Epley v. Citizens State Bank

180 P. 187, 104 Kan. 489, 1919 Kan. LEXIS 298
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 12, 1919
DocketNo. 21,441
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 180 P. 187 (Epley v. Citizens State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Epley v. Citizens State Bank, 180 P. 187, 104 Kan. 489, 1919 Kan. LEXIS 298 (kan 1919).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Johnston, C. J.:

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the Citizens State Bank of Mullinville, and its president, John Scherer, rendered in an action brought against them by Charles Epley to recover on a deposit of $6,000 which ■ he had placed in the bank. Other parties were made defendant who were concerned in the confirmation of a judicial sale of the [490]*490property upon which the plaintiff held a judgment lien. The findings and verdict of the jury were in favor of the defendants, and plaintiff appeals.

It appears that plaintiff had a deposit account in defendant bank for a number of years prior to February 7, 1911, and on that date his balance in the bank was a little more than $6,000. E. M. Traylor, the cashier of the bank, wrote a letter to plaintiff on February 7, 1911, on the stationery of the bank, saying: “Esteemed Bro.: Concerning our talk of last week I will use some of your funds at 8% interest. Commencing with this date I will use $6,000.00.” It was signed, “E. M. Traylor, Cashier.” On March 24, 1911, and on a letterhead of the bank, Traylor wrote plaintiff as follows: “This is to certify that I have loaned of your funds the sum of $6,000.00, at 8% interest, same to be replaced on fifteen days demand.” This was signed by Traylor, without the designation of cashier.

Plaintiff testified that he authorized the use of the money, but supposed he was dealing with the bank, and not with Traylor individually, while Traylor’s testimony was that it was a personal, and not a bank, transaction. There was a dispute as to whether a check was given by plaintiff. The books of the bank show that it was checked out, but plaintiff said he never issued a check, and that about two years later, upon learning that Traylor had become financially embarrassed and had left the bank, he made an inquiry and found that his money was no longer in the bank. In a settlement subsequently made, Traylor gave plaintiff his personal note for $6,000. Some time later he made another settlement with Traylor by accepting, in satisfaction of the $6,000 note, one executed by A. J. Burton to Traylor for $4,500, and a personal note of Traylor, for the balance of the. debt, of $2,620, to which was attached another note of Burton in favor of Traylor for $3,000, as collateral security for the $2,620 note, and plaintiff surrendered to Traylor the note for $6,000. About that time plaintiff gave the bank a writing releasing it from liability for the $6,000 deposit that Traylor had obtained from him. Still later he made an adjustment with Burton by which Burton took up the $4,500 note held by plaintiff, as well as the $2,620 note of Traylor secured by the Burton $3,000 note, and to satisfy and cancel them he executed to plaintiff a n.ew note for $7,360, secured by [491]*491a mortgage on a tract of land. Plaintiff claimed that the Burton notes were taken as collateral to the debt of the bank, and not as payment of. it or of the $6,000 note, and that they were accepted and the release given on the representation of Scherer,. the president of the bank, that Burton was solvent and his paper was good, when as a matter of fact he was insolvent and the security given plaintiff was inadequate. Shortly after-wards, Burton died intestate, leaving a wife and nine children. In a foreclosure proceeding against Mrs. Burton and the administrators of the Burton estate, plaintiff was made a party, and in that proceeding he sought and obtained a judgment against the administrators of the estate of Burton, and against Martha J. Burton, the widow of the deceased, on the note for $7,360, and also a foreclosure of his mortgage lien upon two hundred and forty acres of land, which was only a small part of the mortgaged land, and his lien was'inferior to several other liens of considerable amounts on the mortgaged property. Afterwards an attempt was made to form a syndicate, including the plaintiff, to purchase the land at judicial sale so as to protect all the liens, but it was unsuccessful, and the fund derived from the sale proved to be insufficient to pay any part of plaintiff’s lien. That sale was confirmed by the court, and before the expiration of the redemption period Martha J. Burton, widow of A.'J. Burton, died. Rita, one of the nine children of the Burtons, redeemed ten sections of the land for the heirs;

On the testimony the jury made the following findings of fact:

“Question 1. Do you find that Epley accepted Traylor’s note for $6,000 of his deposit intending to release the bank? Answer. Yes.
“Question 2. Do you find that at the time of the transaction with Traylor about June 9, 1913, that Epley had actual notice of all the facts relating thereto? Answer. Yes.
“Question 3. Do you find that at the time of the transaction with Scherer about June 9, 1913, that Epley had actual notice of all the facts relating thereto? Answer. Yes.
“Question 4. If you find that Epley accepted any of Traylor’s notes intending to release the bank, do you find that he had equal knowledge with Traylor at that time as to Traylor’s financial responsibility? Answer. No.
“Question 5. Do you find that Traylor truthfully represented to Epley the financial condition of Burton on June 9, 1913? Answer. Insufficient evidence.
[492]*492“Question 6. Did Scherer, before Epley finally took the Burton notes, say to Epley that the Burton notes were good? Answer. Yes.
“Question 7. Did Traylor while cashier of the defendant bank deceive Epley as to the manner in which he intended to use a portion of his deposit in the bank? Answer. No evidence.
“Question 8. If you answer the last question yes, did Traylor or anyone representing the bank ever reveal or explain to Epley how the $6,000 was used by Traylor? Answer.
“Question 9. Did Traylor act in good faith in the transaction with Epley? Answer. Insufficient evidence.
“Question 10. Did Epley give a check for the $6,000 to Traylor or anyone else? Answer. No evidence.”

Plaintiff admitted that Under the arrangement made he understood and expected that the $6,000 loan would be taken out of the bank and used, but there was a dispute as to whether it was a loan to the bank or an individual loan to Traylor. Three defenses were made by the defendants, (1) that the deposit had been paid; (2) that plaintiff had loaned the $6,000 to Traylor, taking his note therefor, which he accepted as payment of the deposit with the intention of releasing the bank; and (3) that any former obligation of the bank or of Traylor was discharged by the acceptance of the Burton notes in substitution and extinguishment of the old debt, the evidence of which had been surrendered, and also by the bringing of a suit on the new notes, upon which he obtained a judgment. The findings of the jury make it unnecessary to consider but one of these defenses. If plaintiff was dealing with Traylor individually in the loan of the money and took Traylor’s note for the debt, intending to release the bank, the obligation of the bank for the 'deposit was discharged, and the subsequent transactions between the parties are not material in this appeal.

The jury in its first and second findings expressly find that plaintiff accepted Traylor’s note intending to release the bank, and that he did this with actual notice of all the facts relating to the transaction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
180 P. 187, 104 Kan. 489, 1919 Kan. LEXIS 298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/epley-v-citizens-state-bank-kan-1919.