H. F. Shepherdson Co. v. Central Fire Insurance Co.

19 N.W.2d 772, 220 Minn. 401, 1945 Minn. LEXIS 537
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 20, 1945
DocketNo. 33,950.
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 19 N.W.2d 772 (H. F. Shepherdson Co. v. Central Fire Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
H. F. Shepherdson Co. v. Central Fire Insurance Co., 19 N.W.2d 772, 220 Minn. 401, 1945 Minn. LEXIS 537 (Mich. 1945).

Opinion

Thomas Gallagher, Justice.

Action upon three fire insurance policies issued by the respective defendants insuring a certain grain elevator in Minneapolis owned by M. B. Lytle, doing business as Harbor Elevator, and providing that loss, if any, covered thereby be payable to plaintiff, H. F. Shepherdson Company, a corporation, as mortgagee, as its interests *403 may appear. The elevator property was totally destroyed by fire on May 7, 1941, and the trial court made findings and ordered judgment in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $2,230.76 plus interest, the amount claimed due on the mortgage at the time of the fire loss.

The facts are as follows: On July 28, 1939, M. B. Lytle, desiring to obtain money to put the elevator in operation, entered into an agreement with plaintiff for this purpose. The agreement provided that plaintiff was to advance funds for the purchase of grain and for the expenses incident to placing the elevator in operating condition, and that plaintiff and Lytle were to share equally in the net operating profits or losses. It further provided that Lytle would cause to be executed and delivered to plaintiff a first mortgage on the elevator property to secure plaintiff for such advances and for any operating losses that might be sustained. By its terms, the agreement was to terminate on April 30, 1940, unless renewed by mutual consent of the parties in writing.

On July 28, 1939, Lytle and his wife executed and delivered to plaintiff a first mortgage on the premises to secure a promissory note for $1,000. Subsequently it developed that additional funds were necessary, and on August 14, 1939, another mortgage was executed and delivered' by Lytle and wife to secure plaintiff in the sum of $3,000 for such additional advances. Both mortgages were duly recorded.

On April 30, 1940, the date of the expiration of the agreement, the parties ceased operating in the grain business, and plaintiff did not thereafter advance any further funds in connection therewith or otherwise actively engage therein.

On November 1, 1940, Lytle procured the three identical fire insurance policies from the respective defendants which are the basis of this action. Each of said policies described M. B. Lytle as the owner of the property, each was in the sum of $5,000 and effective for one year, and each contained the statutory union mortgage clause making the proceeds in case of loss payable to plaintiff “as its interest may appear.”

*404 On May 7, 1941, while the policies were in effect, the elevator was totally destroyed by fire. On June 11, 1941, Lytle was indicted for arson. He was tried and convicted on November 29, 1941, and his conviction was affirmed by this court on January 2, 1943. See, State v. Lytle, 214 Minn. 171, 7 N. W. (2d) 305. At the time of the fire, as a result of the operations between plaintiff and Lytle, there was due and owing plaintiff from Lytle a sum of money which the court found to be $2,230.76. The mortgages were still in effect, and the court determined that under the mortgage clause in the policies plaintiff should recover the aforesaid sum plus interest from May 7, 1941, prorating the amount due equally amongst the three defendants.

On May 7, 1941, Lytle executed an assignment of his right, title, and interest in and to the proceeds to be paid under the policies to the National Surety Corporation. On May 16, 1941, he assigned to Joyce Insurance, Inc. the “proceeds of any insurance that may become payable as a result of fire” to the amount of the insurance premiums advanced by Joyce Insurance, Inc.

On February 18, 1943, shortly after this court affirmed the conviction of Lytle, plaintiff, through its attorneys, notified Joyce Insurance, Inc., agent for defendants, that it desired to file proofs of loss under the three policies. On February 20, 1943, Joyce Insurance, Inc. referred plaintiff’s letter to the Western Adjustment & Inspection Company, which was handling the loss arising out of said fire for defendants. On February 24, 1943, plaintiff, having been advised that no “proof of loss” forms were to be furnished by the Western Adjustment &. Inspection Company, prepared three proofs of loss, one against each defendant, and forwarded them to Joyce Insurance, Inc., agent of defendants, which in turn forwarded them to the Western Adjustment & Inspection Company on February 25, 1943. On March 2, 1943, Western Adjustment & Inspection Company returned the proofs of loss and the letter of February 24 to counsel for plaintiff without comment. In the “proofs of loss” furnished by plaintiff, the cause and origin of the fire were therein stated to be “unknown.” On March 6, 1943, this *405 action was commenced and ultimately determined in favor of plaintiff. From the court’s order denying defendants’ motion to vacate the findings and order for judgment or for a new trial, this appeal is taken.

On appeal, defendants contend (1) that plaintiff as a copartner under the agreement of July 28, 1939, cannot be regarded as a mortgagee under the statutory union mortgage clause; that plaintiff as a partner was excluded from the immunities extending to bona fide mortgagees by the policies and bound by the fraudulent actions of Lytle, its agent; (2) that plaintiff is barred herein because of its failure to provide defendants with sworn statements of loss within a reasonable time, and that its action is premature, since it was commenced within 11 days after furnishing proofs of loss, notwithstanding provisions in the policies which permit defendants 60 days thereafter in which to pay the loss claimed; (3) that the evidence does not sustain the finding that Lytle was indebted to plaintiff in the sum of $2,230.76 at the time of the fire loss; (4) that the court erred in receiving in evidence ledger sheets of plaintiff made from journals not available or presented in evidence; (5) and, finally, that in any event interest should not be allowed prior to April 26, 1943, 60 days subsequent to the filing of the proofs of loss by plaintiff.

The policies, which were introduced in evidence, include the following provisions:

“Subject to the stipulations, provisions and conditions contained in this policy the loss, if any hereunder, is hereby made payable to H. F. Shepherdson Company, as its interest may appear.

* * * * *

“If this policy shall be made payable to a mortgagee of the insured real estate, no act or default of any person other than such mortgagee, or his agents, or those claiming under him, shall affect such mortgagee’s right to recover in case of loss on such real estate.”

The law" is well established and the policies provide that a mortgagee protected by such a clause is not affected by any act, neglect, *406 omission, or default of the mortgagor. It has frequently been held by this court that the' mortgagee’s insurance cannot be destroyed by the defaults of others, and that its validity depends solely upon the course of action of the mortgagee. It is not affected by actions of the mortgagor of which the mortgagee is ignorant, whether such acts b.e committed prior or subsequent to the issuance of the mortgage clause. See, Allen v. St. Paul F. & M. Ins. Co. 167 Minn. 146, 208 N. W.

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Bluebook (online)
19 N.W.2d 772, 220 Minn. 401, 1945 Minn. LEXIS 537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/h-f-shepherdson-co-v-central-fire-insurance-co-minn-1945.