Dial Real Estate, Inc. v. Isbell

256 So. 2d 133, 1971 La. App. LEXIS 5365
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 15, 1971
DocketNo. 3563
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 256 So. 2d 133 (Dial Real Estate, Inc. v. Isbell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dial Real Estate, Inc. v. Isbell, 256 So. 2d 133, 1971 La. App. LEXIS 5365 (La. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

HOOD, Judge.

This is a suit on a promissory note, instituted by Dial Real Estate, Inc., against T. H. (Tommy) Isbell. Plaintiff demands judgment for the amount of the note, while defendant contends that he is entitled to a substantial credit on the indebtedness. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff for the full amount claimed, and defendant has appealed. We affirm.

The issues are: (1) Should the note be credited with a payment which defendant allegedly made to a person who was not the holder of such note? (2) Is defendant entitled to a set-off on the ground that he became legally subrogated to the rights of a creditor of plaintiff? (3) Should credit be allowed on the note for expenses incurred by defendant because of a breach of warranty by plaintiff ?

Albert M. My rick was adjudicated an involuntary bankrupt in April, 1967, and William T. Sandoz was appointed as receiver and trustee of the bankrupt’s estate. My-rick owned all of the shares of stock in Dial Real Estate, Inc., when the bankruptcy proceedings were filed. A few days before he was adjudicated a bankrupt, however, he attempted to transfer all of that stock to his brother (Walter Thomas My-rick). The trustee in bankruptcy instituted suit to annul the purported transfer as being a fraudulent transaction, and judgment was rendered annulling the transfer and decreeing the trustee to be the owner of the stock.

Among Dial’s assets was the unsecured promissory note on which this suit is based. The note was executed by defendant Isbell, [135]*135it is made payable to the order of plaintiff, and it is for the principal sum of $16,200.00. The note is dated September 25, 1967, and is due and payable six months after date. There are no endorsers or co-makers on the note, and it is not paraphed for identification with any other document. The note had not matured when Sandoz acquired possession of it.

The note represents the balance due on the purchase price of two tracts of land which Isbell purchased from Dial. On August 9, 1967, Dial executed a cash warranty deed conveying those tracts to Isbell for the price of $18,000.00. Although the deed recited that the entire purchase price was paid in cash, actually only $1,800.00 was paid at the time of the sale, and this note was given for the balance.

According to Barstow’s testimony, the tracts of land conveyed by that deed were burdened with four mortgages at the time the sale was made. The note secured by the first mortgage was for substantially more than the total price which Isbell agreed to pay for this property. The notes secured by the second, third and fourth mortgages were acquired by Barstow before Dial sold the property to Isbell. Albert M. Myrick was the maker of each of these notes, and he was the person who executed the mortgages which secured them. Barstow testified that Myrick and Dial Real Estate, Inc., were indebted to him for legal fees, and that these inferior mortgage notes were assigned to him either to satisfy or to secure the payment of those fees. Isbell admits that he knew when he purchased the property that it was encumbered with these mortgages, but he testified that he had been assured by Myrick and by Barstow that these encumbrances would be cancelled without any additional expense to him.

Shortly after Sandoz acquired possession of the $16,200.00 note, executed by Is-bell on September 25, 1967, he, as owner of all of the stock in Dial, called a stockholders’ meeting and officers and directors of the corporation were elected at that meeting. Sandoz was elected as president. The board of directors met the same day and formally authorized Sandoz to proceed in behalf of the corporation to collect the note. These meetings were held on December 1, 1967.

Sandoz wrote to Isbell on December 1, 1967, informing him that Dial was the owner of that note, and advising that all of the assets of the corporation had been turned over to Sandoz. In that letter to Isbell, Sandoz stated:

“Under no circumstances should you make payment to anyone except to your writer in order to avoid possible duplicate payment, since we are holder of same in our capacity as sole stockholder of Dial Real Estate.”

Sandoz also wrote to Isbell on May 15 and on July 11, 1968, demanding payment of the note. Isbell admits that he received all of the above mentioned letters. No payment was made in response to those demands, however, and this suit was instituted on September 10, 1968.

Isbell, through his attorney Barstow, obtained two extensions of time within which to answer. Despite these extensions, no answer was filed, and on November 29, 1968, Dial obtained a default judgment against Isbell for the full amount claimed. Isbell appealed, but upon joint motion of both parties, an order was issued by this court on April 1, 1969, remanding the case to the district court. Isbell then filed an answer in the trial court, alleging that he made a payment of $10,331.11 to Barstow on November 5, 1968, and that he is entitled to credit for that payment.

At the trial, defendant offered in evidence a check which he had issued to Bar-stow for $10,331.11, dated November 5, 1968, which check was endorsed by Bar-stow. Although the copy of the check which is in the record contains no marks showing that it has been presented to a bank for payment, Dial does not question [136]*136defendant’s testimony that that amount was paid to Barstow.

Defendant contends that Albert M. My-rick had specifically authorized Barstow to receive and accept payments on the note for Dial, with the understanding that Bar-stow was to retain all such payments made to him until the attorney’s fees owed to him by Myrick and Dial were paid. Isbell contends that Barstow thus had authority to accept the payment he made on November 5, 1968, and that he is entitled to have that payment applied as a credit on the note. Myrick denies that any such authority was ever given to Barstow. The trial judge concluded that defendant had “failed his burden of proving payment,” and he rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff for the full amount claimed.

The defense of payment is an affirmative defense which must be specially pleaded and proved by the party alleging it. LSA-C.C.P. art. 1005; LSA-C.C. art. 2232; Fontenot v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 230 So.2d 402 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1970); American Security Bank of Ville Platte, Inc. v. Vidrine, 255 So.2d 140 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1971).

A party who pleads the defense of payment of a note, alleging that the payment was made to a person who was not the holder of that note, bears the burden of proving not only that the payment was made but also that the person to whom the payment was made had authority to receive it. Henry Knight & Son, Inc. v. Shall, 9 La.App. 98, 119 So. 80 (La.App. Orl. 1928); Powers v. Smith, 6 La.App. 621 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1927). See also Hebert, Negotiable Instruments, 20 La.L.Rev. 266.

In the instant suit no written evidence of Barstow’s alleged authority to receive the payment for Dial has been produced. Barstow testified that he had received that authority orally from Myrick, but My-rick denies this. Myrick, of course, had been adjudicated a bankrupt long before the note was executed, and he took the position in his bankruptcy proceedings that he had previously assigned all of his stock in Dial Real Estate to his brother. His brother, in fact, executed the deed as president of Dial when the property was sold to Isbell about six or seven weeks before the note was executed.

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Bluebook (online)
256 So. 2d 133, 1971 La. App. LEXIS 5365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dial-real-estate-inc-v-isbell-lactapp-1971.