Fidelity Credit Co. v. Winkle

191 So. 2d 716, 1966 La. App. LEXIS 4848
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 31, 1966
DocketNo. 10673
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 191 So. 2d 716 (Fidelity Credit Co. v. Winkle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fidelity Credit Co. v. Winkle, 191 So. 2d 716, 1966 La. App. LEXIS 4848 (La. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

BOLIN, Judge.

Fidelity Credit Co., Inc., instituted action against W. C. Winkle and Winkle Furniture and Appliance Company seeking recovery on certain promissory notes and recognition of plaintiff’s mortgage on all the stock of merchandise and the fixtures located in defendant’s store in Min-den, Louisiana. The petition likewise asked that a Writ of Sequestration, previously granted, be maintained.

Intervening in the suit were Philco Finance Corporation and Arkansas Radio [717]*717& Appliance Company of Little Rock asserting several causes of action against Fidelity. Meanwhile, the Winkle Company was placed in involuntary bankruptcy and is no longer before the court.

At the trial of the cause interveners limited their action to a claim against Fidelity, as receiver, under the Bulk Sales Law, Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2961 et seq., for taking a chattel mortgage dated September 28, 1960, covering Winkle’s entire stock of merchandise without having in any respect complied with the requirements of the statute. Subsequent chattel mortgages were executed by Winkle to Fidelity but these are not under attack. The lower court, without assigning written reasons, found for defendant in intervention, Fidelity Credit Co., Inc.

Prior to trial a rather extensive stipulation of facts was entered into between Fidelity and interveners, referred to as Philco. Only so many of the circumstances surrounding the transactions of the various parties as are necessary for a determination of the issue of liability of Fidelity to in-terveners will be recited.

On, and sometime prior to, September 28, 1960 (the date of the mortgage in question) W. C. Winkle was engaged in the business of selling furniture and appliances at retail in Springhill and Minden and was operating the business as Winkle Furniture and Appliance Company. Certain appliances including television sets, washing machines, refrigerators and freezers were purchased from Philco on credit and paid for only after each such appliance was sold by Winkle to his customers. On each appliance Philco retained a vendor’s lien and privilege securing the unpaid balance of the purchase price.

Prior to the execution of the first chattel mortgage by Winkle he had entered into a "dealer agreement” with Fidelity to sell to the latter customer contracts consummated at the time he made credit sales in order to finance such sales.

Under the “dealer agreement” when Winkle sold an appliance or article of furniture on credit, the retail customer would execute a promissory note for the unpaid portion of the purchase price, secured by a chattel mortgage covering the merchandise. The note was then transferred by Winkle to Fidelity for its face value less a discount. In the event the retail customer defaulted on his note payments, Winkle agreed to reimburse Fidelity for the unpaid balance on the defaulted note. During the summer of 1960 a large number of the notes so transferred were in default and Winkle was unable to repay Fidelity the unpaid balance due. To secure this current indebtedness in the amount of approximately $17,000 and a limited future indebtedness Winkle executed the chattel mortgage dated September 28, 1960, naming Fidelity Credit Company, Inc., as mortgagee, and covering:

“ * * * all of Mortgagor’s stock of merchandise composed of Liquified Petroleum gas ranges, refrigerators, water heaters, storage containers, space heaters, furnaces and other equipment, parts and appliances now located at the place or places of business of the Mortgagor as herein set forth or in any other place of business or storage maintained or used by Mortgagor in said county or within said State to include all of Mortgagor’s stock of such merchandise complete with all present and future attachments, accessories, replacements and additions. * $ * »

The sum of the respective unpaid balances due Philco as of September 28, 1960, was in the total amount of $18,735.70; and the fair market wholesale value of each appliance was on that date no less than the amount due and unpaid on its purchase price by Winkle to Philco. No payments have been made to Philco since September 28, 1960, by Winkle, Winkle, Inc., or any other party except the sum of $3,400 received by Philco by virtue of the bankruptcy sale.

[718]*718Also stipulated was the fact that on January 24, 1961, pursuant to the writ of sequestration issued herein on the petition of Fidelity, the Sheriff of Webster Parish seized the stock of merchandise situated in the Winkle, Inc., stores in Minden, which merchandise included many of the Philco appliances, the fair market wholesale value of which as of the date of seizure was $9,965. The total amount due and owing on the respective purchase prices of said appliances was no less than $9,965.

At the trial of this matter, and on appeal, Philco is pursuing only its claim against Fidelity as receiver for Philco’s proportionate share of the fair value of the property covered by the first bulk chattel mortgage dated September 28, 1960, admittedly given by Winkle to Fidelity, in violation of Louisiana’s Bulk Sales Act, and which is conceded by Fidelity to be void. It is stipulated that on the aforesaid date Winkle’s stock of merchandise had a total fair market value of $56,143.09 and his liabilities totaled $105,839.78 which included a total indebtedness to Philco of $28,425.94.

Since it is conceded the mortgage under attack is patently void as to the creditors of the transferor, having been executed in violation of Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2961, the court is presented only with the question of the effect of noncompliance with the Bulk Sales Act by Fidelity and the latter’s liability, if any, to Philco under Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2963 which provides in pertinent part as follows:

“Any person to whom any of the property mentioned in R. S. 9:2961 [any portion or the whole of a stock of merchandise, etc.] shall be so transferred, who shall pay any part of the consideration therefor to such transferor, or who shall execute or deliver to the transferor or to his order, or to any person for his use, any promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness for the transfer or any part thereof without first having demanded and received from the transferor or from his agent the statement provided for in R. S. 9:2962 B. verified as therein provided, and without paying or seeing to it that the purchase money or other consideration of the transfer is applied to the payment of the bona fide claims of the creditors of the transferor pro rata according to the dignity of their several claims as shown upon the verified statement, and without first having sent the notices of said transfer and such state-, ment of creditors as provided for in R. S. 9:2962 C., shall at the suit of any creditor, be held liable to all the creditors of the transferor as receiver for the fair value of all the property so transferred to him. * * * ” (Emphasis supplied.)

By definition in Section 2965 of the act “transfers” under this part include mortgages as well as transfers in payment of debt, in whole or in part, pledges, sales, exchanges and assignments, whether for cash or on credit. Thus it is clear the mortgage was prohibited and void as to Winkle’s creditors. As an additional safeguard, the legislature has provided the transferee shall be held liable to all the creditors of transferor as receiver for the fair value of all the property so transferred to him.

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Related

Fidelity Credit Co. v. Winkle
193 So. 2d 531 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
191 So. 2d 716, 1966 La. App. LEXIS 4848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fidelity-credit-co-v-winkle-lactapp-1966.