Frix v. Green

95 S.W.2d 219, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 649
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 20, 1936
DocketNo. 9840.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 95 S.W.2d 219 (Frix v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frix v. Green, 95 S.W.2d 219, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 649 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

MURRAY, Justice.

This suit was instituted by appellants, G. C. Frix and wife, against the appellees, Ira A. Green and wife, and Mrs. F. B. Griffin and others, to recover upon a certain promissory note and for foreclosure of a lien upon a house and lot situated in South San Antonio. Originally the Petrich-Saur Lumber Company and its receiver, R. N. Gresham, were parties to the *220 suit, but were dismissed on their plea in abatement. Appellee Mrs. F. B. Griffin set up in her cross-action that she was the holder of a note which was secured by a prior and superior lien to that held by appellants and asked that she have judgment and foreclosure of her note, as a superior lien on the house and lot to the lien held by appellants.

The facts are as follows: On January 2, 1930, appellees Green and wife executed and delivered to the Petrich-Saur Lumber Company their certain promissory note, payable to the order of Petrich-Saur Lumber Company, in the principal sum of $934.84. This note was payable in monthly installments of $20 each, and the note further provided that the makers had the privilege of paying any amount in addition to the $20 installment at any time. The above note was secured by deed of trust lien on lot 20, block 22, in the town of South San Antonio.

On the 10th day of March, 1930, appellants, Frix and wife, purchased from the Petrich-Saur Lumber Company the above-described deed of trust note and received from the lumber company the note accompanied by written transfer thereof. This transfer was not recorded by appellants until the 14th day of June, 1933.

On September 1, 1932, appellees Green and wife executed and delivered another note, in the sum of $1,322.08, payable to the order of Petrich-Saur Lumber Company, secured by a deed of trust and builder’s, mechanic’s, laborer’s and mate-rialman’s lien on said lot 20, block 22. The deed of trust securing this second note was filed for record on the 19th day of September, 1932, and contained the following provision: “It is understood and agreed that $599.08 of said sum of $1322.08 represents amount of principal remaining unpaid on note originally for $934.84, secured by deed of trust dated January 2, 1930, executed by Ira A. Green and wife, Ura Green, to Petrich-Saur Lumber Company, recorded in Volume 1162, page 323, in Deed of Trust Records of Bexar County, Texas, and to the extent of $599.08 the original deed of trust is hereby renewed and extended and shall remain in full force and effect until the note secured by mechanic’s lien of even date herewith is paid in full.”

The consideration for the second note was the balance due on the first note, of about $599.08, and the sum of $723 was for material furnished to the Greens to make additional improvements on said lot 20, block 22.

. On or about the 9th day of November, 1932, the second note was purchased from the Petrich-Saur Lumber Company by ap-pellee Mrs. Griffin. The lumber company delivered to Mrs. Griffin the note, together with written transfer thereof, dated November 9, 1932, which was not filed for record until October 23, 1933. This note was sold to Mrs. Griffin for the sum of $1,310.90, which was the amount of principal due on said note on said date. Mrs. Griffin paid for this note by delivering to-the lumber company two notes, aggregating the sum of $1,491.86; the lumber company giving Mrs. Griffin their check for $180.78.

The Greens did not know, at the time they executed and delivered the second’ note, that the lumber company was not the holder of the first note, and had no knowledge that the first note had been transferred to appellants. Neither did Mrs. Griffin know, at the time she purchased the second note, that the appellants were, the owners of the first note.

On or about the 28th day of May, 1933, appellants, Frix and wife, filed a proof of unsecured claim in the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Texas, in cause No. 530 in Equity, entitled J. M. Lindsey v. Petrich-Saur Lumber Company, wherein it set out under oath, on the part of appellants, G. C. Frix and wife, as follows: “Of the above amount $612.00 represents proceeds of note collected by defendant as agent for affiant, balance of $758.56 represents the interest on notes due by defendant to af-fiant.”

All payments made by appellees Green and wife on both the first and second notes were made at the office of Petrich-Saur Lumber Company, and all payments received by appellants, Frix and wife, on their notes were received by them from the Pet-rich-Saur Lumber Company.

The appellants, Frix and wife, had been dealing with the Petrich-Saur Lumber Company for more than twelve years, and during that time the following system of dealing had been engaged in by them: Frix and wife would buy notes from the lumber company; the notes, together with *221 written transfer, would be delivered to Frix and wife; such written transfer would not be recorded by appellants; the lumber company would continue to collect the principal and interest due on said notes until they were fully paid, then it would notify Frix and wife to bring the notes to its office, the notes would then be canceled, the written transfer returned to the lumber company, and Frix and wife would receive a check for the amount of principal and interest collected by the lumber company. The lumber company would then execute the necessary releases of the notes. As a matter of fact, there was an accounting between the lumber company and appellants every six months, on January 1 and July 1 of each year, at which times Frix and wife would present their notes at the office of the lumber company; the representative of the lumber company would stamp on the back of each note the amount that had been collected thereon, and deliver to Frix and wife a check covering said amounts. As a general rule, when one set of notes was paid off appellants would take the -money thus received and purchase more notes from the lumber company.

At the time that Green and wife executed the second, or renewal, note, in the sum of $1,322.08, the bookkeeper for the lumber company entered a credit on the books of the lumber company to Frix and wife in the sum of $564.08, being the amount of the balance due on said original note to the Frixes. The Frixes were notified by Mr. Humphreys, bookkeeper for the lumber company, that the Green note had been paid, and to bring it in so that it might be canceled. Mr. Frix being out of town at the time, the note was presented at the lumber company by Mrs. Frix; the bookkeeper, for some reason, did not give Mrs. Frix a check for the balance due upon the note, and she declined to surrender the" note until she received a check. At a later date, Mr. Frix presented the note at the lumber company, but also declined to surrender the note until he received his check. The lumber company had on hand, at all times, sufficient cash to have paid the Frixes the full amount due upon the note, until it went into the hands of a receiver, a short time before this suit was instituted.

The trial judge rendered judgment in favor of Mrs. Griffin in the sum of $1,102.80, being the balance due on the note held by her, and established the note as a first and only lien on lot 20, block 22, in the town of South San Antonio, and canceled the note held by Frix and wife and removed the lien securing it as a cloud upon the title. G. C. Frix and wife, Margaret Frix, have prosecuted this appeal from that judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
95 S.W.2d 219, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frix-v-green-texapp-1936.