Electrical Research Products, Inc. v. Haniotis Bros.

1934 OK 738, 39 P.2d 36, 170 Okla. 144, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 706
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 18, 1934
Docket23338
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1934 OK 738 (Electrical Research Products, Inc. v. Haniotis Bros.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Electrical Research Products, Inc. v. Haniotis Bros., 1934 OK 738, 39 P.2d 36, 170 Okla. 144, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 706 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

McNEILD, J.

This is an action to recover payments due under a contract for license to use a certain sotind equipment in a theater and for parts and supplies furnished in said equipment in accordance with said contract.

Plaintiff in error, being the plaintiff in the trial court, on July 3, 1929, contracted with the defendants, Haniotis Brothers,' a copartnership, for the installation and use of a Western Electric Sound Reproducing Equipment in their theater at Okmulgee. Under the terms of the contract, which was referred to as a grant of license and installation of equipment, and also as a nonexclusive and nonassignable license to use said equipment, said defendants, as an installation charge, agreed to pay said plaintiffs an initial charge of $3,250, $1,300 of which was to be paid upon acceptance of the agreement and $1,950 on completion of the installation of the equipment. The contract also provided that defendants pay $105.95 for the first 104 weeks. In addition thereto, the contract provided for weekly payments in the sum of $43.75 per week for the first 26 weeks, $37.50 per week for the next 26 weeks, and $30 per week for the balance of the term of said ten years, which weekly payments of $43.75, $37.50, and $30 per. week, respectively, were for service inspection charges.

The equipment was installed, and was used by Haniotis Brothers from August 14, 1929, to December 24, 19’29, when said Haniotis Brothers ceased to operate said theatre and assigned their interest therein, including the contract in question, to the Okmulgee Theatre Company and A. B. Momand.

The plaintiff was notified of the assignment, and the Theatre Company notified the plaintiff that it would not assume the contract between plaintiff and Haniotis Brothers, unless the plaintiff agreed to a modification of the contract. Negotiations were entered *146 into relative to tlie modification of the contract, but no agreement was ever reached between the plaintiff and the Theatre Company. The Theatre Company, at the time it purchased said theatre, agreed in writing with Haniotis Brothers to assume the lease or contract which had been entered into between plaintiff and Haniotis Brothers covering said Western Electric equ'pment. The Theatre Company took possession of the leased premises and used the sound equipment from December '24, 1929, to February 14, 1930. During the time said Theatre Company was in possession of said theatre and used said equipment, no payments were made to the plaintiff under said contract. Plaintiff made demand for payment of said payments scheduled under the contract, and, in default of the payments, plaintiff, on February 14, 1930, instituted replevin proceedings for recovery of said equipment, with damages for its detention. The Theatre Company gave a redelivery bond and retained possession of the equipment pending outcome of replevin proceedings. On March 21, 1930, the equipment was voluntarily returned to the plaintiff by the Theatre Company.

Subsequent to the institution of replevin proceedings, plaintiff brought the instant action on the contract to recover the payments scheduled thereunder as due for the period from December 24, 1929, the date Haniotis Brothers assigned the lease to said Theatre Company, to February 14, 1930, the date of the institution of said replevin proceedings. The action at bar also covered merchandise and parts which had been purchased on open account.

The defendants Hániotis Brothers filed an answer arid cross-petition admitting the execution of the contract sued on, pleading and contending, in substance, that the plaintiff was precluded from maintaining the instant action because of the prior institution of the action in replevin; that by reason thereof, the present action was barred by plaintiff’s prior election of remedies in bringing said action in replevin against the same parties; that such action operated to rescind the contract; that defendants Haniotis Brothers were liable only for the reasonable value of the equipment from the date of its installation, which value was to be ascertained by dividing the total payment to be made under the contract by the total number of weeks of the license. 529 weeks.

The defendant Okmulgee Theatre Company contends that it was liable only for the reasonable value of the equipment at the rate of $27.44 per week from the date of the assignment, and said Theatre Company also prayed for damages in the sum of $1,035, $500 of which included expenses of a trip to New York, made at the request of plaintiff, and $535, representing the damages in removing wiring and conduit systems from the theatre in the removal of the sound equipment.

The matter came on for hearing to the court without the intervention of a jury, and, at the request of the defendants, the court made general findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court sustained the general view of the defendants, and held that the plaintiff, when it instituted its action in replevin, chose to rescind its contract, and by reason thereof could not sue for the amount alleged to be due thereunder.

The court, in substance, found that (he sound producing machine was to remain in said theatre for ten years, or 520 weeks, and then to be returned to plaintiff, for which Haniotis Brothers agreed to pay the total sum of $14,268.80; that $1,300 was paid upon the execution of the contract, $1,-950 upon the installation of the machine, and the remainder was to be paid in 104 weekly installments of $105.95; that the defendants agreed to pay a weekly service charge of $43.75 for the first six months, $37.50 for the second six months, and $30 each week thereafter; that during said, time the title was to remain in the plaintiff; that said contract was not assignable without the consent of plaintiff; that the defendant Haniotis Brothers used said equipment-in said theatre until December 24, 1929, making the payments thereon, when they sold said theatre and equipment to the Okmulgee Theatre Company.

The court also found that the defendant Okmulgee Theatre Gompany, Inc., at the time it entered into the contract with Haniotis Brothers for the purchase of said Yale Theatre, on.December 24, 1929, assumed said contract of July 3, 1929, as evidenced by an express clause, to wit:

“Party of the second part agrees to assume, upon taking possession under this lease, a certain contract made by the party of the first part with Electrical Research Products, Inc., covering Western Electric equipment now installed in said Yale Theatre.”

The court also found that the Theatre Company, upon taking charge of the said *147 theatre, immediately notified plaintiff it would not assume said contract, unless modification was made in relation to the payments therein provided for by said contract ; that plaintiff requested an officer of the Theatre Company to come to New York for a conference, as a result of which no agreement was reached, and said Theatre Company was thereby delayed in the purchase of a new sound equipment until the plaintiff made demand for the return of its property.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anthony Arcese v. Daniel Schmitt & Company
504 S.W.3d 772 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
Uptegraft v. Dome Petroleum Corp.
1988 OK 129 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1988)
Veiser v. Armstrong
1984 OK 61 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1984)
Young v. Seely
1961 OK 302 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1961)
First Mortgage Loan Co. v. Allwein
1940 OK 41 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1940)
Gypsy Oil Co. v. Colbert
1936 OK 775 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1936)
Crane v. Owens
1936 OK 521 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1936)
Electrical Research Products, Inc. v. Haniotis Bros.
1934 OK 737 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 738, 39 P.2d 36, 170 Okla. 144, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/electrical-research-products-inc-v-haniotis-bros-okla-1934.