Field v. FIRST NAT. BANK OF HARRISBURG

619 N.E.2d 1296, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 189 Ill. Dec. 247
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 26, 1993
Docket5-91-0706
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 619 N.E.2d 1296 (Field v. FIRST NAT. BANK OF HARRISBURG) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Field v. FIRST NAT. BANK OF HARRISBURG, 619 N.E.2d 1296, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 189 Ill. Dec. 247 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Robert Field, administrator of the estate of Raymond Ewell Field, deceased, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Saline County entering partial summary judgments in favor of defendants, the First National Bank of Harrisburg (hereinafter Bank) and Patsy Field Wasson (hereinafter Wasson). Plaintiff requested that the trial court certify three questions for interlocutory appeal, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 308 (134 Ill. 2d R. 308). The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion, and the following three questions were certified for review by this court: (1) whether the alleged course of conduct was one transaction or numerous separate transactions for purposes of the commencement of the running of the applicable statute of limitations; (2) in respect to when the statute of limitations commenced running as to the alleged transaction^), did the commencement of the running of the statute of limitations occur on the date of the alleged conversion^) or on the date of the actual discovery of the alleged conversions) by the personal representative of the estate of Robert Ewell Field, deceased; and (3) is the appropriate determination of the issue of the statute of limitations in this case to bar the prosecution of any and all claims for alleged acts of conversion that occurred prior to March 23,1983. We reverse and remand.

I

This is a family dispute involving plaintiff, son of Raymond Ewell Field, and Wasson, daughter of Raymond Ewell Field. Plaintiff filed a two-count complaint against defendants on March 23, 1988, seeking to recover funds that were allegedly improperly obtained by Wasson. Both counts allege that from January 1, 1980, until March 14, 1984, the date of the death of Raymond Ewell Field, Wasson deposited checks endorsed by her father which were restricted by the words “For Deposit Only” into her own account at the Bank. Raymond Ewell Field’s name did not appear on the account. Field resided in a nursing home from the late 1970’s until his death in 1984. Count I alleged that the actions on the part of defendants amounted to wilful and wanton misconduct, and count II alleged that the actions of defendants constituted conversion.

The evidence deposition of Linda Watson, a vice-president at the Bank, is included in the record. According to Watson, Wasson opened two accounts at the Bank. The first was account No. 67 — 2351, opened on July 5, 1974. Originally, account No. 67 — 2351 was in Was-son’s name only. By January 27, 1981, the account was held in the names of Patsy Field Wasson, John F. Wasson, and John F. Wasson II. A second account, No. 67 — 2300, was also held in the name of Wasson at the Bank. Numerous checks made payable to Raymond E. Field were deposited into both accounts by Wasson. Most of Raymond E. Field’s checks went into account No. 67 — 2351. Linda Watson testified about checks that were drawn on the account. For example, a check for $125 made payable to “Cash” was cashed by the Bank. Wasson also made payments out of that account on notes on her car and on a note held by her son. Linda Watson further testified that cancelled checks and deposit slips went to Wasson. None would have been sent to Raymond E. Field, as his name did not appear on the accounts. As far as Watson knew, Raymond E. Field never did any banking through her employer.

Plaintiff knew that his sister, Wasson, took care of their father’s business affairs and had been doing so since his father entered a nursing home in the late 1970’s. Between January 1, 1980, and March 14, 1984, plaintiff’s father received monthly pension checks from the Veterans’ Administration, the Social Security Administration, and the Black Lung Fund. These checks were delivered in his father’s name to Wasson’s mail box. Raymond E. Field did not have a post office box. Prior to his father’s death, plaintiff did not know about the accounts at the defendant Bank and did not know that his father’s name was not on the accounts to which his checks were deposited. Plaintiff agreed that his father was mentally sharp up until his death. Plaintiff and his father did not discuss financial affairs. Plaintiff did receive gifts out of the accounts in question from his father, which were signed by Wasson. Plaintiff never questioned why such checks were signed by Wasson but just accepted that this was the way it was done.

Both defendants filed motions for partial summary judgment, arguing that all alleged acts of conversion that arose prior to March 23, 1983, are barred pursuant to the applicable five-year statute of limitations. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 110, par. 13 — 205.) The trial court agreed and granted partial summary judgments for both the Bank and Wasson. Plaintiff appeals from those orders of the trial court granting partial summary judgments for defendants, and we are asked to consider the three questions previously set forth.

II

The first question we are asked to address is whether the alleged course of conduct was one transaction or numerous separate transactions for purposes of commencement of the running of the applicable statute of limitations.

Plaintiff argues that the complaint filed herein clearly alleges a four-year course of conduct in which both defendants allowed restrictively endorsed pension checks for Raymond E. Field to be deposited into accounts that did not bear his name. According to plaintiff, the deposits were made on a monthly basis, in the same manner, to the same accounts over a four-year period, thus establishing an ongoing “scheme, plan, conspiracy or the like.” Plaintiff discovered this course of conduct after his father’s death on March 14, 1984. Plaintiff commenced this action on March 23, 1988, within five years of his father’s death, thus within the applicable five-year statute of limitations. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 110, par. 13 — 205.) Defendants respond that each allegedly converted check constituted a separate cause of action and no facts were alleged or shown which would transform the deposits into anything more than a series of isolated transactions. We agree with plaintiff that the alleged course of conduct was one continuous transaction or scheme for purposes of the commencement of the statute of limitations.

Section 13 — 205 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides for a five-year statute of limitations to recover the possession of personal property or damages for the detention or conversion thereof. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 110, par. 13 — 205.) While we are unable to find any cases in which a series of checks cashed is said to constitute a single transaction for purposes of the running of the statute of limitations, we have found some cases to give us guidance in this area. For example, the law is clear that where a tort involves a continued repeated injury, the limitation period does not begin until the date of the last injury or when the tortious act ceased. (Gass v. Metro-East Sanitary District (1989), 186 Ill. App. 3d 1077, 1084, 542 N.E.2d 1229, 1234; Anderson v. Sutter (1983), 119 Ill. App. 3d 1070, 458 N.E.2d 39; City of Rock Falls v. Chicago Title & Trust Co. (1973), 13 Ill. App. 3d 359, 300 N.E.2d 331

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Bluebook (online)
619 N.E.2d 1296, 249 Ill. App. 3d 822, 189 Ill. Dec. 247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/field-v-first-nat-bank-of-harrisburg-illappct-1993.