General Discount Corp. v. Schram

47 F. Supp. 845, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2168
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedNovember 25, 1942
DocketNo. 1441
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 47 F. Supp. 845 (General Discount Corp. v. Schram) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Discount Corp. v. Schram, 47 F. Supp. 845, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2168 (E.D. Mich. 1942).

Opinion

LEDERLE, District Judge.

I. The defendant, B. C. Schram, is the duly appointed, qualified and acting re[846]*846ceiver of First National Bank-Detroit, an insolvent national banking association, engaged in winding up its affairs.

2. On February 11, 1933, the said bank, along with many others, closed its doors and never thereafter re-opened for'normal business. On March 13, 1933, the Comptroller of the Currency appointed a Conservator for said bank, who continued until the Comptroller, having found and declared said bank to be insolvent, appointed a receiver therefor, and the affairs of said bank have been continuously since that time and are now being wound up by a receiver.

3. On May 16, 1933, the Comptroller duly levied a 100% assessment against the shareholders of said First National Bank-Detroit, and made the same payable to defendant receiver July 31, 1933.

4. At the time of closing of said bank, 120 shares of capital stock of Detroit Bankers Company, a Michigan holding corporation, stood in the name of Federal Discount Corporation, a Delaware corporation, represented by certificates numbered 074181-6 (both inclusive, for 20 shares each). Another 100 shares of said stock, represented by certificates numbered 74290-4 (both inclusive, for 20 shares each), stood in the name of Bernice Downs. These last mentioned 100 shares had been assigned to Bernice Downs, without her knowledge, acquiescence or consent, at the instance of her brother, Albert L. LeGro, three days before the banks dosed. Of these 100 Downs’ shares, 80 had been so transferred by Federal Discount Corporation, and these are the only shares involved herein.

5. (a) In 1936, defendant instituted suit in California against said Bernice Downs as registered owner of said 100 shares, and she pleaded as a special defense that she was not the owner, real or ostensible, that the certificates had been assigned to her name without her knowledge, consent or acquiescence, at the instance of her brother, that her first knowledge thereof was when the receiver notified her of assessment thereon, and that she therefore was not liable for a stockholder’s assessment. This Downs’ defense was substantiated by her brother, Albert L. LeGro, in negotiations with the bank receiver.

(b) Albert L. LeGro was adjudicated a bankrupt in this court on October 17, 1933, scheduling his obligation for assessment on these shares, as shareholder, listing the receiver of Detroit Bankers Company and the receiver of First National Bank-Detroit as creditors in connection therewith. He was discharged, as a no asset bankrupt, on June 4, 1934.

(c) During the summer of 1937 a settlement was negotiated between the bank receiver and Bernice Downs and Albert LeGro. The proposed settlement was approved by the Comptroller, and a court of record in this city authorized said receiver “to accept not less than $150 in cash, in consideration of said Receiver releasing Bernice Downs from assessment liability to said Receiver arising through her ownership of 100 shares of Detroit Bankers Company stock, being Receiver’s asset- No. SA-2091, and releasing Dr. Albert L. LeGro from any and all liability to said Receiver.”

(d) This settlement was consummated, and in exchange for $150, defendant, on July 1, 1937, executed and delivered to Albert L. LeGro a release from any and all liability to said receiver on account of said 100 shares, and the California attorney for the receiver, on September 30, 1937, executed and delivered to Bernice Downs a receipt in full settlement, release and discharge of all liability on said 100 shares, and on November 16, 1937, the California suit was dismissed with prejudice.

6. (a) On October 26, 1937, defendant receiver instituted equity case No. 8227, in this court, against General Mortgage Corporation, a Michigan corporation, for assessment liability on the first mentioned block of 120 Federal Discount Corporation shares. The theory of such suit was that General Discount Corporation, which later changed its name to General Mortgage Corporation, was incorporated in Michigan on October 22, 1932, as part of a plan for consolidation of Federal Discount Corporation, a Delaware corporation, and Republic Finance and Investment Company, an Indiana corporation; that on November 30, 1932, General Mortgage Corporation acquired the assets of Federal Discount Corporation, and as a matter of law assumed its liabilities, including the stock and assessment liability on said 120 Federal Discount Corporation shares. (Plaintiff was subsequently incorporated as “General Discount Corporation.”)

(b) The complaint in said case 8227 alleged that in the class suit of Barbour v. Thomas, D.C., 7 F.Supp. 271, affirmed 6 Cir., 86 F.2d 510, this court had adjudged that holders of capital stock of Detroit [847]*847Bankers Company were liable for the said assessment, and that their ownership of Detroit Bankers Company stock represented ownership of First National Bank-Detroit stock, by virtue of which said 120 shares of Detroit Bankers Company stock standing in the name of Federal Discount Corporation represented ownership of 16.-8669 shares of the capital stock of First National Bank-Detroit, and that the assessment against defendant therein would therefore amount to $14.055775 per share of Detroit Bankers Company stock, plus interest at 5% per annum from July 31, 1933, until paid.

(c) In answer thereto General Mortgage Corporation admitted taking over “certain assets” of Federal Discount Corporation, acquiring “by purchase some of the assets” and assuming “some of the liabilities of Federal Discount Corporation”, but denied that it was legally liable for this debt of Federal Discount Corporation.

(d) As a further defense a judgment entered January 26, 1934, in favor of General Discount Corporation, as plaintiff, and against the said bank and its said receiver, as defendants, in accounting case number 12,994, this court, was pleaded as res adjudícala of all matters which might or could have been tried under the issues therein, including the assessment liability on said 120 shares.

7. In August, 1938, defendant receiver informally, but not by way of suit, claimed that said General Mortgage Corporation was liable under 12 U.S.C.A. § 64, as a sixty-day transferor of 80 of the shares transferred to Bernice Downs to the extent that the sixty-day transferee had failed to meet the stock assessment liability.

8. (a) The attorney for plaintiff arranged a settlement for 50% of the claimed liability on the 120 Federal Discount Corporation shares and on the 80 Bernice Downs shares. In pursuance thereof said receiver communicated with the Comptroller of the Currency, and in response received the Comptroller’s authorization to consummate the settlement, such letter of authorization reading in part as follows:

“You also refer to SA-2091, representing an assessment upon 80 shares of the same stock, which was transferred to Bernice Downs by the corporation mentioned, Federal Discount Corporation, during the sixty day period prior to suspension, it a]ppearing your claim against Mrs. Downs has been compromised and a consideration of $120 received. It is your position that the Federal Discount Corporation is liable as transferor for the remaining amount due.

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Bluebook (online)
47 F. Supp. 845, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-discount-corp-v-schram-mied-1942.