Capital National Bank v. Wilkerson

75 N.E. 837, 36 Ind. App. 467, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 206
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 3, 1905
DocketNo. 4,994
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 75 N.E. 837 (Capital National Bank v. Wilkerson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capital National Bank v. Wilkerson, 75 N.E. 837, 36 Ind. App. 467, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 206 (Ind. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinions

Wiley, O. J.

Appellee sued appellant to recover an alleged preference under .subdivision b, §60 (30 Stat. at Large, p. 562), of tbe national bankruptcy law of 1898. Tbe complaint was in a single paragraph, to which an answer in denial was filed. Trial by tbe court, and finding and judgment for appellee. Appellant’s motion for a new trial was overruled.

Tbe errors .assigned are: (1) Tbat tbe complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action; and (2) tbat tbe court erred in overruling tbe motion for a new trial.

1. Tbe only objection urged to tbe complaint is tbat it does not show a legal demand for tbe return of tbe unlawful preference. Tbe complaint proceeds upon tbe theory tbat tbe demand was necessary, and tbat such demand was duly made. Counsel for appellant assert tbe proposition, also, tbat it is necessary in an action of this character to allege a demand by tbe trustee in bankruptcy against tbe creditor for tbe return of tbe property, or its value if return can not be bad, and a refusal on tbe part of tbe creditor; and until such demand and refusal tbe bolding of tbe creditor is legal and valid, It will thus be observed tbat both parties to this appeal affirm tbat a demand is necessary. In this position they are in error. This [470]*470court, in the case of Goldberg v. Harlan (1904), 33 Ind. App. 465, held that no demand was necessary before the commencement of an action by a trustee in bankruptcy to enforce his rights as such trustee to property unlawfully transferred by the bankrupt.

2. The decision in that case was put upon the proposition that the whole transaction under the bankruptcy act was unlawful, and in such case a demand is unnecessary. The Supreme Court has approved the rule there declared by overruling appellant’s petition to transfer.

Subdivision b, §60, supra, is as follows: “If a bankrupt shall have given a preference within four months before the filing of a petition, or after the filing of the petition and before the adjudication, and the person receiving it, or to be benefited thereby, or his agent acting therein, shall have had reasonable cause to believe that it was intended thereby to give a preference, it shall be voidable by the trustee, and he may recover the property or its value from such person.”

3. Under the bankruptcy act of 1867 (14 Stat. at Large, p. 517), a preference to a creditor was declared to be void, while in the act of 1898 it is declared to be voidable. It seems to us that the word “void” in the act of 1867 must be held to be used in the sense of voidable and not void. A preference under the act of 1867 was good, not only between the parties, but as to all the world, unless judicial proceedings were brought by the assignee under the act to avoid it. If no suit was brought, the preference in the hands of the party preferred could not be assailed by the creditors of the bankrupt, or by any other person. Where a suit is brought by a creditor’s bill against an alleged fraudulent grantee, no demand is necessary; and this is. put upon the ground that such grantee is consciously attempting to defeat the legal rights of the creditors. As a general rule, a person who knowingly wrongs another is not entitled in any sort of suit to a previous demand to make restitution. Under the existing bank[471]*471ruptcy law, the trustee can not maintain a suit against the party alleged to have received an undue preference, unless it is made to appear that such person had reasonable cause to believe that it was intended thereby to give a preference. It will be seen, therefore, by the very words and spirit of the statute, that, before the action can be successfully maintained against a person alleged to have received an undue preference, it must be shown that he received it believing that he was a participant in an unlawful act, or, in other words, that he was receiving the property or other thing of value in violation of the statute, and therefore, as to other creditors, was a wrongdoer. We can not perceive any reason why a man, or a corporation, who is a participant in an attempted violation of the law, having reason to believe that he is guilty of such participation, should be entitled to notice before suit is brought against him. Under the express provision of the statute, unless he has reasonable cause to believe that he was such participant in an attempted unlawful act, the action could not be maintained against him; and why should a party who has reasonable cause to believe that he is a wrongdoer have notice before suit is brought?

It should be observed that the remedy which appellee seeks here to enforce is to recover a preference which is purely of statutory creation. The trustee in such case must bring himself within the provisions of the law which defines what shall constitute a preference, and creates the right in him to recover it. Subdivision a, §60, supra, defines what a preference shall be, to wit: “A person shall be deemed to have given a preference if, being insolvent, he has procured or suffered a judgment to be entered against himslf in favor of any person, or made a transfer of any of his property, and the effect of the enforcement of such judgment or transfer will be to enable any one of his creditors to obtain a greater percentage of his debt than any other of such creditors of the same class.”

Subdivision b, §60, supra, provides the constituent [472]*472elements necessary to enable the trustee to recover the preference. These constituent elements are to be construed with subdivision a, §60, supra, and are: (1) The debtor must have been insolvent at the time; (2) he must have procured or suffered a judgment or made a transfer; (3) the result of either of which must be to give one creditor a greater percentage of his claim than others; (4) such creditor must have had reasonable cause to believe this result was intended; (5) it must have been within four months before the filing of the petition, or between the filing and adjudication. Brandenburg, Bankruptcy (3d ed.), p. 59L

While the statute does not declare in words that a preference, under the conditions named therein, is unlawful, yet, in effect, that is what is méant by the statute. The question is simply this: In receiving a preference under the conditions named in the statute, is a creditor in the wrong? To hold under the provision cited that a trustee should make a demand before filing his suit to recover, would require reading into the statute a provision which congress did not see fit to put therein, either by express provision or necessary implication, and would, in fact, be a violation of the terms of the statute which confers upon the trustee the right to recover upon the simple terms therein declared. We therefore hold that it was not necessary for the trustee to allege in his complaint a demand before the bringing of his action.

This being true, the objection urged to the complaint is not well grounded. This brings us to the consideration of the questions presented by the overruling of appellant’s motion for a new trial. Counsel contend that the decision of the trial court is contrary to law and not sustained by sufficient evidence. The two propositions may properly be considered together, as they rest upon the evidence.

It is earnestly contended by counsel for appellant that upon the question of demand the evidence was wholly in[473]*473sufficient.

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106 N.E. 533 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1914)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
75 N.E. 837, 36 Ind. App. 467, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capital-national-bank-v-wilkerson-indctapp-1905.