Clements v. Wolfe

13 Tenn. App. 181, 1930 Tenn. App. LEXIS 135
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 26, 1930
StatusPublished

This text of 13 Tenn. App. 181 (Clements v. Wolfe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clements v. Wolfe, 13 Tenn. App. 181, 1930 Tenn. App. LEXIS 135 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinion

THOMPSON, J.

The complainant, T. B. Clements, sued the defendants, Robert Wolfe and W. M. Wolfe, upon the following note:

“$2400 Idol, Tenn. 12/20/1921.
“Twelve months after date for value received we promise to pay to the order of W. M. Wolfe two thousand and four hundred dollars with int. at 8% per annum from date.
’ ‘ ‘ The undersigned principal and endorsers of this note waive demand, notice and protest thereof, and we agree that if this note is placed in the hands of an attorney at law for collection, or has to be sued on, that we will pay ten per cent attorneys *182 fees in addition to the principal and interest, which fee shall be added to and become a part of the judgment.
“Robt. Wolfe,
“Henry -Wolfe.”

Said note bore the following endorsement:

“I sign the within note to T. B. Clements as his property this note extended until Dec. 20, 1923.
“W. M. Wolfe.”

At the time the suit was brought Henry Wolfe was dead. The defendant, W. M. Wolfe, was insolvent. He made no defense to the suit and no pro confesso was taken against him. The defendant Robert Wolfe, defended the suit. On the final hearing the Chancellor dismissed the complainant’s suit at his cost, and he has appealed to this Court and has assigned errors.

There is some controversy in the testimony about the facts, but we will state them as we think the greater weight of the evidence shows them to be.

Robert Wolfe, W. M. Wolfe and Henry Wolfe were brothers. Prior to 1915 they and a brother or sister inherited some land which they divided among themselves. W. M. Wolfe’s share was about 200 acres.

On February 13, 1925, W. M. Wolfe executed his note for $2147.79, to J. 0. Mallicoat, and on the'same day conveyed his 200 acres of land to J. N. Myers, Trustee, to secure the payment of said note. A little later W. M. Wolfe executed a second deed of trust on said land to secure an indebtedness of about $1200 which he owed to L. S. Sloat.

Shortly prior to December 20, 1921, Mallicoat and Sloat filed a suit in the Chancery Court against W. M. Wolfe to foreclose their mortgages.

W. M. Wolfe appealed to Robert Wolfe for aid, and an agreement was reached between them that Robert Wolfe would give to W. M. Wolfe $1600 in cash, and his (Robert Wolfe’s) note for $2400; that W. M. Wolfe would use the $1600 in cash to pay off the Sloat indebtedness; that W. M. Wolfe would sell the $2400 note and would pay off the Mallicoat indebtedness with the proceeds; that W. M. Wolfe would execute to Robert Wolfe his note for $4,000, secured by a mortgage which would become a first lien on said land. Henry Wolfe for the purpose of aiding W. M Wolfe also agreed to sign the $2400 note so that W. M. Wolfe could-more easily get the money on it.

Pursuant to said agreement W. M. Wolfe executed and delivered to Robert Wolfe his note for $4,000, secured by a deed of trust conveying said land to Henry Wolfe, Trustee. This note and deed of trust were on the same paper and were dated and acknowledged on *183 December 13, 1921. Robert Wolf turned over to W. M. Wolfe $1600 in cash, and W. M. Wolfe paid off the Sloat loan, which, with interest and court costs, amounted to about that sum. Sloat’s suit was of course dismissed. Then on December 20, 1921, Robert Wolfe executed to W. M. Wolfe his note for $2400, and Henry Wolfe, as he had promised to do, also signed this note. It is of course the note sued upon in this cause.

Shortly after receiving the $2400 note, W. M. Wolfe took it to two banks and attempted to sell it. One of said banks offered to buy it for $2,000, but both W. M. Wolfe and Mallicoat (who had agreed to hold up his suit for the time being) thought that this discount rate of $400 was too high. The other bank refused to consider buying it at all. So, W. M. Sloat, being unable to sell the note, held it until and after its maturity. We think that Robert Wolfe knew that W. M. Wolfe had not been able to sell said $2400 note and still had possession of it.

Now to go back a little. At the time Robert Wolfe turned over to W. M. Wolfe the $1600 in cash and the $2400 note, W. M. Wolfe was indebted to one Condra by note in the sum of $2160. Henry Wolfe and the complainant, T. B. Clements, were accommodation endorsers on this note. As we understood the record, said Condra note was not due at the time Robert Wolfe turned over to W. M. Wolfe the $1600 in cash and the $2400 note.

But by the time the $2400 note fell due, i. e., December 20, 1922, the Condra note was due and Condra was demanding payment.

On January 6, 1923, which was some 16 or 17 days after the maturity of the $2400 note, W. M. Wolfe went to the complainant’s residence where and when the following took place: W. M. Wolfe told complainant that he had the $2400 note on Robert Wolfe and that he had gotten it in a trade. He suggested that he endorse and assign said $2400 note to complainant and that complainant pay said Condra note and give him (W. M. Wolfe) his (complainant’s) note for the difference which they figured to be $306.15. But he told complainant that he (complainant) would have to give Robert Wolfe additional time within which to pay the $2400 note, because if he (complainant) forced him (Robert Wolfe) to pay said note at that time he (Robert Wolfe) would force a sale at a sacrifice of everything that he (W. M. Wolfe) had. Pursuant to this agreement W. M. Wolfe endorsed said $2400 note as follows:

“I sign the within note to T. B. Clements as his property this note extended until Dee. 20, 1923.
“W. M. Wolfe.’'

He then delivered said note to complainant, and complainant executed and delivered to him his (complainant’s) note for $306.15. *184 Complainant then paid and took up the Condra note. All of this was without the knowledge or consent of Robert Wolfe.

Sometime later Robert Wolfe asked W. M. Wolfe to surrender to him the $2400 note. W. M. Wolfe put him off by telling him that said note was somewhere at his (W. M. Wolfe’s) home and that he would look for it, etc. Robert Wolfe seems not to have made any further demands upon W. M. Wolfe for the surrender of said note, and complainant seems not to have made any demand upon Robert Wolfe for payment of said note for a year and a half or more. Robert Wolfe continued holding the $4000 note and deed of trust securing the same. He never at any time offered to surrender these to W. M. Wolfe.

On January 24, 1925, W. M. Wolfe sold and conveyed his land to Robert Wolfe for a recited consideration of $4000 cash. But it appears that the real consideration was $40 per acre, i. e., about $8,000. As near as we can get at it, Robert Wolfe paid for the land as follows:

1. The $1600 cash which he turned over to W. M. Wolfe on or about December 20, 1921.

2. He in the early part of 1925, and after he knew that complainant was holding the $2400 note, gave his note to Mallicoat in payment and discharge of Mallicoat’s mortgage indebtedness against the land.

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Bluebook (online)
13 Tenn. App. 181, 1930 Tenn. App. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clements-v-wolfe-tennctapp-1930.