Eberley v. First National Bank of Stanton

272 S.W.2d 532, 1954 Tex. App. LEXIS 2846
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 15, 1954
DocketNo. 3099
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 272 S.W.2d 532 (Eberley v. First National Bank of Stanton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eberley v. First National Bank of Stanton, 272 S.W.2d 532, 1954 Tex. App. LEXIS 2846 (Tex. Ct. App. 1954).

Opinion

’ GRISSOM, Chief Justice.

' The Bank sued the Eberleys on a note for $81,000, dated April 29, 1952, and to foreclose a deed of trust lien on two and one-half sections of land. In a second count the Bank alleged that Mr. Eberley had denied ■execution of the note and deed of trust and, in the event he was not bound on said note and deed of trust, that, on July 18, 1952, the Eberleys” owed the Bank $81,000 for money, loaned them and the Bank, acting through its president, Jim Tom, prepared said $81,000 note and deed of trust; that Mrs. Eberley represented to Mr. Tom that she would take said note and deed of trust and she and her husband would execute them and acknowledge the deed of trust; that Mrs. Eberley took them and returned them to Tom with signaturés thereon which she represented were those of herself and husband and that the deed of trust had been acknowledged by both'; that said representations were false and ⅞-ere made for the purpose of inducing Tom to accept said note and deed of trust and extend to defendants the credit represented thereby; that but for said representations the Bank would not have accepted said note and deed of trust but it accepted same relying on said .representations and, by reason thereof, the Bank had been damaged $81,000, because, if they had been executed by Mr. Eberley the Bank would have had a valid lien on land worth more than $81,000. .

In a third count, the Bank alleged the Eberleys had been married for many years; that they -owned the Eberley -Funeral Home in Big Spring, which was community property and operated by Mrs. Eberley, who had authority to act for Mr. Eberley; -that on April 4, 1952, Mrs. Eberley borrowed for the Eberley Funeral Home $4,000 and executed a note payable to the Bank;' that she signed said note “Eberley Funeral Home, Mrs. Charles Eberley-Chas. Eberley”; that Mrs. Eberley was the manager and borrowed the money for said business and, thereby, both defendants became liable on said note.

The Bank alleged that on April 22, 1952; Mrs. Eberley approached Tom for-the purpose of borrowing $30,000 from the Bank, stating to him that her husband had authorized her to do- so and to sign his name to notes therefor; that the Bank, acting through its said president, agreed to loan defendants $30,000; that Mrs. Eberley exe^ cuted two notes for $15,000 each, dated April 29, 1952; that Mrs. Eberley represented to Tom that she had authority to execute said notes for her husband; that she signed one note “Chas. Eberley” and “Mrs. Chas. Eberley”; that she signed the other note “Mrs. Chas. Eberley”, but [534]*534through oversight failed to sign her husband’s name to the second note; that Mrs. Eberley received $30,000 on April 22, 1952; that the Bank relied on her representations; that they were false and made for the purpose of obtaining for defendants $30,000; that Tom relied- on said representations and but for them the Bank would not have loaned $30,000 to defendants; that by reason of the fraud so perpetrated on the Bank the defendants were liable to the Bank, jointly and severally, for $30,000.

The Bank alleged that on April 29, 1952, Mrs. Eberley presented to Tom, president of the Bank, a check for $19,500 on a bank in Big Spring, signed “Charles Eberley by Mrs. Charles Eberley,” said check being payable to “Jim Tom, President” and requested a bank money order for $19,500; that Mrs. Eberley represented to Tom that she was authorized to draw said check on her husband’s account and that he had funds there sufficient to pay the check, which rep-, resentations were false; that, relying thereon, the Bank, acting through Tom, executed a money order, dated April 29, 1952, payable to Mrs. Eberley, for $19,500, which was paid on May 3, 1952; that there were not sufficient funds in the account of Charles Eberley in the Big Spring bank to pay said check; that by reason of said false representations the Bank, had been damaged $19,500.

The Bank alleged that on June 12, 1952, Mrs. Eberley again approached said president of said Bank; that she had a check on an El Paso bank for $27,500 which was signed “Charles Eberley” and she represented to Tom that her husband had drawn said check and requested her to purchase a money order and that there was $27,500 in her husband’s account in the El Paso bank; that, relying on Mrs. Eberley’s false representations, the Bank paid Mrs. Eber-ley $27,500 by executing a bank money order dated June 12, 1952, payable to Mrs. Eberley; that she received $27,500 thereon; that the Bank would not have executed said money order but for said false representations; that the Bank relied on said representations ; that they were false, and known to be false when made; that, thereby, the Bank had been damaged $27,500.

The Bank alleged in a third count that on July 18, 1952, -by reason of all of said transactions, the, Eberleys owed the Bank $81,000; that the Bank then demanded that defendants execute a note for $81,000, dated April 29, 1952, which was the amount of defendants’ indebtedness to the Bank, and that said note be secured by a deed of trust on two and one-half sections of land owned by defendants; that Mrs. Eb-erley took said instruments arid thereafter returned them to Tom and represented to him that her husband had executed and acknowledged them; that'her representations were false and defendánts were thereby estopped to deny their execution and that the Bank was entitled to,a judgment for its debt and foreclosure of its deed of trust lien. ' ' '

The Bank alleged that if for any reason it was not entitled to a judgment on the note and foreclosure of a deed of trust lien, by reason of said fraud, the Bank was entitled to a • judgment against both defendants for the amount of said debt as damages.

In response to the Bank’s petition, the Eberleys filed a plea in abatement to the effect that Jim Tom, W. C. Houston and another Bank director named Price had paid the Bank some of the debt or damages claimed by the Bank and that said parties were claiming, or might claim, some individual right or interest therein, or in the Bank’s cause of action, and that they were necessary parties to said cause to protect the Eberleys from any further action arising out of the same matters. Subject to said plea, defendants answered that they were not indebted to the Bank and that Mrs. Eberley’s debt to the Bank had been paid. In answer to the Bank’s allegations of fraud and damage, defendants alleged they did not owe the Bank $81,000 because, at the time of the execution of the $81,000 note and deed of trust, said debt exceeded ten percent of the Bank’s capital and surplus and, therefore, the loan violated the banking laws and, further, that neither defendant was indebted to-said Bank because it had received payment of the money loaned Mrs. Eberley and, further, that the sole proximate cause of [535]*535any damages sustained was the negligence of Tom.

The Eberleys alleged they did not owe any debt or damages on account of the $30,000 loan of April 22, 1952, because said loan was made in violation of the banking laws; that Tom, for the purpose of fraudulently concealing the loan from the bank examiners, divided same into two notes and placed only one on the Bank’s records, and, fraudulently, for the purpose aforesaid, did not put the second note on the Bank’s records; that the $30,000 loan was one transaction and the two notes were executed for the purpose of concealing the illegality of the transaction.

The Eberleys then alleged they were not indebted to the Bank on account of the $30,000 loan, or for damages resulting therefrom, because the Bank had sustained no loss, because it had been paid.

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Bluebook (online)
272 S.W.2d 532, 1954 Tex. App. LEXIS 2846, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eberley-v-first-national-bank-of-stanton-texapp-1954.