortgaged properties other than the Marberc Hotel exceeded $1,000 a month.
The appointment of a receiver in a mortgage foreclosure suit to take possession of the mortgag-ed property pending the suit is a matter resting largely in the discretion of the court, which is under a duty to inquire whether, under all the circumstances, considering the interests of the parties and the public, it is wise and proper to take possession of the property. The facts that the mortgage covers property the value of which ma.y be impaired if it is not continued in operation pending the suit, and that the mortgagee’s interest is endangered by defaults in the payment of taxes on the mortgaged properties, are circumstances having a bearing on the exercise by the court of its discretion in passing on the question whether it is or is not proper for the court to take into its custody and control pending the suit the mortgaged properties and the rents and income therefrom, to the end that, under orders of the court, the mortgaged properties be conserved while the suit is -pending and until the arrival of the time which the court deems appropriate for a foreclosure sale, and that the income therefrom be applicable to the payment under orders of the court of taxes on the mortgaged properties, and for other lawful purposes. Bosworth v. Terminal Railroad Association, 174 U. S. 182, 186, 19 S. Ct.
The decree appealed from is challenged on grounds, now to be mentioned, which were not urged in the court below. One of those grounds is the asserted failure of the hill to show that the bonds secured by the mortgage sought to be foreclosed had become duo and payable by a compliance with the condition prescribed in the following provision of the mortgage: “If any one or more of the events of default hereinabove named shall happen, then and in each and every ease the Trustee may and upon the written request of the holders of twenty-five per cent or more in amount of the bonds then outstanding, and upon being indemnified to its satisfaction, shall by notice in writing delivered to said company or deposited in the mails addressed to said company, declare the principal of all bonds secured hereby and then outstanding to bo due and payable immediately, and upon such declaration the principal shall become due immediately. Anything in this act of mortgage or said bonds or coupons to the contrary notwithstanding. * ” The bill, after alleging the happening of the above-mentioned defaults, alleged: “The above events of default having happened, petitioner, having received a written request from the holders of more than 50% of the amounts then outstanding so to do, did on the 14th day of July, 1933, declare the principal of all of said First Mortgage 5%% Gold Bonds of said B. G. Carbajal, Inc., to be due and payable immediately and demanded immediate payment thereof as will more fully appear by reference to a copy of said declaration and demand filed herewith marked Exhibit ‘E/ the original of which was delivered to said B. G. Carbajal, Inc., on July 17, 1933.” Exhibit E so referred to, ■which was filed with the hill of complaint, is a written instrument, dated July 14, 1933, signed by the appellee as successor trustee, and addressed to the appellant. That instrument!, after reciting the happening of the above-mentioned defaults, concludes with the statement that “the undersigned as Successor Trustee * * * does hereby declare the principal of the said First Mortgage 5%% Serial Gold Bonds, dated as of September 1, 1927; secured by said Deed of Trust and Mortgage and Chattel Mortgage and now outstanding to be due and payable immediately. Demand is now made for the immediate payment of all of said bonds in principal and interest as well as for the payment of all taxes now delinquent and all interest and penalties thereon and the performance of all other covenants and conditions contained in said Deed of Trust and Mortgage and Chattel Mortgage.” The reference in the allegation in the body of the bill to the exhibit which was filed with the bill had the effect of making what was contained in the exhibit a part of the pleading. Nauvoo v. Ritter, 97 U. S. 389, 24 L. Ed. 1050; Everglades Drainage League v. Napoleon B. Broward D. Dist. (D. C.) 253 F. 246. That the bonds secured by the mortgage had become due and payable in the way prescribed in the mortgage was sufficiently shown by allegations of the hill.
The decree appealed from is attacked also on the ground that the appointment of the appellee as successor trustee under the mortgage was invalid. It appeared from allegations of the hill that appellee was appointed successor trustee by individuals who, by the above-mentioned protective agreement, were made the authorized attorneys in fact of the holders of a majority in amount of the outstanding bonds issued under the mortgage, to which agreement a majority in amount of such bondholders became parties by depositing their bonds with the named depositary as provided in that agreement. The asserted invalidity of the appointment of the appellee as successor trustee is based upon the fad. that the protective agreement contained the following provision: “No bonds and/or coupons may be deposited with the said Depositary on or after the 25th day of Ma.y, 1933, unless the said Committee in its uncontrolled discretion should allow further time for the deposit of such bonds and/or coupons, in which event it may fix such terms and conditions as it may deem proper as a condition for the allowing of same to he thus deposited after said date, ajid shall notify the Depositary in writing of such extension of time and of such terms and conditions. No other or further formality shall he required.” For the appellant it was contended that the just
We conclude that the decree under review was not erroneous. That decree is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- B. G. CARBAJAL, Inc. v. ENOCHS
- Status
- Published