Duval v. T. P. Ranch Co.

91 So. 656, 151 La. 142, 1922 La. LEXIS 2684
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedFebruary 27, 1922
DocketNo. 24642
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 91 So. 656 (Duval v. T. P. Ranch Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duval v. T. P. Ranch Co., 91 So. 656, 151 La. 142, 1922 La. LEXIS 2684 (La. 1922).

Opinion

LAND, J.

This ' suit was instituted by plaintiff on April 4, 1921, against defendant corporation, to have a receiver appointed, and to obtain judgment in the sum of $625, with interest and attorney’s fees, on two promissory notes signed by said corporation."

It is alleged in plaintiff’s petition that defendant corporation has large assets, consisting of 17,000 acres of land worth more than $100,000, stock and improvements, and a large claim for damages against Gueydan & Riley; that the board of directors of defendant corporation had passed a resolution declaring the corporation unable to meet its obligations as they matured, although the corporation was solvent; that Henri L. Gueydan had obtained a judgment against defendant corporation for a sum in excess of $10,000, from which judgment the defendant had prosecuted a devolutive appeal; that the said Henri L. Gueydan had caused a writ of fieri facias to issue upon said judgment, and had seized all the claims for damages which the defendant held against the firm of Gueydan & Riley, and that a forced sale thereof under seizure would result in a great sacrifice to the corporation.

It is further alleged in plaintiffs petition that defendant corporation had about 2,000 acres planted in rice, from which it expected to realize a sufficient profit to meet the floating ihdebtedness of the corporation.

Plaintiff prayed that defendant corporation show cause why a receiver should not be appointed with full power to run the said corporation as a going concern, and that a restraining order issue restraining the creditors of the said corporation from issuing execution or taking any action upon any claims or judgments until the final determination this suit.

An order was issued requiring defendant to show cause on April 9, 1921, why a receiver should not be appointed, and also restraining execution against any of the property of the defendant corporation pending the application for a receiver.

On April 11, 1921, defendant corporation answered through its secretary-treasurer, admitting all of the allegations of plaintiff’s petition, and joining in the prayer of the plaintiff, and asking for judgment in accordance with the same.

[145]*145On April 11, 1921, Henri L. Gueydan filed a petition of intervention, in which he alleged that he was a creditor of defendant corporation in a sum exceeding $12,000, as shown by judgment in the suit of Henri L. Gueydan v. T. P. Ranch Company, rendered in the district court of Jefferson Davis parish; that intervener had caused a writ of fieri facias to issue upon said judgment, and placed it in the hands of the sheriff of Jefferson Davis parish, and that the property seized thereunder was advertised by the sheriff for sale to he held on April 23, 1921, and that the real estate belonging to defendant corporation in Cameron parish was incumbered by two special mortgages, one in favor of the New Orleans Cattle Loan Company for $75,000, and one in favor of the Mortgage Securities Company in the sum of $100,000 plus the accrued interest.

Intervener further alleged that this suit had been instituted by plaintiff upon the solicitation and request of the defendant corporation for the express purpose of delaying, hindering, or preventing, if possible, the execution of intervener’s judgment, and thus depriving him indirectly of his legal rights to collect the amount, of said judgment in the method prescribed by law, which the defendant corporation was unable to accomplish directly.

Intervener further alleged that the appointment of a receiver was unnecessary to protect plaintiff’s rights, or the rights of any other creditor of defendant corporation, but alleged that, on the contrary, the only result that could be derived from the appointment of a receiver would be to pile up and incur several thousand dollars of expenses in receiver’s fees, attorney’s fees, etc., which would take precedence in the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of said property over the privileged creditors, including the intervener.

Intervener further alleged that the restraining order granted herein should be set aside for the following reasons:

(1) Because it was granted without requiring an injunction bond, as specifically required by section 3 of Act 159 of 1898.

(2) Because intervener, not being a party to application for a stay of proceedings or being served with notice thereof, cannot be bound thereby.

(3) Because no emergency is shown to exist as a reason why notice thereof should not be entered upon the receivership order book prior to the granting thereof.

Intervener prayed that both plaintiff and defendant corporation be cited to appear and answer the intervention, that the restraining order be vacated, annulled, and set aside, and that plaintiff’s demand for appointment of a receiver be rejected.

Plaintiff and defendant filed an exception of no right of action to the petition of intervention, which was argued and overruled, whereupon defendant corporation filed an answer admitting that the intervener was a judgment creditor, and that the two special mortgages rested upon its property, and again alleged the necessity of a receiver in order to prevent the intervener from selling its property.

The plaintiff filed an answer to the petition of intervention adopting all of the allegations of the answer filed by the defendant.

Under these issues as presented, the case was tried, and judgment was rendered, vacating and setting aside the restraining order, rejecting plaintiff’s demand for the appointment of a receiver, and ^warding to plaintiff the amount sued for with interest and attorney’s fees.

The exception of no right of action filed by plaintiff and defendant to the petition of intervention was properly overruled by the trial judge, as the petition of intervention clearly discloses that the intervener has an [147]*147interest “opposed to both the plaintiff and the defendant.” O. P. 890.

Tl;e legal questions presented in, the case are:

(1) The power of the district court to issue a restraining order upon the application for the appointment of a receiver, in order to stop the execution of a judgment wherein a seizure has been effected prior to the actual appointment of the receiver.

(2) The right of the plaintiff to secure the appointment of a receiver upon the sole and only ground that the board of directors of defendant corporation have passed a resolution declaring the defendant corporation unable to meet its obligations as they may mature.

[1] Section 3 of Act 159 of 1898 reads as follows:

“Be it further enacted, etc., pending the hearing and determination of such application the court may, in its discretion, and on plaintiff giving bond in a sum, to be fixed by the court, restrain by injunction the'corporation, its officers, stockholders and agents from disposing of its property or changing the status of its officers to the injury of the plaintiff, or staying proceedings by other persons against its property.” (Italics ours.) •

This section clearly intends that the restraint shall be “by injunction” and “on plaintiff giving bond,” whether such restraint is directed against the corporation, its officers, agents, and stockholders, or whether it is directed against the other creditors of the corporation to stay proceedings against its property.

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Bluebook (online)
91 So. 656, 151 La. 142, 1922 La. LEXIS 2684, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duval-v-t-p-ranch-co-la-1922.