Duval v. Skouras

181 Misc. 651, 44 N.Y.S.2d 107, 1943 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2396
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 4, 1943
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 181 Misc. 651 (Duval v. Skouras) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duval v. Skouras, 181 Misc. 651, 44 N.Y.S.2d 107, 1943 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2396 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1943).

Opinion

Benvenga, J.

This is a motion for summary judgment.

In June, 1943, plaintiff, a nonresident, brought an action upon three bonds, each in the sum of $1,000, guaranteed under seal by Spyros P. Skouras and others. Defendant Skouras has interposed an answer in which he pleads the Statute of Limitations. The question presented is whether the action’ is barred by the Statute of Limitations. The salient facts are not disputed.

In April, 1925, Central Properties Corporation, in St. Louis, Missouri, executed bonds bearing interest at the rate of 6% per annum, maturing serially commencing April, 1928, and ending October, 1941; with interest on the principal sum after maturity thereof at the rate of 7% per annum; payable semiannually “ in the manner more specifically described in the indenture ” hereinafter referred to, at the office of S. W. Strauss & Co., a corporation, at the city of Chicago, Illinois, or at the office of S. W. Strauss & Co., Inc., New York City ”.

To secure payment of the indebtedness, Central executed and delivered the indenture above mentioned, conveying to trustees certain theatre properties located in Missouri. Simultaneously, defendants guaranteed the payment of principal and interest on the bonds “ as and when the same shall in any manner be or become due, either according to its terms or earlier maturity thereof, pursuant to the provisions of this bond or the indenture securing the same.”

Under the indenture, Central was required to deposit, at fixed periods, with Strauss at its office in Chicago, or with such other depositary as • the trustees might appoint, sufficient [653]*653moneys to make payments of principal and interest on the bonds. Upon the making of such deposits, the liability of Central was “ discharged ” and the bondholders were required *1 to look for payment * * * solely to S. W. Strauss & Co. ’ ’

Deposits were made in accordance with the terms of the indenture, and payments on account of principal and interest were made up to April, 1932. Thereafter, Central became and continued to be in default. As a result in October, 1932, the trustees, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the bonds and indenture, elected to declare and did declare the then outstanding bonds to be due and payable immediately, and instituted action to foreclose the lien of the indenture.

It is well settled that, in the absence of a clear intention to the contrary, matters bearing upon the execution, the interpretation, and the validity of a contract are determined by the law of the place where the contract is made; matters connected with its performance, such as the payment of bills, notes and other instruments for the payment of money, are regulated by the law of the place of performance; and matters respecting the remedy and procedure, such as the Statute of Limitations, the bringing of the action, and the admissibility of evidence, are governed by the law of the place where the action is brought. (Scudder v. Union Nat. Bank, 91 U. S. 406, 412, 413; Union National Bank v. Chapman, 169 N. Y. 538, 543; Miller v. Brenham, 66 N. Y. 83, 87; Stumpf v. Hallahan, 101 App. Div. 383, 386, affd. 185 N. Y. 550; Hixson v. Rodbourn, 67 App. Div. 424, 428.) These general rules, however, yield to the primary canon of construction, which requires that, where it can be ascertained, the intention of the parties shall govern. (Stumpf v. Hallahan, supra; Smith v. Compania Litografica, 127 Misc. 508, 511, 512; affd. 220 App. Div. 782.) The intention of the parties, express or implied, generally determines the law that governs ” (Compania de Inversiones Internacionales v. Industrial Mortgage Bank of Finland, 269 N. Y. 22, 26).

Therefore, in the absence of statute to the contrary, if an action is barred by the Statute of Limitations of the forum, no action can be maintained, even though the action is not barred in the State where the cause of action arose. Conversely, if an action is not barred by the Statute of Limitations of the forum, an action can be maintained, though the action is barred in the State where the cause of action arose (Restatement, Conflict of Laws, §§ 603, 604; N. Y. Annotations to Conflict of Laws, §§ 603, 604).

[654]*654This common-law rule has been modified by section 13 of the Civil Practice Act, which provides that “ where a cause of action arises outside of this state, an action cannot be brought in a court of this state to enforce such action after the expiration of the time limited by the laws either of this state or of the state or country where the cause of action arises, for bringing an action upon such cause of action, except that where the cause of action originally accrued in favor of a resident of this state, the time limited by the laws of this state shall apply.” (See Walz v. Mansfield, 144 Misc. 304, 306.) Moreover, under section 11 of the Civil Practice Act, the Statute of Limitations begins to run and the period of limitation must be computed ‘ ‘ from the time of the accruing of the right to relief by action ’ ’ to the time when the claim to that relief is actually interposed. (Italics supplied.).

Here, plaintiff is a nonresident, and the exception in section 13 of the Civil Practice Act is inapplicable. The action is based upon a contract of guarantee, and, therefore, the right to relief by action accrued when Central defaulted in the payment of interest on the bonds, and thereby failed in law to perform the terms and conditions of the bonds and indenture. This, as already stated, was in October, 1932. It was then that the cause of action arose on the contract of guarantee, and it was .then that the Statute of Limitations began to run on the installment of interest then due. (McMullen v. Rafferty, 89 N. Y. 456, 459; Shayne v. Reynolds, 225 App. Div. 70, 72; 37 C. J., Limitations of Actions, §§ 190, 207, 208.)

The question is thus presented as to when the statute began to run on the principal and interest on the then outstanding bonds. Defendants, as we have seen, guaranteed the payment of principal and interest on the bonds ‘ ‘ as and when the same shall in any manner be or become due, either according to its terms or earlier maturity thereof, pursuant to the provisions of this bond or the indenture securing the same.”

Each bond provides that, in case of default in the payment of principal or interest, <£ the principal of this bond may become due and payable before its regular maturity, as provided in said indenture ”; that, moreover, the indenture and the bonds ££ are to be taken and considered together as parts of one and the same contract.”

The indenture provides that, in case of default in the payment of any installment of principal or interest, ££ the trustees, in their discretion and without any action on the. part of any bondholder, may * * * declare the principal of all bonds hereby secured and then outstanding to be due and payable [655]*655immediately, and upon such declaration the said principal, together with the interest accrued thereon, shall become and be due and payable immediately, at the place of payment aforesaid, anything in this indenture or in said bonds to the contrary notwithstanding.”

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181 Misc. 651, 44 N.Y.S.2d 107, 1943 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duval-v-skouras-nysupct-1943.