Boomer v. Isley

290 P. 405, 49 Idaho 666, 1930 Ida. LEXIS 158
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 28, 1930
DocketNo. 5424.
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 290 P. 405 (Boomer v. Isley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boomer v. Isley, 290 P. 405, 49 Idaho 666, 1930 Ida. LEXIS 158 (Idaho 1930).

Opinion

VARIAN, J.

This is an action on a promissory note formerly secured by chattel mortgage on approximately 1,100 head of sheep, not including accretions, increase or *669 wool. Appellant alleged the sale of the mortgaged property, and application of the proceeds- thereof to the mortgage indebtedness, by consent of defendants, and prayed for judgment for a balance of $17,342.26, interest, and attorney’s fees. The answer denies the sale of the property as alleged in the complaint, or that the security has become valueless, or that any sum is owing on account of said promissory note, etc., and sets up two affirmative defenses: First, that appellant took the mortgaged property and sold it without respondents’ consent, without accounting therefor, and that no proceedings were had as for the foreclosure of chattel mortgages; second, that subsequently appellant released respondents from all indebtedness, of every nature, in consideration of respondents’ surrendering possession of a certain ranch in Lemhi county and canceling an agreement to purchase the same from appellant. The cause was tried in Lemhi county, resulting in a verdict for defendants, in 1923. A new trial was ordered, which was affirmed by this court on appeal. See Boomer v. Isley, 42 Ida. 547, 47 A. L. R. 578, 246 Pac. 966, where a more comprehensive statement of the pleadings will be found. On the cause being remanded, a change of venue was had to Twin Falls county in the Eleventh Judicial District. The cause was there tried with a jury, the Hon. Wm. A. Babcock presiding, again resulting in a verdict and judgment for defendants. A motion for a new trial was made and denied. Plaintiff appeals from the judgment and order denying a motion for a new trial.

The first assignment of error, argued under practically five heads, is to the effect, first, that the evidence is wholly insufficient to sustain the verdict, in that it does not show that the sheep in controversy were taken and sold by appellant as his own, without the consent of respondents, or without following the statutory procedure relative to sale of mortgaged chattels, but that the evidence is conclusive that the sheep were sold by respondents; second, that there is no evidence that Hale and McKinney were acting as agents *670 for appellant; third, that the evidence is insufficient to show that the contract alleged in the second defense was ever made as alleged therein or at all; fourth, that the evidence is conclusive that Isley agreed to surrender the land at a conference held on the premises, Boomer, Isley and Monroe being present, in October, 1921, and that the surrender was made accordingly, with permission given by Boomer to Isley that he remain on the premises until other arrangements could be made by him; fifth, that there is no evidence that respondents’ relinquishment of the lands would likewise cancel the balance due on the note sued on in the present action.

Appellant and respondent Isley had had business relations for twenty years. The former was a railroad contractor, residing at Spokane, Washington, and Isley had at one time worked for him and had held subcontracts under him. Appellant had for years, at different times, loaned respondent money. Isley on December 15, 1914, entered into a contract with Boomer for the purchase of 446.75 acres of land in Lemhi county, Idaho, for which he agreed to pay $20,500, in instalments, with interest at six per cent per annum, the last instalment falling due January 1, 1929. Isley went into actual possession of these lands, and remained in possession thereof until the fall of 1922, when he surrendered possession to one Babcock, to whom Boomer had conveyed the land. On February 1, 1918, Boomer loaned Isley $20,050, evidenced by a promissory note bearing interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum, executed by respondents, and secured by a chattel mortgage dated February 19, 1918, on approximately 1,100 head of sheep. No mention is made in the mortgage of accretions, wool or increase, but the pleadings of both parties are to the effect that they were not covered by the mortgage.

