Alliance Trust Co. v. Stewart

21 S.W. 793, 115 Mo. 236, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 49
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMarch 25, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 21 S.W. 793 (Alliance Trust Co. v. Stewart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alliance Trust Co. v. Stewart, 21 S.W. 793, 115 Mo. 236, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 49 (Mo. 1893).

Opinion

Maceablajte, J.

This appeal is from a judgment of the circuit court of Jackson county for damages assessed upon an injunction bond after the dissolution of a temporary injunction.

The petition charges that plaintiff is a corporation, and the owner of a certain lot therein described, subject to a deed of trust dated December 22, 1888, exe- - cuted by one R. M. Stewart and wife, then the owners -of the lot, to defendant A. J. Stewart as trustee; that said deed of trust purports upon its face to have been given to secure a promissory note of the same date for $10,000, payable six months after date to defendant Bogarte; that, said note and deed of trust were in fact given by said Stewart as collateral security for certain other debts due by him, and the amount of such- other indebtedness must determine the amount due upon said note; that, after said note had become due on the twelfth day of April, 1889, and was in the hands of the HnionNational Bank of Kansas City for collection-, plaintiff, who wished to redeem said land from said deed of trust, called upon said bank for the purpose of paying the note, and was advised that there was due thereon the sum of $6,560; that thereupon, on the same day, plaintiff tendered said amount to said bank, and demanded said note, but said bank, for reasons [240]*240unknown to plaintiff, refused to receive payment on, deliver up, or cancel said note; that said note was afterwards indorsed without recourse and delivered to defendant Greorge Sheidley, but without consideration; that on the ninth of November, 1889, plaintiff paid to said defendant Sheidley the sum so tendered, viz. $6,560, which plaintiff charged was'the full amount due thereon; that previously, on the ninth day of October, 1889, defendant Stewart caused said land to be advertised for sale under said deed of trust; that an accounting was necessary to ascertain the amount really due on said note; that it believed the amount so paid was the whole amount due, and the deed of trust ought to be satisfied. Plaintiff offered to pay whatever might be found due on said note upon a proper accounting, asked' that the sale be enjoined until an account could be taken, and for all proper relief.

A temporary injunction was granted, and a bond for $5,000 given in November, 1889. An answer and motion to dissolve the injunction were filed by defendants.

In October, 1890, on the suggestion of plaintiffs, that the property had been sold under a prior deed of trust, the injunction was dissolved, and a motion filed by defendants for an assessment of damages.

Upon a hearing of the motion the following facts were developed: There were four several deeds of trust upon the land made by B. M. Stewart, then the owner, subject to which plaintiff held the title. First. To secure the Lombard Investment Company, $10,000; second, to secure C. Douht, $7,500; third, to secure to-defendant E. M. Bogarte, $10,000; fourth, to secure Greorge Sheidley, $5,000. The third deed was subject to the first and second, and fourth to the other three, and so expressed in the deeds.

[241]*241The third, or Bogarte deed and note, to which the injunction applied, were merely collateral for the following notes: One for $5,000, one for $2,500, and one for $1,500, each signed by E. M. Stewart and defendant J. A. Stewart, who was also trustee in the deed of trust, and one for $600, signed by E. M. and Susan A. Stewart. The $1,500 note was also, signed by one J. W. Stewart and J. A. S. Burnsides. It was shown that through negotiations between E. M. Stewart and Sheidley it was ascertained that the latter could obtain the Bogarte indebtedness upon payment of $6,500, The notes were sent to the bank in order that the transfer might be effected; and while in the bank, plaintiff, as owner of the land, tendered that amount, which was refused.

Afterwards, on the thirteenth day of September, 1889, the $10,000 Bogarte note, and,the four notes for which it was collateral, were transferred to defendant Sheidley without recourse. The day after the injunction was granted, plaintiff paid Sheidley the $6,500 and interest. Sheidley was causing Stewart, the trustee, to advertise the land for sale under the Bogarte deed of trust, when the injunction was granted, November 10, 1889. On the twenty-eighth day of April, 1890, the land was sold under the first deed of trust, made to secure the note for $10,000 to the Lombard Investment Company, for non-payment of an installment of interest, amounting to about $300, and a deed made by the trustee to the purchaser. No depreciation in the value of the property between granting the injunction and the sale was shown.

On the twenty-eighth day of October, 1890, plaintiff filed in court a statement setting forth the sale, and stating that the property had been sold to a third person, and that “any interest of the parties to this [242]*242suit has been forever barred and foreclosed. Plaintiff therefore enters its dismissel of said suit.” Defendants objected to this dismissal until account should be taken of the balance due on the Bogarte notes, claiming that Sheidley, under the pleadings, had a right to a judgment against plaintiffs for any balance that might be found to be due. The suit was however dismissed, and the injunction dissolved.

The damages were assessed by the court as follows: “$4,488.44, being the balance with interest of the $10,000 note mentioned in petition; $36 for advertising trustee’s sale which was enjoined; $50 for expenses of Mr. Dolan taking depositions in Indiana, and $75 for attorneys’ fees; and all costs of court were taxed against plaintiff. ”

Judgment was entered against plaintiff for the amount assessed as for breaches of the injunction bond, and it appealed.

I. The conditions of the bond require, in case of a breach, that the obligor should “pay all damages that may be occasioned by such injunction, and will abide by the decision made thereon, and pay all sums of money, damages and costs, which shall be charged against it if the injunction shall be dissolved.” These are also the conditions required by the statute. Revised Statutes, 1889, sec. 5489. No measure of damages is pointed out by statute, except “if rhoney, or any proceedings for the collection of any money or demand, shall have been enjoined,” the statute provided that “the damages thereon should not exceed ten per cent, on the amount released by the dissolution, exclusive of legal interests and costs.” Revised Statutes, sec. 5500.

It has been held, and is well settled, that an injunction restraining a trustee from selling land under a power contained in a deed of trust in the nature of a [243]*243mortgage does not come within the provisions of the statute which limits the damages to ten per cent, of the amount released by the dissolution. St. Louis v. Alexander, 23 Mo. 484; Kennedy's Adm'x. v. Hammond, 16 Mo. 341. It is very clear that a per cent, would not afford an accurate basis for estimating damages in. such cases. In some circumstances ten per cent, on the debt enjoined might be greatly in excess of the damages actually incurred, and in other circumstances it might fall far short of fair compensation. The rule of damages in such cases has been stated thus: “The amount of injury should be determined by proper evidence, taking into consideration the probable amount that might have been realized had the sale not been enjoined, the value of money at the time and such' other circumstances as tend to show the actual damage sustained.” 2 High on Injunctions, sec. 1671.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lipp v. Lipp
75 S.W.3d 736 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2002)
Grover v. Kirk
173 S.W. 90 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1915)
Joplin Gas Co. v. City of Joplin
167 S.W. 660 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1914)
Virginia Beach Development Co. v. Commonwealth
78 S.E. 617 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1913)
C. H. Albers Commission Co. v. Spencer
139 S.W. 321 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1911)
Leete v. State Bank
42 S.W. 927 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1897)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 S.W. 793, 115 Mo. 236, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 49, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alliance-trust-co-v-stewart-mo-1893.