Felter v. Bank of Leipsic Co.

31 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 241
CourtPutnam County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedDecember 6, 1933
StatusPublished

This text of 31 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 241 (Felter v. Bank of Leipsic Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Putnam County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Felter v. Bank of Leipsic Co., 31 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 241 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1933).

Opinion

Copeland, J.

This case was submitted to the court on the oral statements of counsel. There is no dispute as to the facts.

It is an action in which plaintiff seeks to recover from defendant on three certificates of deposit, aggregating $11,-359.48, which certificates of deposit the defendant admits having issued to plaintiff. The certificates of deposit were issued during the years 1930 and 1931. The Bank of Leipsic Company was turned over to the superintendent of banks for liquidation on January 14, 1932, and under an [242]*242order duly entered by the Common Pleas Court of Putnam county, Ohio, in case No. 14575, entitled: “In the Matter of the Bank of Leipsic Company, of Leipsic, Ohio,” said bank resumed business on October 12, 1932. Defendant refused payment as being in violation of said order duly entered in said cause No. 14575.

It was agreed that the opening of the bank on October 12, 1932, was effected under the provisions of Section 710-89, General Code. That under and by virtue of the authority conferred upon the Common Pleas Court by said Section 710-89, General Code, upon application and with the approval of the superindent of banks, and with the consent of 93 % of the depositors, and 99 % of the shareholders, after due notice to non-consenting depositors and shareholders to show cause why such application should not be granted, and after a full hearing on such application, and -the protests filed therein, including plaintiff’s protest, the application to resume operation was granted, without plaintiff’s consent. A motion for new trial in which plaintiff did not join, was overruled, and no error proceedings were filed or appeal taken.

Plaintiff predicates her action upon the principle of debt- or and creditor, and claims that under the Constitutions of both the state of Ohio and of the United States, her contractual rights are fixed, and that no authority is given under said Section 710-89, General Code, to. vitiate or impair the obligations of her written contracts.

Section 10, Article I of the Constitution of the United States, provides:

“No state shall * * * pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.”

Section 28 of the Constitution .of the state of Ohio, provides :

“The General Assembly shall have no power to pass * . * * laws impairing the obligation of contracts.”

The defendant claims that its liability to plaintiff is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the decree and order made in said cause No. 14575, under the authority given in said Section 710-89, General Code, and that [243]*243plaintiff is legally bound by the same as though she had consented to the plan under, which defendant opened and resumed business.

Section 710-89, General Code, provides in part as follows:

“Such bank may with the consent of the superintendent of banks, resume business upon such conditions as may be approved by the Court of Common Pleas in and for the county in which such bank is located.”

The question presented is an important one, and will remain a subject of doubt until the Supreme Court has interpreted the provisions of said Section 710-89, General Code, in the light of the Constitutional provisions under which plaintiff seeks to recover.

(Off the record: The court has heard that the banking department of the state of Ohio, is hoping that some Judge of the Common Pleas Court will be foolish enough to decide adversely to the provisions of said Section 710-89, General Code, so that the matter may reach the Supreme Court for a definite and final decision.)

The provisions of the Constitutions are fundamental, and need no comment. The important question is, do the provisions of said Section 710-89, General Code, and the procedure prescribed therein for banks resuming business, admittedly regular as in the instant case, impair plaintiff’s written contracts with defendant, in contravention of the provisions of the Constitutions of the state of Ohio, and of the United States.

It goes without saying, and it is not denied, that Courts of Common Pleas all over Ohio, have recognized the efficacy of the provisions of said Section 710-89, and that banks without number have resumed business under conditions approved by. the Court' of Common Pleas, with the consent and recommendation of the superintendent of banks, and a majority of the depositors and shareholders of such banks, and in many cases, with a much smaller majority than in the instant case. And so far as this court knows no error proceedings have been filed, or appeal taken, except in one case now pending in Akron, Ohio. This fact of itself is very significant and is entitled to serious consideration by this court.

[244]*244Plaintiff complains that she has had no “day in court” and that her rights have been impaired “without due process of law.”

Plaintiff was a party to the proceedings in said case No. 14575. She received notice, filed an answer or protest, and was heard, but she filed no motion for new trial, no error proceedings were taken by her, and no appeal filed. And she now says, in effect, that it was none of her business, that it was the court’s business.

With this the court does not agree. She had her day in court and whether she was served with process or not is immaterial; the fact remains, she was in court and participated in its proceedings, and the same question she raises now she could have raised then.

Certainly the doctrine of res judicata applies. This doctrine rests upon the ground that the party to be affected has litigated, or had an opportunity to litigate the same matter in a former action in a court of competent jurisdiction and should not be permitted again to harass and vex his opponent in a second action involving the same matter. Neither expediency, nor public policy, nor natural justice favor a multiplicity of suits. Litigation should not be interminable.

There is another reason why plaintiff cannot complain that she has not had her day in court. In his capacity as a liquidating officer, the duties and actions of the superintendent of banks, are very similar to those of an assignee or receiver. He represents all the depositors and Ms acts are their acts when it comes to conserving the assets of the bank. He represented them and was acting for their benefit. He might have pursued any one of many plans as such liquidating officer. Had the Bank of Leipsic Company made an assignment for the benefit of its creditors, or been placed in the hands of a receiver, plaintiff would have had to acquiesce, and would have had to admit that her contracts were impaired, in spite of the Constitutions. And had the superintendent of banks, closed out the Bank of Leipsic Company, by sale or by the slow process of collection and distribution, or by any other method provided by law, plaintiff would have an impaired contract whether she liked it or not. In principle the court can see no difference, [245]*245except that under the provisions of said Section 710-89, plaintiff is afforded an added measure of protection. Certainly it is a wise provision of our statutory law to leave some designated public official (in this case the Court of Common Pleas) free to act within the scope of his authority, to protect depositors, shareholders and the public as the needs and justice of the particular case demands.

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Bluebook (online)
31 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/felter-v-bank-of-leipsic-co-ohctcomplputnam-1933.