It is not disputed that the mortgaged sheep, including their lambs, were leased in May, 1920, to one Hale, who agreed to market the lambs when ready in August, and run the sheep for forty per cent of the lambs; that Isley delivered *671 the sheep and lambs to Hale at Salmon, Idaho; that thereafter Peter McKinney, manager for two corporations owning sheep, in which he and Boomer were the principal stockholders, received the sheep and lambs from Hale and shipped them to North Dakota; that the lambs were shipped from there and sold on the Chicago market, and the mortgaged sheep were afterwards sold in North Dakota; that Hale likewise delivered the wool shorn from said sheep to McKinney, who shipped and sold it with wool owned by his companies; that the proceeds of these sales of sheep, lambs (sixty per cent thereof), and wool, aggregating $5,684.69, were remitted by McKinney to Boomer’s office in Spokane, and credited on the sheep note; that in 1919 Isley had paid Boomer $1600 on account of interest on this note; that no further payments were made on said note, which was never marked canceled or returned to Isley.

The evidence is conflicting as to whether Hale leased the sheep from Boomer or Isley, or they were delivered by Isley to Hale at Boomer’s demand, or McKinney had any agreement with Isley for the shipping and sale of the sheep, or Hale and McKinney were agents of Boomer or of Isley in the sheep transactions, or whether they made any report to Isley of the sale and disposition of the proceeds of the sales of the sheep, lambs and wool, or whether .Isley after-wards ever acknowledged his liability on the sheep note for the amount remaining after crediting the items mentioned.

We conclude, after a careful consideration of the record, that there is sufficient evidence to sustain respondents’ contention that appellant took the sheep and sold them without following the statutory procedure prescribed for the foreclosure of chattel mortgages, and without respondents’ consenting to the sale as made. He therefore cannot recover the deficiency under prior holdings of this court. (Boomer v. Isley, supra; First Nat. Bank v. Poling, 42 Ida. 636, 248 Pac. 19; Garrett v. Soucie, 46 Ida. 289, 267 *672 Pac. 1078.) It follows that there was sufficient, evidence to sustain respondents’ first affirmative defense.

As to the second affirmative defense, the following facts are uncontradicted, viz., the execution of the contract; Isley’s possession of the land; that he had made payments on account of the purchase price; the amount of the purchase price; that Isley was in arrears with his payments in 1921; that it was agreed to rescind the contract; that late in the year 1922 he delivered possession of the land to Babcock, purchaser thereof from Boomer, together with the crop for the current year consisting of 350 tons of hay and about 2,000 bushels of grain; that the rescission agreement was oral; that Isley never demanded or received a release or cancelation agreement, or the return of the original agreement or a note for $5,000 given as “security” for the contract by Isley.

The evidence as to the terms and date of the rescission agreement is squarely conflicting, and turns upon oral conversations embodying the agreement.

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

Related

DeWitty v. Decker
383 P.2d 734 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1963)
Cournyer v. Follett
376 P.2d 707 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1962)
Anderson v. Blackfoot Livestock Commission Co.
375 P.2d 704 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1962)
Eckman v. Jones
375 P.2d 180 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1962)
Gayhart Ex Rel. Gayhart v. Schwabe
330 P.2d 327 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1958)
Turk v. Clark
71 S.E.2d 172 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1952)
Ryska v. Anderson
214 P.2d 874 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1950)
Baldwin v. Ewing
204 P.2d 430 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1949)
Jones v. Adams
182 P.2d 963 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1947)
Pilkington v. Belson
168 P.2d 815 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1946)
Browder v. Cook
59 F. Supp. 675 (D. Idaho, 1945)
Nelson v. Altizer
144 P.2d 1009 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1943)
Stallinger v. Johnson
139 P.2d 460 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1943)
Abbs v. Redmond
132 P.2d 1044 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1943)
Hall v. Boise Payette Lumber Co.
125 P.2d 311 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1942)
Klam v. Koppel
118 P.2d 729 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1941)
Owen v. Taylor Ex Rel. Taylor
114 P.2d 258 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1941)
Hill v. Wilkinson
90 P.2d 696 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1939)
Evans v. Davidson
77 P.2d 661 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1938)
Mitchell v. Atwood
47 P.2d 680 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1935)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
290 P. 405, 49 Idaho 666, 1930 Ida. LEXIS 158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boomer-v-isley-idaho-1930.