Eac Credit Corporation v. E. L. King, Jess Porter and Joyce Porter

507 F.2d 1232, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 16126, 16 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 469
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 12, 1975
Docket73-3998
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 507 F.2d 1232 (Eac Credit Corporation v. E. L. King, Jess Porter and Joyce Porter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eac Credit Corporation v. E. L. King, Jess Porter and Joyce Porter, 507 F.2d 1232, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 16126, 16 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 469 (5th Cir. 1975).

Opinion

CLARK, Circuit Judge:

In this diversity based action EAC Credit Corporation (EAC) sued to recover financing losses under guaranty agreements which had been executed by the Kings and the Porters in connection with their business operations in Jackson, Mississippi. A jury returned verdicts for EAC on the first three counts of the complaint; the court directed a verdict for defendants on the fourth count. From a judgment imposing joint and several liability against all four defendants in the amount of 50,994.00 dollars, only the Porters have appealed. We affirm on the first two counts and reverse on the third.

I

In late 1965, Mr. King and Mr. Porter, who were then doing business as Jackson Maytag Company, approached EAC with a request for financing in connection with their sales of Speed Queen washers and driers. 1 EAC agreed to provide “floor plan” financing 2 for Speed Queen products, but after reviewing the financial statements of Jackson Maytag, EAC insisted that the account be undergirded by personal guaranties. Accordingly, Mr. Porter and Mr. and Mrs. King each signed separate documents. The document signed by Mr. Porter on September 16, 1965 contained the following pertinent provisions:

I do hereby guarantee to said EAC Credit Corporation, the prompt payment of any and all indebtedness now due or hereafter to become due to the said EAC Credit Corporation, to the extent of a total of $40,000 covering purchases and loans secured by Speed Queen inventory to Jackson Maytag Company, its successors and assigns, for any such goods which may be purchased, shipped, or ordered at any time in the future.
******
This guarantee shall apply only to •merchandise financed on a “floor plan” basis whereby the inventory is being financed for resale and for rental. 3

When Jackson Maytag Company sought to begin handling Speed Queen products, the Maytag distributor insisted that “Maytag” be removed from the company name. Accordingly, in December 1965 the articles of incorporation of Jackson Maytag Company were amended to change the corporate name to “King-Porter Company, Inc.”

In April 1968 King and Porter decided to expand their dealings in Speed Queen *1235 merchandise to include commercial coin-operated washers and driers. Speed Queen .was agreeable, but company policy required that such commercial operations be kept separate from retail sales. Hence, King, Porter and a third man, Mr. Tymes, formed “King-Porter Service Company, Inc.” to handle the commercial merchandise. At about the same time, King and Porter incorporated “King-Porter, Inc.” to operate a second retail store in Jackson. In February 1969, a third business was incorporated as “King-Porter, Corp.”, which, like the second retail store, sold hardware as well as appliances. Mr. King testified that each store was incorporated separately because each had different management and because they wanted to facilitate divestiture in case one location proved unprofitable. Three of the four corporations listed 426 North State Street as the address of their initial registered offices, although only one, King-Porter Co., Inc., actually conducted business at that location.

King and Porter were each fifty percent shareholders in three of the four business corporations; Tymes owned a one-third interest in King-Porter Service Co., Inc. Mr. King and Mr. Porter were respectively president and vice-president of each corporation, although only King took an active part in their operation. Neither of their wives owned an interest in any of the companies.

In 1968 two additional financing arrangements were effectuated. EAC agreed to extend floor plan financing for non-Speed Queen merchandise to be delivered to the King-Porter companies through purchases by EAC from McKee & McRae, Inc., a wholesale distributor in Jackson. EAC also agreed to provide “retail installment” financing under a plan whereby EAC would purchase installment contracts and rental agreements from the King-Porter companies on a non-notification basis, i. e. no notice of the financing transaction would be given to the retail appliance purchaser and the companies would collect payments on the contracts as they fell due.

A second guaranty, executed by both Mr. and Mrs. Porter, was entered into contemporaneously with this additional financing. The terms of this guaranty, dated August 29, 1968, are set out in the margin. 4 The italicized portions represent terms that were typewritten into blanks on a mimeographed document prepared by EAC. The entire final paragraph was also added to the form in *1236 typing but with a style of type different from that used to fill in the blanks. Both Mr. and Mrs. Porter testified that at the time they signed this guaranty the blanks were not filled in. Mr. Porter testified that he signed “on the basis of the last paragraph” only. W. A. Royce, Jr., the EAC representative in charge of dealer financing for Speed Queen and the man from whose office the guaranty originated, testified that the second guaranty was prepared “with reference to” the final paragraph. The copies of this guaranty attached to the complaint and identified by Royce at his deposition did not have the blanks filled in. Royce also testified that the furnishing of personal guaranties was a condition precedent to the financing of the King-Porter Company operations by EAC and indicated that he considered any debt owed to EAC by any King-Porter Company ipso facto covered by the guaranties.

Under Mississippi law a guarantor is entitled to have his undertaking strictly construed, and the contract cannot be extended beyond its precise terms. American Oil Company v. Wigley’s Estate, 251 Miss. 275, 169 So.2d 454 (1964). The person claiming under the guaranty has the burden of showing that the debt whose recovery is sought falls within the contractual terms and that all conditions upon the guarantor’s liability have occurred. However, the subjective beliefs and intentions of the parties are relevant to the extent necessary to interpret ambiguities in the written document; and to this end, matters extrinsic to the writing may properly be considered by the trier of the facts.

II

The claims of Counts I and II of the complaint were made up of sums owed to EAC by various individual debtors of the King-Porter companies whose merchandise purchase and rental accounts had been acquired by EAC pursuant to the installment financing agreement. 5 Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 4 was a list of seventy-one names, each accompanied by an account number and an amount representing the uncollected balance due. This tabulation constituted the only physical evidence in support of the claims made in Count I. Royce testified that the list represented people who owed money to “King-Porter Company” on installment contracts or leases. The supporting documents were offered as evidence but were later withdrawn. Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 4 was properly admissible as a summary of the accounts, which were physically in court and available for inspection. See

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Bluebook (online)
507 F.2d 1232, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 16126, 16 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eac-credit-corporation-v-e-l-king-jess-porter-and-joyce-porter-ca5-1975.