Fink v. Silvester

166 So. 2d 776
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 12, 1964
DocketNo. 5037
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 166 So. 2d 776 (Fink v. Silvester) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fink v. Silvester, 166 So. 2d 776 (Fla. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

ALLEN, Acting Chief Judge.

Appellant, plaintiff in an action to “foreclose stock pledged as security for notes,” appeals an order dismissing his complaint with leave to amend.

Appellant instituted suit by complaint in two counts. The first count alleged that the defendants Silvester, in consideration [777]*777of loans to them and to the corporate defendant, had executed and delivered two promissory notes in the amount of $100,000 each, which notes, however, represented the same $100,000 obligation. Copies of the notes, naming George B. Geller as payee, were attached to the complaint. The first count then alleged:

“4. That for the purpose of securing the payment of said notes the defendant, ARTHUR W. SILVESTER, did duly deposit and deliver, in pledge to said payee and subsequent holders of said notes 237,500 shares of the capital stock of Volusia Jai-Alai, Inc., a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Florida, said stock being evidenced by certificate Nos. 103, 163 and 165, which said certificates so evidencing said stock together with assignments separate from certificate duly executed by the said defendant, ARTHUR W. SIL-VESTER, and attached to said stock certificate, were duly deposited with and delivered to said payee in pledge to secure the payment of the said indebt-ednesses hereinabove set forth.
“5. That thereafter and prior to the commencement of this action said payee did duly endorse and deliver said promissory notes hereinabove set forth to the plaintiff; that said endorsement was in writing and was in the words and figures following, to-wit:
'Pay to the order of Richard K. Fink, as Trustee. Dated: This 13th day of December, 1963’;
that said payee did also at the time of delivery and endorsement of said notes to the plaintiff duly transfer, deliver and pledge to plaintiff as security for the payment of the said promissory notes hereinabove set forth the said shares of the capital stock theretofore pledged by the said defendant, ARTHUR W. SILVESTER, for the purpose of securing payment of said notes as hereinabove alleged; that said certificates of stock, together with their executed assignments separate from certificate, so evidencing the ownership of said stock are now in the possession of the plaintiff as security for the payment of said notes now held by the plaintiff and plaintiff has a lien upon the said stock and the said certificates to secure the payment of the said notes according to the tenor thereof, including the attorney’s fees provided by said notes to be paid.”

This count concluded with an allegation that the notes were in default and prayed for a judgment for $100,000, declaration of plaintiff’s lien upon the stock and, if necessary, foreclosure.

The second count alleged that the individual defendants executed and delivered notes for $100,000 and $50,000 payable to Agnes Davis and that the corporate defendant executed and delivered a note for $15,000 payable to Joseph Davis, which notes together represented an indebtedness of $65,000 for loans to the individual and corporate defendants. (Copies of the notes were appended.) This count continued with allegations identical to that hereinbefore quoted except that the “pledged” stock involved was 130,000 shares of the same corporation represented by certificates numbered 102 and 105. A judgment for $65,000 and foreclosure was sought.

The order appealed recites:

“This cause was persented on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint. In the present status of the Complaint, the Court cannot clearly ascertain that there is a cause of action for foreclosure of a pledge of stock, as the pledge itself does not appear in any instruments, and since the parties to the pledge appear to be indefinite, it is thereupon [ordered that the complaint be dismissed, etc.]”

While the facts set forth in the two counts of the complaint were confusing, we must [778]*778disagree with the able trial judge in his conclusion that the complaint did not state a cause of action.

The appellees, in their brief, contend that a pledge that will result in a sale or foreclosure comes within the purview of F.S.A. § 685.02 and there must be some writing to indicate the contract of pledge. Section 685.02 provides, in effect, that when any stock in a corporation, contract, etc., shall be pledged or deposited as security for the payment of any indebtedness, the person or corporation to whom the same may be pledged, hypothecated or transferred, and their assigns, may sell the same in such manner and on such terms as may be agreed upon in writing. This statute does not apply to a foreclosure of a pledge or other collateral securities.

' A case very similar to the instant one is Gables Racing Ass’n v. Persky, 1934, 116 Fla. 77, 156 So. 392, in which our Supreme Court (p. 394) said:

“The controlling question presented by this appeal is the right of a pledgee to foreclose a mortgage deposited with him as collateral security for the payment of a debt due to him by the mortgagee, and, if such right exists, may his assignee, who takes the collateral security to secure the payment of a debt due to him by the pledgee, maintain his bill to enforce the lien upon the maturity and non-payment of both debts.
“This question we answer in the affirmative.
“The principle pervading a transaction involving a pledge of property as security for the payment of a debt is that the transaction vests in the pledgee the right to the property so far as is nedessary to secure the payment of the debt.
“While a pledgee of commercial paper held as collateral security cannot sell such paper, in the absence of a special power of sale in the contract, he may bring suit thereon, although the debt secured by such pledge is not at the time due, but he has, of course, no right to apply the proceeds to the payment of the debt until after default in the payment of such debt by the pledgor. See 21 R.C.L. p. 668.
* * * # * *
“The remedy provided by statute, section 6931, C.G.L.1927, is not exclusive, as the pledgee may by fore- = closure proceedings enforce the lien of the mortgage to the end that the debt which the mortgage was given to secure may be collected. In such proceeding the pledgor is secured in all his rights, has his day in court, and is protected against any unfair or unjust disposition of his property, and secures an accounting of the proceeds of the sale to his debt.”

In the early case of Springfield Co. v. Ely, 1902, 44 Fla. 319, 32 So. 892, in which the factual situation was very similar to the instant case, the Supreme Court, in its opinion (p. 895), said:

“II. Another ground of the demurrer insists that Henry S. Ely is a necessary party defendant. The property sought to be charged now stands in the name of the defendant, and not in the name of Henry S. Ely, trustee, and before this property was substituted for that originally pledged Henry ,S. Ely had ceased to be the husband of the defendant. He is alleged to be beyond the jurisdiction of the court, and not amenable to its process, and no relief is prayed against him. While he might be a proper party defendant, he is not an indispensable one.

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Bluebook (online)
166 So. 2d 776, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fink-v-silvester-fladistctapp-1964.