Missouri Broom Mfg. Co. v. Guymon
Missouri Broom Mfg. Co. v. Guymon
Opinion of the Court
after stating the case as above, delivered the opinion of the court.
It is manifest, we think, from an inspection of the bill, the substance of which has been stated above, that the proceeding at bar must be characterized as an action to recover personal property and the proceeds thereof, which property the complainant below was induced to sell and ship to the Missouri Broom Manufacturing Company (hereafter termed the “Broom Company”) by means of false and fraudulent representations that were made by certain officers of that corporation to induce the sale. The bill distinctly avers that the broom company made the purchase of the broom corn in controversy wdth no intent to pay for the same; that the sale was induced by statements which were false and misleading; that the complainant was thereby deceived, and induced to part with his broom com; and that immediately after the discovery of the fraud the complainant elected to rescind the contract of sale and reclaim the property sold, and that.
Nor is the contention of the appellants entitled to any weight that the decree is erroneous, and that the demurrer to the bill should have been sustained, because the complainant was not, as it is said, “a judgment or lien creditor” of the broom company when he filed his bill. It is a sufficient answer to this contention that the proceeding is in no sense, or from any point of view, a creditors’ bill to reach equitable assets of a debtor, to which class of cases the doctrine invoked by the appellants is applicable. This is a proceeding by the complainant, as before stated, to establish a constructive trust, and compel the trustee to restore the trust property to its rightful owner, or to account for the proceeds if the property, or a part thereof, has been sold. In such cases it is no more necessary for a complainant to establish his demand at law before proceeding in equity than when a beneficiary under an express trust seeks relief against his trustee. Lawton v. Levy, 2 Edw. Ch. 197; Kerr v. Blodgett, 48 N. Y. 62; Weir v. Tannehill, 2 Yerg. 57; Bank v. Houchens, 115 Fed. 96 (decided by this court at the present .term). Moreover, in the case in hand, the complainant could not have established a demand at law against the broom company, as by suing for the value of the broom corn, without ratifying the sale and relinquishing the very right to the property which he seeks by this proceeding to enforce.
Another contention on the part of the appellants, which is entitled to more consideration, perhaps, than the one last mentioned, is that an action at law by way of replevin would have furnished an adequate remedy for the wrong complained of, since the property involved was personalty; and hence that a court of equity was without jurisdiction. With reference to this contention we observe that, while a vendor of personal property may maintain replevin against a vendee, who, as in this case, bought the property with a preconceived intent not to pay
Turning to other phases of the controversy, the appellants claim that they, or at least some of them, are armed with the rights of innocent purchasers for value, notwithstanding the fraud that was perpetrated by the broom company. This claim seems to be based entirely on the fact that the deed of trust which was executed in favor of the Exchange Bank of Jefferson City and David Loewen on September 28, 1897, granted to the broom company a definite extension of time for the payment of the debts which were thereby secured, and the argument is that such extension was a present valuable consideration paid by the beneficiaries in the deed of trust for the conveyance, which will enable them to hold the property as against the complainant, because the beneficiaries were not cognizant of the fraud that had been perpetrated by the broom company. It is conceded that the deed of trust was given to secure antecedent debts, and that the Missouri doctrine, as well as the doctrine of some other states, is that one who takes a mortgage or deed of trust on property simply as security for an antecedent debt, without paying any new or additional consideration, is not
Another contention on the part of the appellants — and the only one which we deem it necessary to notice — is that the lower court should have allowed the complainant only $30 per ton for his broom, corn, instead of $50 per ton, which was the sum actually awarded. This claim seems to be made upon the theory that the complainant sued the broom company for the purchase price of the. commodity sold, or in trover for its conversion; in which event, it is said, the purchase price was the true measure of recovery. But the theory on which this claim is based is erroneous. The complainant sued to recover his property from the fraudulent vendee upon the theory that he was chargeable with it as a trustee. Pending the action, and for convenience, the purchasers from the fraudulent vendee were allowed to sell or dispose
Finding no material error in the proceedings below, the decree from which the appeal was taken must be affirmed, and it is so ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MISSOURI BROOM MFG. CO. v. GUYMON
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- .1 Sale Under False Representations — Recovery of Property — Form of Action. Where a bill averred that a firm purchased broom corn in controversy with intent not to pay for the same, that the sale was induced by fraud, and that immediately after discovering the fraud complainant elected to rescind the sale and reclaim the property sold, the action must be considered as an action to recover personal property, and the buyer and his vendees with notice be treated as trustees for the complainant. 8. Same — Bill—Multifariousness—Right to Object. Where a bill to recover personal property claimed to have been sold and delivered through the buyer’s fraud alleged that one of the stockholders of the buyer had not paid for his stock, and had received money from the buyer, which he should refund, such allegations, though improper, where not prejudicial to other defendants, and the bill having been dismissed as to such stockholder, such other defendants could not claim that the bill was multifarious. 8. Same — Judgment or Lien Creditor. In a proceeding to establish a constructive trust of personal property claimed to have been sold and delivered under false representations, and to compel the trustee to restore the trust property or account for its proceeds, it is immaterial that plaintiff is not a judgment or lien creditor, and has not established his demand at law. 4. Same — Replevin—Adequate Remedy at Law. In an action to enforce a constructive trust in broom corn claimed by complainant to have been sold and delivered under false representations of the buyer, it was alleged that part of the broom com, which had not been worked up by the buyer, had been mingled with other corn, and was difficult of identification; that the property had been twice sold, and the rights of the alleged purchaser would be the subject of investigation; and that part of the corn had been manufactured and assigned to third persons, who were acting in collusion with the alleged trustees. Eeld, that plaintiff did not have an adequate remedy at law by an action of replevin, and hence equity was entitled to assume jurisdiction. 6. Same — Bona Fide Purchasers — Consideration—Extension of Time — Preexisting Debt. Where a fraudulent purchaser of personal property gave a deed of trust to secure pre-existing debts, covering the property purchased which was not paid for, and such deed entitled the mortgagee to take possession of the property at once, and inventory and sell the same at public or private sale, such mortgagee was not entitled to claim, as against the defrauded seller of the goods, that he was a bona fide purchaser on the ground that the mortgage also granted the mortgagor a definite extension for the payment of the debts as a consideration of the mortgage. 6. Same — Damages. Where a seller sued in equity to enforce a constructive trust of the goods on the ground that the sale had been made by fraud, and that defendant was chargeable as trustee, and pending the suit the purchasers from the fraudulent vendee were allowed to dispose of the property, and hold the proceeds to await the result, and they sold the same at a larger price by reason of an advance in the market, the plaintiff was entitled to the actual value of the property at the time it was sold by such vendees, and was not limited to the original contract price.