Denison v. Alpena Loan & Building Ass'n

75 N.W. 300, 117 Mich. 98, 1898 Mich. LEXIS 797
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMay 17, 1898
StatusPublished

This text of 75 N.W. 300 (Denison v. Alpena Loan & Building Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denison v. Alpena Loan & Building Ass'n, 75 N.W. 300, 117 Mich. 98, 1898 Mich. LEXIS 797 (Mich. 1898).

Opinion

Long, J.

This action is brought to recover from defendant association the amount claimed to be due plaintiff as a withdrawal stockholder upon 30 shares of the first series of defendant’s capital stock, and for amount due William R. Hyatt as a withdrawal stockholder upon two shares of the same series, which were sold and transferred to plaintiff January 16, 1897, and after Hyatt had filed his notice of withdrawal. Defendant pleaded the general issue, and gave notice that it would show that defendant had no funds on hand to pay the plaintiff’s claim. It also gave notice that a former secretary had converted and appropriated some of its funds, and that said appropriation and loss were accomplished through the connivance or gross carelessness of plaintiff, he being one of the auditors or special agents of the defendant. The court directed a verdict for plaintiff of $2,088.61.

The defendant association was organized under Act No. 50, Pub. Acts 1887 (3 How. Stat. chap. 119a). Section 6 of this act (3 How. Stat. § 3981/) provides:

“Any stockholder wishing to withdraw from the corporation shall have the power to do so by giving 30 days’ notice in writing at a stated meeting of his inten[100]*100tion to withdraw, when he shall be entitled to receive the amount paid in by him, and such interest thereon, or such proportion of the profits thereon, as the by-laws may determine, less all fines and other charges; but payments of the stock so withdrawn shall only be due when the funds applicable to the demand of withdrawing stockholders are sufficient to meet and liquidate the same, and then only in the order of the respective times of presentation of the notices of such withdrawal: Provided, that at no time shall more than one-half of the funds of the treasury of the corporation be applicable to the demands of withdrawing stockholders without the consent of the board of directors, and that no stockholder shall be entitled to withdraw whose stock is held in pledge for security.”

Section 1 of article 15 of the by-laws provides

‘ ‘ All members desiring to withdraw from the association, as provided in section 6 of the act under which this association is organized, shall, after 30 days’ notice, be entitled to receive the amount paid in by them (except membership fee), and 6 per cent, per annum, except on advanced payments; but no member shall be entitled to interest until he has been a member 6 months.”

It appears that plaintiff first took, by assignment, 10 shares of the stock December ?, 1889, and these shares were surrendered, and new certificates issued to him by defendant. On May 13, 1891, he took, by assignment, another 10 shares, and, on the same day, also another 10 shares. This last 20 shares so assigned were held by plaintiff, and no new certificates were issued to him thereon; but he paid to the association all the dues and installments thereon up to the time of the withdrawal notice, except for the months of April, May, and June, 1896. Mr. Hyatt had paid all installments due before his notice of withdrawal, and before the assignment to plaintiff. At the time plaintiff and Hyatt filed their withdrawal notices and surrendered their stock to defendant, the defendant’s secretary indorsed on plaintiff’s notice as follows:

Books Nos. 35, 41, and 143, 10 shares, 1st Series, Each.

Installments paid in_____________________________$1,455'00

Interest........r................................ 606 25

Total......-...............................--$2,061 25

[101]*101On Hyatt’s notice was indorsed:

Installments paid in________________________________$95 00

Interest_________ 89 58

Total_______________________ $134 58

The court found the amount less than this,' — -that is, to be $2,138.99, — and deducted from this sum the penalties and the unpaid installments for the months of April, May, and June, of $50.38, and therefore directed the verdict at $2,088.61.

1. It is the contention of counsel for defendant that the plaintiff had no right under the statute to withdraw, for the reason that’there were three installments due and unpaid upon his shares of stock; that the correct interpretation of the statute is that, where such installments remain unpaid, the association has a lien upon the stock for unpaid installments, the same as if it were pledged for security. We think the court below was. not in error in holding that there was no evidence in the case showing that “this stock was pledged or put up as security by the plaintiff.” By the provisions of section 6, above quoted, where the stock is pledged for security, the stockholder is not permitted to withdraw; but this section of the act does not prohibit a withdrawal simply for the reason that installments remain unpaid. What the statute means is that a stockholder who has borrowed from the. corporation, and pledged his stock as security, cannot withdraw until he has redeemed his stock by the payment of the loan or an unconditional tender of it. Anderson Building, etc., Ass’n v. Thompson, 88 Ind. 405 (4 Am. & Eng. Corp. Cas. 196).

2. It is further contended that there were no available funds in the treasury to meet this demand. The secretary of the association testified that there was only one withdrawal notice ahead of the plaintiff, and that was for only $500. He also stated that during the months from July, 1896, to December, 1896, inclusive, there was paid into the treasury the sum of $24,745.02. Plaintiff’s applica[102]*102tion to withdraw was made to the association on July 10, 1896. When the demand was finally made and refused, there was in the treasury nearly $7,000 applicable to this withdrawal. We find nothing in the record in any.manner contradicting this.

3. Counsel for defendant asked the court to charge the jury:

“Second. From the evidence in this case, the defendant is entitled to verdict for all losses that occurred to defendant through the plaintiff’s neglect in not properly auditing Secretary Partridge’s accounts, which were referred to plaintiff and .others to look over and audit.
“Third. Defendant is entitled to a verdict of at least $3,100.06, the amount embezzled or taken by Partridge during the time that plaintiff acted as one of the auditors of defendant.
“Fourth. It was the duty of plaintiff, while acting as auditor of the defendant, to examine the books and accounts of defendant kept by Partridge, and to have reported to defendant any and all defalcations appearing from said books or accounts; and having failed to do this, either from neglect of duty or from design, the law will not permit him to recover in this suit, or recover at all, until the other shareholders receive their pay.
“Fifth. The plaintiff, as one of the defendant’s auditors, having reported to defendant that its shares were worth so much per share, which included all of these defalcations as being oil hand, the plaintiff therefore made false reports to defendant, which makes him liable to defendant for all damages or losses occasioned by said false reports, and it makes no difference whether he did this designedly or negligently. ”

. These requests were refused, and, we think, very properly.

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Related

Anderson Building, Loan Fund & Savings Ass'n v. Thompson
88 Ind. 405 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1882)
Heinbokel v. National Savings, Loan & Bldg. Ass'n
25 L.R.A. 215 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1894)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
75 N.W. 300, 117 Mich. 98, 1898 Mich. LEXIS 797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denison-v-alpena-loan-building-assn-mich-1898.