Hamilton Co. v. Medical Arts Building Co.

135 So. 94, 17 La. App. 508, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 191
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 11, 1931
DocketNo. 4002
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 135 So. 94 (Hamilton Co. v. Medical Arts Building Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hamilton Co. v. Medical Arts Building Co., 135 So. 94, 17 La. App. 508, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 191 (La. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

TALIAFERRO, J.

Intervener and third opponent, United Iron Works, Inc., of Kansas City, Mo., in the month of November, 1928, sold, delivered to, and installed for, defendant, Medical Arts Building, Inc., of Shreveport, La., certain machinery and equipment for the production and application of refrigeration, for the price of $2,175 on which there was a balance due of $629.69 when this litigation began. The purchaser gave to intervener its promissory notes for the deferred part of said price, with 6 per cent interest and 10 per cent attorney’s fees in event of suit thereon, but took no mortgage to secure the notes. Nothing was recorded to give notice that the machinery and equipment were unpaid for. This machinery and equipment was shipped from Kansas. City, or other points in Missouri, and was installed in defendant’s building at intersection of Travis and Louisiana streets, during the month of January, 1929.

On July 26, 1929, defendant gave a special mortgage on its lots of ground and office building, aforesaid, to the Hamilton Company, plaintiff herein, and to C. L. Shaw Company, for $30,000, evidenced by its several notes, described in the mortgage. This act of mortgage was duly recorded in the official records of Caddo parish the day of its execution, and subsequently plaintiff acquired the notes of Shaw & Co. Defendant defaulted on its said notes, and on January 11, 1930, foreclosure proceedings were instituted thereon by plaintiff, and in due course the mortgaged property, including said refrigeration plant, was seized by the sheriff and advertised for sale.

In the meantime the United Iron-Works, Inc., was placed in the hands of a receiver at Kansas City by the federal court, and through said receiver this intervention and third opposition was filed on February 26, 1930.

Intervener alleges that the machinery and eqiUipmen-t sold by it to defendant was installed in the basement of defendant’s said office building very soon after sale and delivery thereof; that the notes evidencing the unpaid part of the purchase price were secured by a vendor’s lien and privilege on said machinery, refrigeration plant, and equipment; that same has been seized with said office building and the land whereon same is located, by the sheriff of Caddo parish, in the foreclosure suit of plaintiff, and is being advertised for sale. The prayer is that said machinery, refrigeration plant, and equipment be separately appraised and separately sold by the sheriff, and that he be ordered to hold the proceeds of such sale until the further orders of the court; that intervener have judgment against defendant for $629.69, the balance due on the price of said machinery and equipment, with interest and attorneys’ fees, and judgment against plaintiff and defendant recognizing its vendor’s lien and privilege on said property as outranking and superior to any claim [510]*510of plaintiff, and ordering the judgment rendered in its favor paid out of said proceeds hy preference and priority over plaintiff and others. 'Order of court issued as prayed for requiring separate appraisement and separate sale of the property described on which defendant asserted a vendor’s lien and privilege. This litigation now is over the proceeds of sale of said property held by the sheriff.

Plaintiff answered the intervention, but defendant did not. A judgment by default was entered against it.

The answer is a general denial of the allegations of intervener’s petition, except as to those relating to the foreclosure by plaintiff and seizure of defendant’s property, including that against which the vendor’s lien and privilege is asserted, and the impending sale thereof by the sheriff. It is further averred that, if any machinery or equipment or refrigeration plant was installed in the Medical Arts Building, the same became a part of said realty and incorporated therein, and became subject to plaintiff’s mortgage; that the refrigeration plant in said building rests upon, and is securely fastened to, concrete foundations, and that same is an immovable by destination.

Under the issues tendered by these pleadings, the case was tried, resulting in a judgment rejecting intervener’s demand and dismissing its suit with costs. Intervener appealed.

The first negotiations looking to the purchase by defendant of the machinery and equipment for a refrigeration plant from intervener took place in Dallas, Tex., between their respective representatives. This was very soon followed by a written proposal of intervener, dated at Shreveport, November 10, 1928, on printed form for the purpose, wherein it proposed “to furnish certain machinery and equipment for the production and application of refrigeration as described in specifications hereto attached.” Production of refrigeration at rate of six tons per day of 24 hours, under stipulated conditions, was guaranteed. On November 15, 1928, defendant signed written acceptance of the above-mentioned proposal at Shreveport, and same was either forwarded to intervener at Kansas City or to its agent at. Dallas. The proposal with defendant’s acceptance thereon was finally approved by the vice-president of thei seller at Kansas City, November 28, 1928.

Two propositions of law arise in this case. The first is: Was the contract between intervener and defendant a Louisiana contract? If- so, as a consequence the unpaid purchase price was secured by a vendor’s privilege. The second is: Has such vendor’s privilege been lost as a result of the installation of thei machinery and equipment} in defendant’s building, for the purpose purchased, and being attached thereto for its use and benefit, no chattel mortgage securing the unpaid part of. the purchase price having been registered?

Logically, the first question to be determined is whether we are dealing with a Louisiana contract. If the contractual relation between intervener and defendant is not governed and controlled by the laws of the state of Louisiana, a finding by this court to that effect will make it unnecessary to consider the second question, for intervener will be without remedy or right to pursue the goods sold by it to defendant.

The original proposal of intervener, referred to supra, contains, the following stipulation, holding in suspense, in so far as concerned intervener, the terms and conditions of the proposal already accepted by defendant, to-wit:

[511]*511‘•'This agreement is executed and signed in duplicate, hut it is understood that it shall become binding upon the seller only when approved by an executive officer of the seller at its. home office in Kansas City, Mo., U. S. A., and if not approved the payment accompanying this proposition shall be returned promptly to the seller.”

The proposal and acceptance were forwarded to intervener’s office in Kansas City, and on November 26, 1928, was approved by its vice-president, thus completing all the requirements necessary to render the contract binding on both sides.

The following pertinent stipulations are contained in the contract under discussion:

"The seller shall furnish an engineer to supervise and assist in making installation of said equipment and machinery.”
“The seller shall furnish all labor for ammonia work. Buyer to furnish labor for putting up water lines and cooling tower.”
“It is. agreed and understood that a test run of three days must be made on the plant, for tne purpose of making adjustments, if any, that may be required.”

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Related

Matter of Hughes
9 B.R. 251 (W.D. Louisiana, 1981)
Tangipahoa Bank & Trust Co. v. Kent
70 F.2d 139 (Fifth Circuit, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
135 So. 94, 17 La. App. 508, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hamilton-co-v-medical-arts-building-co-lactapp-1931.