Frank v. Batten

1 N.Y.S. 705, 56 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 91, 17 N.Y. St. Rep. 476
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 15, 1888
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 1 N.Y.S. 705 (Frank v. Batten) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frank v. Batten, 1 N.Y.S. 705, 56 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 91, 17 N.Y. St. Rep. 476 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1888).

Opinion

Barker, P. J.

At the time the defendant levied upon the property in question, it was in the actual possession of the judgment debtor named in the execution. The plaintiff claims that at that time he was the owner of part of the property, and that, after the levy and before the sale, he acquired title to the balance by purchase from persons who were the owners at the time of the levy. The serious question presented is whether the title to the property was in the plaintiff or Turver at the time of the sale. In 1886, Turver was a manufacturer of sash, doors, and other building materials, at Suspension Bridge, in this state. A short time prior to the levy, Turver purchased of one L. G. Fuller a quantity of pine lumber at the agreed price of $12 per thousand, [706]*706which in the aggregate amounted to the sum of $352, and the same was delivered to Turver at his factory. At the time of the sale, Turver’s credit was impaired, and he was indebted to F uller in the sum of about $1,000. Before the purchase was made, Turver had received an order from one Stevens, a dealer in Baltimore, for a bill of goods such as he was engaged in manufacturing. When the lumber was purchased, it was agreed between Fuller and Turver that the title to the property, and the articles into which it was to be manufactured, should remain in Fuller until the purchase price was paid, and also the further sum of $40; the latter to be applied upon the existing indebtedness due and owing Fuller. Fuller consented that, after thelumber was manufactured into sash and doors, Turver might deliver the same to Stevens upon his order, and out of the avails pay for the lumber and the said sum of $40. In addition to the paroi evidence, the plaintiff produced a paper executed by Turver at the time-of the purchase, in which the said agreement was substantially stated, and is as follows: “L. G. Fuller is to send to me, to my mill, Suspension Bridge, two car-loads of lumber, at $12 per thousand, to be made into frames and goods for G. O. Stevens, of Baltimore. The title to said lumber is to remain in said Fuller. I, as his agent, am to get the money of Stevens, and to pay over to Fuller. Said amount to be paid Fuller shall be $40 more than the cost of lumber. This I agree to do within two months after this date. ” A few days thereafter, Turver made a similar contract with the plaintiff for a quantity of lumber; which was reduced to writing, and is as follows: “Frank & Co. is to ship to said Turver lumber to the amount of $300. Turver is to make up sash, doors, blinds, frames, and ship to either Barber & Boss, of Washington, or F. D. Watkins & Co., or George O. Stevens, of Baltimore. Turver is to leave on said shipment, to the credit of Frank & Co., the full amount of price of lumber, and $20 added to each $100 worth of lumber. Said $20 is to apply on Turver’s debt to Frank & Co. This I agree to. The title to said lumber is to remain in said Frank & Co. until paid for, as stated above. ” About the same time another dealer sold and delivered to Turver a bill of lumber, amounting to the sum of $113, on the same terms as those mentioned in the said contracts, except nothing was to be paid by Turver out of the proceeds, on the prior indebtedness. At the time of the levy, most of the lumber had been manufactured into building supplies of the character mentioned in the contracts, and a part thereof had been shipped upon the orders held by Turver, and the balance was in said Turver’s factory, at Suspension Bridge. On the trial it was proved that the value of the property was equal to the amount of the verdict. At the time of the levy the plaintiff had received $100 towards thelumber which he sold and delivered, and the balance remained unpaid. After the levy, and before the sale, the other vendors sold to the plaintiff all their right, title, and interest in and to the property. This statement of the facts is sufficiently full for the purpose of considering the legal questions presented on this appeal. It has long been settled as the law of this state that a sale and delivery of personal property on the condition that the