Bank of Montgomery v. Reeves

50 So. 2d 214, 1951 La. App. LEXIS 537
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 5, 1951
DocketNo. 7554
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 50 So. 2d 214 (Bank of Montgomery v. Reeves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of Montgomery v. Reeves, 50 So. 2d 214, 1951 La. App. LEXIS 537 (La. Ct. App. 1951).

Opinions

HARDY, Judge.

This is a suit by the Bank of Montgomery of Montgomery, Louisiana, on a promissory note dated January 6, 1947, payable December 20, 1947, in the principal sum of $432.00, providing for 8% per annum interest from maturity until paid, and 10% attorney’s fees. Defendants are Bryant Reeves, a resident of Grant Parish, Louisiana, the maker of the note, and Joseph H. Jackson, a resident of Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, endorser of said note. Judgment against the maker, Reeves, was rendered by default, no defense having been made. The defendant, Jackson, filed answer, in propria persona, and after trial there was judgment in favor of plaintiff and against defendants, in solido, as prayed, from which judgment the defendant, Jackson, has appealed.

The defenses relied upon by appellant are specifically set forth in his brief, as follows:

“1. He bound himself to the knowledge of all parties concerned as surety only;

“2. No notice was given the surety of the maturity of the note nor was demand made upon him for payment and that over his expressed objections the payment of the note was extended by the holder from time to time.

“3. That after being repeatedly advised by the surety of the intention of the maker not to pay and after having requested the Payee to enforce payment by suit or otherwise, the Payee continued to grant extensions and although the maker some several months after maturity and after several extensions offered to permit the payee to take judgment against him and offered to surrender a truck well worth more than the amount of the note with accumulated interest and although the payee was urged by the endorser to accept a surrender of the truck thus offered, the payee took no action upon the offer or any other action toward a collection of the note until the institution of this note some ten months later and that by the extensions thus granted to the maker, over the protest of the surety, and the refusal of the payee to effect a settlement and liquidation of the indebtedness offered by the maker and urged by the surety, the latter was thereby released.”

And by way of simplifying the burden of his defense appellant makes the following observation; “It appears from the foregoing that the question here is not whether or not the payee of a note has the right to grant an indulgence or make an extension to the maker without the notice to the surety, but whether or not the payee of a note has the right under the laws of Louisiana and over the protest and objection of the surety to convert his [216]*216secondary obligation into a primary obligation and, in effect, release the maker and particularly when the payee knows that the surety never received any benefit whatever from the transaction.”

Proceeding to a consideration of the several points urged by appellant we are constrained to observe that the facts do not bear out his first contention. Appellant failed to establish the fact on trial of the case that he had bound himself, to the knowledge of all parties, only as surety. On the contrary the testimony is convincing that the note was signed by the maker and later presented by him to the defendant, Jackson, who endorsed same, subsequent to which it was delivered to the bank by the maker, the defendant Reeves. ■ -

So far as the record discloses there was no understanding or agreement as between Jackson and the bank with respect to any restriction of his liability and under the circumstances the note must be accepted as convincing evidence of the fact that Jackson was an endorser. However, in order to give full consideration to the very thorough presentation of his several defenses that have been made by appellant and set forth in an elaborate brief, we note that he relies upon specific articles of the Civil Code of Louisiana bearing upon the obligations of suretyship, which articles we quote in full:

“3035. Suretyship defined. — Suretyship is an accessory promise by which a person binds himself for another already bound, and agrees with the creditor to satisfy the obligation, if the debtor does not.”

* * * * * * *

“3045. Liability of surety to creditor— Duty to first exhaust principal — Exceptions. — The obligation of the surety towards the creditor is to pay him in case the debtor should not himself satisfy the debt; and the property of such debtor is to be previously discussed or seized; unless the security should have renounced the plea of discussion, or should .be bound in solido jointly with the debtor, in which case the effects of his engagement are to be regulated by the same principles which have been established for debtors in solido.”

* * * * * *

“3061. Discharge of surety by act of creditor. — The surety is discharged when by the act of the creditor, the subrogation to his rights, mortgages and privileges can no longer be operated in favor of the surety.”

“3062. Creditor accepting property in payment of debt — Discharge of surety.— The voluntary acceptance on the part of the creditor, of an immovable or any other property, in payment of the principal debt, is a full discharge of the surety, even in case the creditor should be afterwards evicted from the property so accepted.”

“3063. Extension of time without surety’s consent. — The prolongation of the terms granted to the principal debtor without the consent of the surety, operates a discharge of the latter.”

We find nothing in the quoted articles which in the instant case would bring appellant within the purview of their provisions and definitions.

With reference to the contention that no notice was given of the maturity of the note and that payment thereof was extended by the holder from time to time over appellant’s express objections, again we do not find that the facts justify the conclusion drawn. There was considerable correspondence among the parties with reference to the obligation and we set forth the body of ten letters in accordance with the identification and cronological listing set forth by appellant in brief:

1. Letter from Bryant Reeves to' J. H. Jackson dated December 8, 1947:

“I am unable to pay off note at bank but I am willing to do what I can. I will pay interest on it. If you will give me permission to carry it over.”

2. Letter from J. H. Jackson to Bryant Reeves dated December 15, 1947:

“I am in receipt of yours of December 8th in which you advise that you are unable to pay your note at the bank which I endorsed but can pay the interest, pro[217]*217vided I agree for the hank to extend the note and hold me as endorser.

“Since you are no longer on my place, you should secure the bank either by endorsement of your present lessor or in some other way. It isn’t proper for you to expect me to endorse for you to farm somebody else’s land. You could either secure the bank with a new endorser or ■by giving it a chattel mortgage on your car. I, therefore, suggest that you substitute a new note with a new endorser or chattel mortgage as above suggested.

“I am sending a copy of this to the bank.”

3.Letter from J. H. Jackson to Bank of Montgomery dated May 27, 1948:

“I have yours with reference to the past due note of Bryant Reeves which I endorsed for him when he was a tenant on my place. I am not surprised that he has not seen fit to make any satisfactory adjustment of the matter. In fact I would be surprised if he did so voluntarily.

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Bluebook (online)
50 So. 2d 214, 1951 La. App. LEXIS 537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-montgomery-v-reeves-lactapp-1951.