E.F. Houghton & Co. v. Doe

628 A.2d 1172, 427 Pa. Super. 303, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2406
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 27, 1993
Docket2791
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 628 A.2d 1172 (E.F. Houghton & Co. v. Doe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
E.F. Houghton & Co. v. Doe, 628 A.2d 1172, 427 Pa. Super. 303, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2406 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

[305]*305BECK, Judge:

In this appeal we decide the nature of the notice that must be given to a bank by a third party under Section 606 of the Banking Code in order for the third party to assert successfully a claim to funds in a depositor’s account superior to that of the depositor or the bank itself.

The relevant facts in this case are undisputed. In February 1982, Timothy Burno, an investment clerk employed by appellant E.F. Houghton & Co. (“Houghton”), stole over $1,000,000 in United States Treasury notes from Houghton. The funds eventually were deposited into two accounts at appellee Mellon (then Girard) Bank, in the name of Bumo and his wife.1 On the strength of these funds as collateral, Mellon approved a $150,000 loan to the Burnos. The loan agreement provided that, in the event of default, the bank was entitled to withdraw $150,000 plus accrued interest from the Burnos’ accounts to pay the debt.

Some months later, Houghton discovered the theft, and obtained a judgment against the Burnos. On July 8, 1982, Houghton notified Mellon of the Burno theft and asked the bank to freeze the funds in the accounts. Mellon refused to freeze the funds before receiving a court order to do so. Before receiving a writ of attachment on July 9, 1982, Mellon caused $151,481.88 to be withdrawn from the larger of the Burnos’ accounts, representing the principal and interest of its [306]*306loan.2 Mellon then paid to Houghton the remaining $916,-304.50 which was in the accounts at the time the writ of attachment was served, plus interest.

Houghton instituted this action to recover the funds that were withdrawn by Mellon.3 The trial court granted Mellon’s motion for summary judgment, and Houghton filed this timely appeal.

Summary judgment is proper when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Pa.R.Civ.P. 1035(b). We note that the material facts are not in dispute, and this case therefore was ripe for summary judgment. We agree with the trial court that Mellon is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and affirm.

In defense of its actions Mellon cites Section 606 of the Banking Code which provides in pertinent part:

(a) An institution shall not be required, in the absence of a court order or indemnity required by this section, to recognize any claim to, or any claim of authority to exercise control over, a deposit account or property held in a safedeposit____made by a person or persons other than:
(i) The customer in whose name the account or property is held by the institution____
(b) To require an institution to recognize an adverse claim to, or any claim of authority to control, a deposit account or property held in a safe-deposit, whoever makes the claim must either:
[307]*307(i) Obtain and serve on the institution an appropriate order directed to the institution by a court restraining any action with respect to the account or property until further order of such court or instructing the institution to pay the balance of the account or deliver the property, in whole or in part, as provided by the order, or
(ii) Deliver to the institution a bond, in form and amount and with sureties satisfactory to the institution, indemnifying the institution against any liability, loss or expense which it might incur because of its recognition of the adverse claim....

7 Pa.S.A. § 606. We agree with the trial court’s conclusion that § 606 justified Mellon’s actions in this case.

Mellon received the required legal notice of Houghton’s adverse claim against the Burnos’ deposit accounts when a writ of attachment was served on July 9, 1982.4 Once served, the writ — an order of the court — enjoined Mellon “from paying any debt to or for the account of Timothy Bumo ... and from delivering any property owned by the [Burnos] to or for [their] account ... or otherwise disposing thereof.” Writ of Fraudulent Debtor’s Attachment, R. 21a-23a. The writ subjected Mellon as garnishee “to the mandate and injunctive orders” of the court. Pa.P.Civ.P. 3111(c).

Until Mellon was served with this process, it was not required to recognize Houghton’s alleged adverse claim to the Burno deposits. Section 606 of the Banking Code describes the only way a third-party claimant may effectively establish ownership of funds held by a bank. 7 Pa.S.A. § 606(a)(i). Until the § 606 requirement is satisfied, a bank is protected in treating the deposit as that of the depositor.

[308]*308Notwithstanding this statutory protection, Houghton asserts that Mellon’s set-off prior to service of the writ of attachment was an illegal conversion. Houghton argues that “if a bank has knowledge, or notice of facts enough to put it upon inquiry, that the funds in a depositor’s account actually belong to a third person, it may not apply such funds to a debt owed to it by the depositor individually.” Sherts v. Fulton Nat’l Bank, 342 Pa. 337, 339, 21 A.2d 18 (1941). See also Middle Atlantic Credit Corp. v. First Pennsylvania Banking & Trust Co., 199 Pa.Super. 456, 185 A.2d 818 (1962); Rodi Boat Co. v. Provident Tradesmens Bank & Trust Co., 236 F.Supp. 935 (E.D.Pa.1964). We point out that the cases cited by appellant were decided before the enactment of our current Banking Code in 1965, and for that reason alone may not be applicable here. See 7 Pa.S.A. §§ 101 et seq.

However, Houghton asserts that the current provision regarding notice of adverse claims is substantially the same as that in the earlier Banking Code. See 7 P.S. § 819-905A (repealed).5 Even assuming that the statutory law regarding adverse claims is the same now as it was prior to 1965, a close reading of the line of cases cited by Houghton shows that they remain easily distinguishable from our present set of facts.

For example, in Sherts, the court held that a bank improperly applied funds in a depositor’s account against the bank’s outstanding loan, where the accounts were held by the depositor — an attorney — /or the benefit of his clients. An account was listed under the name “H. Edgar Sherts, Attorney,” and only collections made by him for clients were placed in the account. In other words, the account did not belong to the [309]*309named depositor, but to others for whom it was held in trust, under a “fiduciary” or “agency” relationship. This type of account was held not to be available to the bank for payment of debts owed by Sherts individually.

Similarly, another account held by Sherts was listed as the “Farm Account,” which held funds belonging to a decedent’s estate. The court held that although the name of this account did not clearly denote a fiduciary relationship, the bank still could not set off against it. The court reasoned that Sherts had not attempted to mislead the bank as to the true ownership of the funds, and that the bank therefore could not avoid treating it as money held in trust for Sherts’ client.

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E.F. Houghton & Co. v. Doe
628 A.2d 1172 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
628 A.2d 1172, 427 Pa. Super. 303, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ef-houghton-co-v-doe-pasuperct-1993.