Bates v. Farmers State Bank

268 N.W. 74, 221 Iowa 1251
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJune 19, 1936
DocketNo. 43293.
StatusPublished

This text of 268 N.W. 74 (Bates v. Farmers State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bates v. Farmers State Bank, 268 N.W. 74, 221 Iowa 1251 (iowa 1936).

Opinion

Richards, J.

On February 1, 1933, the Superintendent of Banking took over the management of the Farmers State Bank of Audubon, Iowa, under Chapter 156 of the Acts of the Forty-fifth General Assembly. This status continued until August 1, 1933, when the Superintendent was appointed as receiver. On September 6, 1933, appellee filed his claim consisting of a certificate of deposit for $18,000, bearing four per cent interest, issued by the bank on January 30, 1933, payable to appellee. The amount claimed was $18,000 principal and $360 accrued interest. On September 1, 1934, the receiver filed his report and recommendations on allowance and rejection of claims filed. Exhibit “G” of the report lists “pendent claims”, without classification, and asks that the court fix a day for hearing thereon. Among these “pendent claims” appeared that of appellee. Later objections were filed by appellee to the report and *1252 to the failure of the receiver to recommend allowance of appellee’s claim as a deposit liability. Upon a trial, the court entered an order allowing appellee’s claim in sum of $18,360 as a liability for a deposit. Therefrom the receiver has taken this appeal.

Appellant’s resistance to the claim is based on the contention that the bank received no funds from appellee at the time of the issuance of the certificate and that appellee was not a depositor of any part of the $18,000. In reply thereto appellee says that the subject matter of the transaction of the issuance of the certificate of deposit was an existing deposit of $18,000 that appellee had in the bank. Upon this issue the following evidence appears in the record.

For many years appellee had been a depositor in this bank. On June 30, 1931, among other deposits he held a certificate for $6,966.72, known as exhibit “2”, and one for $11,024, known as exhibit “3”. At about 8:30 on the morning of the mentioned date, Miss Harriet Bilharz, the bank’s cashier, meeting appellee on the street on her way to the bank, advised appellee she wished to see him. Soon thereafter appellee walked down the street and went inside the bank. In a conversation then had Miss Bilharz informed appellee that she had a party who wanted to borrow $18,000, to be secured by first mortgage upon real estate at five per cent interest, and that she would look after the matter and the drawing of the papers if appellee desired to so invest the money represented by the two certificates, exhibits “2” and “3”. Appellee expressed his approval, and to effect such real estate loan appellee, during the conference, endorsed the two certificates and turned them over to Miss Bilharz as the $18,000 to be so invested. The interest on the two certificates was calculated and the gross amount being in excess of $18,000, Miss Bilharz paid to appellee $350 in cash. This transaction was in the directors’ room of the bank, probably before the doors of the bank were opened to the public, although the bank’s vault, containing the safety deposit boxes, was open at the time. No part of the contemplated investment of the $18,000 was ever carried out.

After the above occurrence the history of the two certificates, exhibits “2” and “3” is for the most part found in the transactions of the bank as shown by its records of its banking transactions. On the bank’s journal is an entry that on July 6, *1253 1931, the certificate for $6,966.72 was paid, together with $139.-32 accrued interest. The certificate bears the bank’s “paid” stamp and was among the records of the bank when taken over by appellant. The bank’s records show that the certificate for $11,024 was canceled and marked “paid” by the bank on July 17, 1931, and that proceeds therefrom were credited to appellee’s checking account in the bank in the sum of $10,894.48. This latter amount was arrived at by adding to the principal the sum of $220.48 accumulated interest and deducting the above mentioned item of $350 interest paid June 30, 193T. After this deposit of $10,894.48 was credited to appellee’s checking account, the book entries of the bank show that on July 17, 1931, the bank charged against this accountathe sum of $5,000, and on July 18, 1931, charged the further sum of $5,894.48 which exhausted the deposit. Appellee neither authorized nor had knowledge of either of said charges made by the bank against his account, nor in fact did he know at the time that the said credit had been made to his cheeking account out of the proceeds of the certificate.

The district court held that these transactions were not effectual as a payment or discharge of the bank’s liability upon the certificates, exhibits “2” and “3”, and that appellee continued to be a depositor in the sum of $18,000 on January 30, 1933, and that at that time the certificate in controversy was issued as a continuance of the deposit, and as evidence of the deposits in lieu of the earlier certificates, exhibits “2” and “3”. Appellant says that there was error in so holding because the. record shows that Miss Bilharz, although cashier of the bank, procured the two certificates while acting in her individual capacity, and with the wrongful intent to personally benefit thereby, and appellant further claims the record shows that Miss Bilharz personally received the proceeds of the two certificates. Appellant further contends that the bank was not chargeable with any notice or knowledge of the limited authority of Miss Bilharz with respect to the two certificates, because she was acting wrongfully in her personal capacity during the conference on the morning of June 30,1931.

We think the last mentioned contention as to knowledge or notice upon the part of the bank need not be considered for the reason we are satisfied that the record sustains appellee’s contention that Miss Bilharz did not personally collect from the *1254 bank the proceeds of the certificates, bnt rather the bank made itself the beneficiary, and received all the benefit from the cancellation of the two certificates. This is because all of the affirmative evidence points to the conclusion that the bank itself canceled the certificates and made the records mentioned as a part of a desperate scheme and effort on its part to tide over its financial difficulties. It will be noted that all that has been related subsequent to the morning of June 30, 1931, were transactions not of the individual Miss Bilharz but of the bank as a bank as revealed by its banking records. Impressively suggestive that the bank was deliberately attempting to benefit by wiping out appellee’s deposits is the fact that on July 24, 1931, the bank delivered to appellee a statement of the condition of his checking account between the dates of May 15, 1931 and July 24, 1931, but in so doing, by omission from said statement, the bank concealed the fact of the deposit of $10,894.48 on July 17, 1931, and concealed the fact of the two unwarranted charges against his account on July 17, and July 18, exhausting the deposit. In other respects the statement was correct. There is also evidence of the examiner in charge of this bank, acting as a representative of appellant, that the records of the bank show that for several years the bank had been following the same practice with reference to certificates of deposit of other customers, by acquiring the certificate, carrying it as cash, and periodically eliminating the liability of the bank by taking the deposit off the books.

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Bluebook (online)
268 N.W. 74, 221 Iowa 1251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bates-v-farmers-state-bank-iowa-1936.