American Surety Co. v. Crow

22 Misc. 573, 49 N.Y.S. 946
New York Supreme Court·Decided February 15, 1898·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

McAdam, J.

The Shickle, Harrison & Howard Iron Company on August 20, 1889, recovered a judgment against Rowland N. Hazard and others for $16,974.15, from which Hazard appealed to the Supreme Court, General Term; and the plaintiff herein, at the request of the defendants herein, executed the usual statutory undertaking thereon, wheréby.it obligated itself that the appellant [574] would pay the judgment if affirmed on such appeal, together with all costs awarded on such affirmance. The complaint alleges and the. answer-admits “that in consideration and as a condition of the execution hy this plaintiff of the undertaking aforesaid, the defendants herein, by their agreement in writing', signed with their names and sealed with their seals, promised and agreed with-this plaintiff, that they, the said defendants, should and would at all times - indemnify and keep indemnified, and save harmless this plaintiff from and against all loss, damages, costs, charges, counsel fees and expense whatsoever which plaintiff might for any cause, at any time, sustain or incur by reason or in consequence of having ■executed- the said undertaking,” Thereafter, and on January 9, 1891, the said judgment was affirmed, with $112.17 costs. Hazard failed to pay the" judgment, and the plaintiff on January 30, 1891, was obliged to and did pay $18,557.80 in settlement thereof. It was objected that the trial could not- proceed against the. defendant Crow,on the ground that the action was not at issue as to his two codefendants and joint obligors, Thurber and Hazard., process not having been served upon them. The same objection was made when the cause was ordered on the calendar’; but it was overruled, and an appeal from the [order was dismissed by the Appellate Bivision. ' This.ruling is, therefore, accepted as settling the law of the case in respect to the point raised. Apart from certain credits claimed by the defendant Crow, which will be. hereafter considered, he places his defense upon -the grounds: (1) That he was interested on the appeal as the attorney for Hazard, the defeated defendant; that Horace K. Thurber had been accepted by the plaintiff as a satisfactory indemnitor; that Mr. Nugent, who was then secretary of the plaintiff and in charge of the bond department, stated that he desired Mr. Crow to execute the indemnity agreement to satisfy the rules of the company, which required two indemnitors/ but that the execution of the bond by him was to be regarded as formal only, for he would not be holden thereon, as the plaintiff would look for indemnity exclusively to Mr. Thurber, by whom- it was to be secured. Crow testified that such was the arrangement' under which he became surety. Mr. Nugent, on the other hand, denies that-there was any such understanding, and testified'that while the rules of the company do not direct the taking of any fixed number of sureties it required two in this instance, and he was, therefore, particular enough to require Mr. Grow to -justify before he would accept him — a Course not likely to be pursued' [575] with a nominal surety. The indemnity agreement shows that Crow did justify by affidavit, showing the ownership of $150,000 worth of property, which he particularly specified.'.. While an instrument not under seal may be delivered upon condition, the observance of which as between the parties is essential to its validity (Bookstaver v. Jayne, 60 N. Y. 146; Benton v. Martin, 52 id. 570; Higgins v. Ridgway, 153 id. 130), it is not admissible to show a contemporaneous parol agreement inconsistent with that which is written and tending directly to nullify it. Gordan v. Niemann, 118 N. Y. 152; Thomas v. Scutt, 127 id. 133; Grocers’ Bank v. Murphy, 9 Daly, 510; Russell v. Kinney, 1 Sandf. Ch. 34; First Nat. Bank v. Tisdale, 18 Hun, 151; affirmed, 84 N. Y. 655; Davis v. Randall, 115 Mass. 547. The indemnity bond was given to induce the plaintiff to become surety on the undertaking on appeal; and the plaintiff was induced thereby to incur the liability indemnified' against, so that the obligation is founded on a valuable consideration. In this respect the case differs from Higgins v. Ridgway, supra, which was an action on a promissory note without consideration, delivered upon condition that the maker should not be liable thereon. Crow is' evidently mistaken in supposing that any such inconsistent oral understanding was had, for the parties in interest intended and acted on the intention that he should be holden according to the terms of the sealed obligation. The fact that Crow was attorney for the principal does not affect his liability as surety. The obligation was not an ordinary court bond; if it had been, he might have been rejected by the court because of his relation to the principal; but where no such objection is made by the creditor, even an attorney may become liable. Fexwell v. Bowerman, 2 East, 182; Banter v. Levi, 1 Chitt. 713; Bell v. Gate, 1 Taunt. 162. (2) That the plaintiff settled all liability on the bond with Thurber, the cosurety, by accepting from him notes, stocks and securities, whereby Crow was discharged. Thurber did give a six months’ note for the demand, secured by stock of the Hazard Co., which note, after the payment of six .months’ interest, was renewed by another at three months. But these promises to pay were not given or accepted in satisfaction, and were not so to operate unless followed by payment. They were unperformed, and nothing was realized from the stock. The broken promises' to pay did not discharge. the sealed obligation sued upon. Where time is given to the principal debtor without the consent of the sureties they may be discharged; but the mere

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