Scott Paper Co. v. Adair Truck & Equipment Co.
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Norvell Wilder appeals from a grant of partial summary judgment in favor of Herschel A. Gentry, trustee in the bankruptcy of Craft Corporation of Louisiana.
On March 1,1974, the Industrial Development Board of the City of Mobile, through its agent, the Scott Paper Company, engaged the now bankrupt Craft Corporation to act as prime contractor for the construction of a saw mill facility at Mount Vernon, Alabama. Craft acted as contractor until September 13, 1974, at which time its services were terminated; on September 19, 1974, the United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, adjudicated Craft a bankrupt and, thereafter, appointed appellee Gentry as trustee of the bankrupt’s estate. Throughout 1973 and 1974, appellant Norvell Wilder had supplied Craft with
Commencing the present interpleader action in the District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, Scott and the Board named as defendants the Trustee of Craft’s bankrupt estate and parties who had supplied materials or labor to the saw mill project and who, therefore, had potential mechanic’s lien claims; plaintiffs named Norvell Wilder as one of these potential claimants. Seeking to defeat the claims of lien creditors in order to secure the interpled funds for the bankrupt estate, the Trustee filed a motion for partial summary judgment against Norvell Wilder asserting that the undisputed evidence established that Norvell Wilder had acknowledged, through its notation on its books, payment of the outstanding balance of $739,126.28 through Craft’s execution of a promissory note on June 27, 1974. The district court granted the motion for summary judgment as to all claims of Norvell Wilder that exceed $21,752.14.
Alabama
Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that a court determine (1) that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and (2) that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law before it grants a motion for summary
The only evidence submitted by appellee Gentry to show that the parties intended the secured note to constitute payment was Norvell Wilder’s bookkeeping entry designating the promissory note as payment. While the general rule on the question seems to be that the claimant’s crediting of the amount of a contractor’s note on his books does not necessarily prove a payment so as to discharge a mechanic’s lien, Annot., 91 A.L.R.2d 453 (1963) we have found no Alabama case in point. Appellee cites Harrison v. Harrison, 9 Ala. 73 (1846) and Redd Bros. v. Todd, 209 Ala. 56, 95 So. 276 (1923), in support of his contention that such a bookkeeping notation does evidence an intention that the note be considered payment, but we find these cases inapposite.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
. Craft paid $139,000 on the note in July, leaving a balance of $550,126.20.
. This figure represents the claims of Norvell Wilder arising after June 27, 1974 — the date that Craft executed the promissory note.
. While one-could argue that a potential choice of law question exists here in that both Louisiana and Alabama bear some nexus to the transaction in question, both parties, in effect, stipulated in their briefs and at oral argument that Alabama law controlled and that, at any rate, application of either state’s law would yield the same result.
. Annot., 91 A.L.R.2d 429 (1963).
. Harrison merely stands for the proposition that regularly kept business records are admissible into evidence. Redd involved the proper application of payments admitted to be such by both parties; unlike this case, it did not involve the threshold question whether a payment was in fact made.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SCOTT PAPER COMPANY v. ADAIR TRUCK & EQUIPMENT CO., INC., Defendants NORVELL WILDER SUPPLY COMPANY v. Herschel A. GENTRY, Trustee in Bankruptcy of Craft Corporation
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published