title to the property shall remain in the vendor until the purchase price is paid, is valid as between the parties, and that no title vests in the vendee; that the vendor, in case the condition is not fulfilled, has the right to repossess himself of the property, both as against the vendee and his creditors who have caused the same tobe levied upon under process issued to enforce the collection of their debts. The law permits, in such cases! a separation of the apparent from the real ownership, when the agreement is entered into in good faith. Herring v. Hoppock, 15 N. Y. 409; Ballard v. Burgett, 40 N. Y. 314; Cole v. Mann, 62 N. Y. 1; Coggill v. Railroad Co,, 3 Gray, 545. The case at bar is clearly within the rule as stated in these authorities; and if the transactions under review were free from fraud, and made in good faith, the judgment should be affirmed. The learned counsel for the appellant has, in his argument, sought to distinguish this case from [707]*707those cited, and others affirming the same doctrine, on the ground that, by the terms of the sale in this case, the vendor consented that the vendee might, before the lumber was paid for, change the nature and character of the property by manufacturing the same into articles designed for trade and commerce, so that the property sold could not be traced and identified after it was manufactured into articles of merchandise, and would cease to exist as the thing sold. It is true that a door made from a plank is quite a different thing from the plank itself; but, with little care, it could be readily ascertained from which parcel of lumber the door was made, so long as the door remains in the possession or under the control of the vendee. We see no reason why the vendor may not, under the rule stated, as between himself and the vendee, make it a term of the contract of sale that the articles manufactured by the vendee from the property sold shall remain the property of the seller until the condition of payment is fulfilled. The vendee is a mere bailee of the property under such contracts, whether it remains in the original, or is changed into another species of property. The authorities are in support of these views. In Barrett v. Pritchard, 2 Pick. 512, A. delivered wool toB., taking his receipt, in which the quantity and price were stated, the same to be paid for in the future, to be manufactured into cloth, with the understanding, expressed in writing, that the wool, before being manufactured into cloth, and afterwards, should be the property of the vendor until paid for. It was held that this was a conditional sale; and that the title to the wool remained in A. until after such payment, against B.’s creditors, although their demands accrued after such sale. See, also, Manufacturing Co. v. Watterson, 3 Metc. 9. Cole v. Mann, 62 N. Y. 1, was a case of a conditional sale, the title of the property to remain in the vendor until the goods were paid for; and it was held that although authority was given to the vendee to sell the property, provided he remitted the proceeds immediately to the vendor, or made the sale conditional, and took from the purchaser a note similar to the one he had given, recognizing the ownership to be in the original vendor, did not operate to pass the title to the vendee. In the case at bar the vendee was to act as agent of the vendor in receiving the proceeds of the sale, and delivery of the manufactured goods to the persons mentioned in the agreements.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Flint Wagon Works v. Maloney
81 A. 502 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1911)
Pontiac Buggy Co. v. Skinner
158 F. 858 (N.D. New York, 1908)
Hanson v. W. L. Blake & Co.
155 F. 342 (D. Maine, 1907)
Morrison Manufacturing Co. v. Fargo Storage & Transfer Co.
113 N.W. 605 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1907)
In re Perkins
155 F. 237 (D. Maine, 1907)
Troy Wagon Works Co. v. Hancock
152 F. 605 (Seventh Circuit, 1906)
Albert v. R. Lewis Steiner Manufacturing Co.
86 N.Y.S. 162 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 1904)
National Cash-Register Co. v. Coleman
32 N.Y.S. 593 (New York Supreme Court, 1895)
Frank v. Batten
14 N.Y.S. 947 (New York Supreme Court, 1891)
Savelle v. Wauful
16 N.Y.S. 219 (New York Supreme Court, 1890)
Rodney Hunt Machine Co. v. Stewart
11 N.Y.S. 448 (New York Supreme Court, 1890)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 N.Y.S. 705, 56 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 91, 17 N.Y. St. Rep. 476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frank-v-batten-nysupct-1888.