Hart v. Schencke

1935 OK 932, 50 P.2d 159, 174 Okla. 134, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 1395
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 8, 1935
DocketNo. 24449.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1935 OK 932 (Hart v. Schencke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hart v. Schencke, 1935 OK 932, 50 P.2d 159, 174 Okla. 134, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 1395 (Okla. 1935).

Opinion

RILEY, J.

This is an appeal from an order dissolving an attachment.

Plaintiff in error, plaintiff below, is the trustee for the owners of certain property located in Okmulgee, Okla.

The Blackburn Drug Company leased said premises and was, prior to the commencement of this action, conducting a drug business therein, and was indebted to plaintiff in the sum of $700, for back rent.

On September 24, 1932, the drug company made an assignment for the benefit of creditors naming the Central National Bank of Okmulgee as assignee.

The assignment was in writing and properly acknowledged. Whether or not it was recorded does not appear from the record.

The assignee took charge of the stock of goods and fixtures, and thereafter entered into a written agreement with E. J. Buxton for the sale of said property for the sum of $3,500, subject, however, to the approval of all the creditors of the drug company, to be obtained within 30 days.

The Eox-Yliet Drug Company, one of the creditors, on September 30, 1932, commenced an action against the Blackburn Drug Company upon its claim. It made the Central National Bank, assignee, a party defendant, alleging in substance that the assignment was void because in violation of the Bulk Sales Law (St. 1931, s. 10014 et seq.).

Application was made for the appointment of a receiver. Notice of the application for receiver, and for a hearing thereon October 5, 1932, was served upon the Blackburn Drug Company and the bank. This notice was served September 30, 1932.

On October 1, 1932, plaintiff in error, W. H. Hart, trustee, commenced this action on his claim for rent. He alleged in part that “defendant is about to remove its stock of merchandise from said premises and deprive the plaintiff of his statutory landlord’s lien on said merchandise and fixtures.”

On the same day he filed an affidavit for nn attachment, alleging therein ' that there was due him for rent the sum of $700, and “that defendant is about to remove its property from said leased premises, and that af-fiant as such landlord has a lien on all the goods, wares, stock, furniture, fixtures and personal property belonging to the defendant, and situated and located in said leased premises.”

An undertaking for attachment was filed and approved and a writ of attachment was issued and executed the same day.

On October 5, 1932, when the application for appointment of a receiver in the Eox-Yliet Case came on for hearing, the Blackburn Drug Company and the Central National Bank appeared and consented to the appointment of a receiver. W. T. Hart was also present by his attorney and agreed that a receiver be appointed. All agreed to the appointment of Carl E. Schencke; that the business could not be operated more than one month except by agreement and order of court. It was further agreed in open court that:

“The receiver proceed to advertise the assets of the Blackburn Drug Company for sale; * * * that the receiver will make a return in open court on November 1, 1932, at 10 o’clock a. m. of the bids received by him, and that the sale shall be subject to confirmation by the court.”

*136 The court thereupon ordered the receiver to advertise the assets for sale in accordance with the agreement, and lile his report of bids received on November 1st.

The stock, fixtures, accounts, etc., of the B'ackburn Drug Company were advertised and sold under said orders for the sum of ,$4,67S, and on November 1, 1934, the court confirmed the sale.

On November 5th, Carl E. Schencke, re ceiver of the ¡Blackburn Drug Company, filed an application for leave to intervene in the action of W. T. Hart, trustee, against the Blackburn Drug Company, and that said cause be consolidated with the case of Fox-Vliet Drug Company against the (Blackburn Drug Company. On the same day the court made an order permitting the intervention and consolidating of said causes.

On October 24, 1932, Schencke, as receiver, filed a motion to dissolve the attachment theretofore obtained by Hart, trustee. Therein he set up as grounds for dissolution of the attachment the agreement of all parties, including Hart, to the appointment of the receiver, the assignment for the benefit of creditors, and a denial of the facts stated in the affidavit for attachment. Thereafter the Blackburn Drug Company filed its motion to dissolve the attachment and as grounds adopted the allegations of the motion of the receiver.

After the order was made consolidating the two causes, the Blackburn Drug Company and the receiver filed their answer to Hart’s petition.

On November 2nd, plaintiff 1-Iart filed a demurrer to the motion of the receiver to dissolve the attachment. As grounds for demurrer, he alleged : The motion fails to state facts sufficient tb entitle the receiver to the relief prayed for; that the receiver had no legal capaciti' to maintain and prosecute the motion, and that the receiver is not the real party in interest.

The demurrer was overruled. Hearing on the motions to dissolve the attachment was had November 25, 1932, resulting in an order dissolving the attachment.

It is contended that the court should not have dissolved plaintiff’s attachment, and plaintiff’s demurrer to defendant’s evidence should have been sustained.

As to the latter proposition, the record does not show that plaintiff demurred to defendant’s evidence, and there was therefore no demurrer to sustain.

The theory of plaintiff, from the allegations of the petition and affidavit for attachment, appears to be that he had a statutory lien upon the property of the tenant located in the leased building for the rent. Such is not the law. Section 7306, C. O. S. 1921, does provide that when any person who shall be liable to pay rent, “whether the same be due or not, if it be due within one year thereafter,” intends to remove, or is removing, or has, within 30 days, removed his property or his crops, or any part thereof, from the leased premises, the person to whom the rent is owing may commence an action, and upon making an affidavit stating the amount of rent for which such person is liable, and one or more of the above facts and executing an undertaking as in other eases, an attachment shall issue in the same manner and with like effect as is provided by law in other actions.

In Tootle, Wheeler & Motter Merc. Co. v. Floyd, 28 Okla. 308, 114 P. 259, it was held that an attachment may issue under the provisions of said section at the instance of the landlord to enforce the payment of rent on a store building.

But in Beane et al. v. Rucker et al., 66 Okla. 299, 168 P. 1167, it is expressly held that said section does not give such landlord a lien on the property located within the leased premises, but merely affords additional grounds for attachment.

There was no statutory lien, and plaintiff’s right to an attachment depended upon the existence of one or more of three facts, viz., whether defendant intended to remove, was removing, or had within 30 days prior to the commencement of the action removed its property or a part thereof from the leased premises.

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1938 OK 102 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1938)

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Bluebook (online)
1935 OK 932, 50 P.2d 159, 174 Okla. 134, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 1395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hart-v-schencke-okla-1935.