Duncan v. Claiborne County Bank

705 S.W.2d 663, 1985 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3213
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 25, 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 705 S.W.2d 663 (Duncan v. Claiborne County Bank) 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
Duncan v. Claiborne County Bank, 705 S.W.2d 663, 1985 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3213 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

FRANKS, Judge.

In this action, the chancellor awarded plaintiffs judgment for $24,449.00, the amount deposited by defendant in its bank, and any accrued interest on the savings [664]*664account. The bank has appealed, insisting plaintiffs had executed agreements with the bank which entitled it to the proceeds of the account.

On March 26, 1981, David and Wanda Duncan executed a deed of trust on a lot located in the Barren Creek Subdivision in Claiborne County, which they owned as tenants by the entirety. The trust deed secured two notes to the defendant with a combined balance of $62,179.60. The trust deed provided, in addition to the stated indebtedness, the instrument would:

[Sjecure any and all other indebtedness due from First Parties or either of them, whether direct or indirect to said Claiborne County Bank, its successors or assigns up to an amount not exceeding $100,000.00 ... which may be now or hereafter held by, or become due to said Claiborne County Bank within a period of ten years from the date of this instrument.

In 1983, at various times, David Duncan as co-owner of two businesses executed seven promissory notes to Claiborne County Bank and personally guaranteed the debts. The pertinent provision in the notes is:

Set Off — I acknowledge and agree that you may set off all or any part of the note total against any obligation you may have, now or hereafter to pay money to me. This includes
(a) any deposit account balance I have with you whether time, savings, checking or NOW account; and
(b) any money owing to me on an item presented to you or in your possession for collection or exchange; and
(c) a repurchase agreement or any other non-deposit obligation.

The notes further provide the lender could exercise its right to set-off “without prior demand or notice,” and if the debtor’s right to receive money was “also owned by some other person” the lender’s set-off rights extended to that amount which the debtor could withdraw or receive on his own endorsement.

In October, 1984, a collection officer at the bank approached David Duncan and informed of a potential buyer for the Barren Creek property. Without knowing the identity of the buyers the Duncans, after negotiations with the bank, agreed to sell the property for $59,000.00. The bank’s officer prepared an option agreement for a consideration of $1,000.00 which the Dun-cans received. On December 5, 1984, at the closing of the sale arranged by the bank, David Duncan was presented a cashier’s check drawn on the bank for $58,-000.00.1 The Duncans signed a warranty deed conveying the property to the purchasers. David Duncan detected an omission in the deed and took the deed from the bank to get it corrected. Before leaving, he endorsed the cashier’s check and left it on the bank officer’s desk. The deed was corrected in a lawyer’s office and, since one of the purchasers, a lawyer, was present, Duncan gave the deed to that purchaser. Duncan returned to the bank the next day but the officer was out of the bank. On December 7, Duncan went to the bank to negotiate the check but was informed by the bank official that the bank would “keep the rest of it.” On the same date, after a call from Duncan’s attorney, the bank officer opened the disputed savings account in the bank, designated “Claiborne County Bank for David and Wanda Duncan”, in the amount of $24,404.49, which was the equity the Duncans had in the Barren Creek property. Apparently, the bank did not process the check until December 10. This action was filed by the Duncans on December 17, 1984, to recover the moneys in the savings account.

The parties place considerable emphasis on the issue of whether the so-called “dragnet clause” contained in the trust deed served as additional security for David Duncan’s business debts. Tennessee has long recognized the general validity of “dragnet clauses” in trust deeds. Wright [665]*665v. Lincoln County Bank, 465 S.W.2d 877 (Tenn.1970); Atwood v. Brown & Dillon, 1 Tenn.Cas. (Shann.) 639 (1876); Goodfriend v. United American Bank, 637 S.W.2d 870 (Tenn.App.1982); Murdock Acceptance Corp. v. Jones, 50 Tenn.App. 431, 362 S.W.2d 266 (1961). The issue, however, is moot, since the evidence does not establish reliance by the bank upon this security in the transaction before the court. Moreover, it satisfied the note secured by the trust deed on its own initiative and there is no evidence the bank has refused to release the trust deed. The evidence establishes that Duncan delivered the warranty deed to one of the purchasers who, in turn, returned the deed to the bank to be notarized and the deed was recorded in the Register of Deeds Office on December 7. In his testimony, the loan officer explained the basis for withholding the Duncan’s equity, which he had planned from the inception of his negotiations with the Duncans for the sale:

Q. You had in mind then that you were going after the equity?
A. Through the right of set-off,2 yes.

The issue thus becomes the extent the bank may exercise its right to set-off under David Duncan’s personal guarantees.3 The evidence adduced at trial does not focus on the transaction involving the cashier’s check. David Duncan’s testimony indicates he anticipated depositing the check into his checking account and paying the balance owing on the note secured by the trust deed and retaining the equity. In this regard, the loan officer testified:

Q. You heard Mr. Duncan testify that there was an error in the deed. And to correct the error he merely left that check there?
A. The check was left. I don’t know if it was on purpose or just — but he came to get the deed straightened out.

The evidence does not establish the check was presented to the bank for negotiation. The bank officer, however, negotiated the check, satisfied the note secured by the trust deed from the proceeds and, after the controversy arose, placed the balance in the savings account. He explained:

Q. Why didn’t you deposit that to his checking account?
A. It was just put into a savings account for them until this litigation is over with.

The relation of banker and depositor is created only with the consent of the owner of the funds deposited or by his later ratification of a deposit transaction. Gardner v. American Woodmen, 11 Tenn.App. 52 (1929). In Winslow v. Harriman Iron Co., 42 S.W. 698 (Tenn.Ch.App.1897), a holder of bank stock entrusted it to the cashier of a bank, instructing the cashier to obtain a loan on the stock and remit the proceeds to the holder. At the time of the transaction, the holder was indebted to the bank. After obtaining the loan, the cashier deposited the funds in the bank. On appeal, the court held the cashier “made this deposit with the express purpose of having it subjected to the claim of the Manufacturers’ National Bank,” id.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
705 S.W.2d 663, 1985 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duncan-v-claiborne-county-bank-tennctapp-1985.