First National Bank of Ft. Worth, Tex. v. American Exchange National Bank

63 N.Y.S. 58
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMarch 9, 1900
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 63 N.Y.S. 58 (First National Bank of Ft. Worth, Tex. v. American Exchange National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First National Bank of Ft. Worth, Tex. v. American Exchange National Bank, 63 N.Y.S. 58 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1900).

Opinion

McLAUGHLIN, J.

This action was brought to recover the amount of a draft drawn by the First National Bank of Denver, Colo., on the defendant, payable to the order of A. W. Hudson. The complaint alleged the execution and delivery, by the drawer of the draft, to A. W. Hudson, the payee; the indorsement, for value, by him to the plaintiff; acceptance by defendant; presentation for and refusal of payment, and protest for nonpayment. The answer admitted the making of the draft, acceptance, and defendant’s subsequent refusal to pay. It denied the delivery to and indorsement by the payee, and plaintiff’s ownership. It then alleged, in substance, that Lenora N. Bosworth, intending to pay to one Olive K. Hudson, the owner of certain real estate at Denver, Colo., or to her husband and agent, A. W. Hudson, the sum of $2,500, purchased from the First National Bank of Denver, Colo., the draft in suit, which, by her direction, was made payable to the order of and mailed to A. W. Hudson, at Ft. Worth, Tex.; that it was not received by him, but was received by a person known by the name of W. A. Williams, alias C. F. Maxan, who, wrongfully and unlawfully assuming and pretending to be A. W. Hudson, indorsed the same by forging the name of A. W. Hudson thereon, and sold the same to the plaintiff upon such forged indorsement. At the trial there was little or no ■dispute as to the facts. It there appeared that a few days prior .to the 5th of February, 1897, a stranger called upon one Thomas Fitzgerald, a real-estate broker in the city of Denver, Colo., and inquired of him if a loan could be obtained upon certain real estate in that city, of which one Olive K. Hudson, who resided with her nusband, A. W. Hudson, at Colorado, — about 250 miles from Ft. Worth, — in the state of Texas, held the title. In answer to the inquiry, Fitzgerald said that one Lenora N. Bosworth would loan from $2,000 to $2,500. This stranger then informed Fitzgerald that the Hudsons were in or near Ft. Worth, Tex., and, if he would give him his card, he would forward it to them, and they would communicate direct in reference to the loan. A few days thereafter, Fitzgerald received from Ft. Worth, Tex., what purported to be a letter from A. W. Hudson, — reference being there made to the card previously obtained, — in which an application was made for a loan ■of $2,000 or $2,500 upon the real estate owned by Olive K. Hudson, in the city of Denver. Considerable correspondence passed between Fitzgerald and the person signing his name A. W. Hudson, at Ft. Worth, the result of which was that Mrs. Bosworth, through Fitzgerald, agreed to loan, upon this real estate, $2,500. A note for $2,500 and a trust deed or mortgage as collateral security for the payment of this sum were prepared by Fitzgerald, and by him for[60]*60warded by mail to A. W. Hudson, at Ft. Worth, for execution. Shortly thereafter the First National Bank of Denver received from Ft. Worth a letter signed “A. W. Hudson,” inclosing a note, which purported to be signed by Olive K. Hudson and A. W. Hudson, and a trust deed, signed by Olive K. Hudson, instructing it to notify Fitzgerald that the note and mortgage had been sent to it for collection, and to deliver the same to Mrs. Bosworth upon her paying to the bank the sum of $2,500, less Fitzgerald’s commissions and the expenses incurred in examining the title; with a request that the bank remit the proceeds, after making such deductions, to A. W. Hudson, at Ft. Worth. The Denver bank, on receiving this letter, did as directed, and informed Fitzgerald that the note and mortgage had been received. Fitzgerald thereupon notified Mrs. Bosworth, who, with her attorneys and Fitzgerald, called at the bank, examined the note and mortgage, and, being satisfied with the execution of them, paid to the bank the sum of $2,500, less Fitzgerald’s commissions for making the loan, and the expenses incurred in examining the title, and in exchange therefor received from the bank the note and mortgage. The bank, following the instructions given in the letter above referred to, drew its draft on the defendant in this action, payable to the order of A. W. Hudson, for $2,336.90, and forwarded the same by mail to him at Ft. Worth, together with a statement showing the deductions which had been made; and the draft and statement were received a few days later by the person for whom they were intended. This person then was, and for a few weeks prior thereto had been, a clerk in a hotel at that place. He was there known by the name of A. W. Hudson, and, so far as appears, that was his real name; at least it was the only name by which he was there known. He woe called by that name, and mail was delivered to and received by him under that name. After the receipt of the draft, he showed it to-one Carmichael, a lawyer of standing, and well known at Ft. Worth, and to the plaintiff, and requested him to go to the plaintiff bank, and identify him as the payee named in the draft. This Carmichael consented to do, and he did go to the plaintiff bank and identified him as A. W. Hudson, ‘the payee named in the draft, and thereupon the plaintiff purchased it, and forwarded the same to its correspondent in New York, the Chemical National Bank, for collection. The Chemical National Bank subsequently presented the draft to the defendant, and it was accepted by it, but payment was thereafter refused, upon the ground that the name of the payee had-been forged. It also-appeared upon the trial that Olive K. Hudson, the owner of the Denver real estate, never signed the note or executed the mortgage, and that her husband, A. W. Hudson, had no knowledge of or connection with the transaction until after the draft had been presented to and purchased by the plaintiff. Upon the foregoing facts, both parties having moved for the direction of a verdict, the trial court directed a verdict for the plaintiff, subject to the opinion of the appellate division. Section 1234 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

We are satisfied that the ruling of the trial court is right. The plaintiff, in good faith and for value, purchased the draft from the person to whom it was sent, and for whom it was intended, and it [61]*61thereby acquired a good title. The fact that Mrs. Bosworth had, by a trick or device, been induced to part with her money for a worthless note and mortgage, does not, in the least, affect the question. Suppose Hudson, instead of operating through the Denver bank, had gone to Denver, and had there met, at the bank, Fitzgerald, Mrs. Bosworth, and her attorneys, and he had there personally produced the note and mortgage, and Mrs. Bosworth, in exchange for them, had given him her check on the Denver bank, which he then and there had presented to the bank for payment and the same had been paid, would not the bank be protected? Manifestly, because it would have acquired the title to the check from the person to whom Mrs. Bosworth delivered it, and to whom she intended to give the title. It is unquestionably true, as contended by the defendant’s counsel, that Mrs. Bosworth supposed she was dealing with the-husband of Olive K. Hudson; but this does not alter the fact that she, in exchange for the note and mortgage, gave her money to the banlk, which the bank intended to and did remit, by the draft in suit, to the person at Ft. Worth calling himself A. W. Hudson. That person received it, and transferred it to this plaintiff, who, as I have already said, received it in good faith, and for value, and it thereby acquired good title. Robertson v. Coleman, 141 Mass. 231, 4 N. E. 619; Forbes v. Espy, 21 Ohio St. 474.

The indorsement was not forged. On the contrary, it was indorsed by the person in whose favor it was drawn. Nor was the Denver bank deceived in any way. It delivered the note and trust deed to Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
63 N.Y.S. 58, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-of-ft-worth-tex-v-american-exchange-national-bank-nyappdiv-1900.