Hollenbeck v. Louden

152 N.W. 116, 35 S.D. 320, 1915 S.D. LEXIS 49
South Dakota Supreme Court·Decided April 15, 1915·No. File No. 3635·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

McCOY, P. J.

This action was instituted to foreclose a chattel mortgage upon a stock of general merchandise given 'by defendant Louden to plaintiff. Defendant appeared and answered. W. A. Hazle, representing general creditors, as trustee in bankruptcy of defendant, Louden, by intervention, also became a party to the action. Findings and judgment were made and entered in favor of plaintiff adjudging said mortgage to be [323] a lien upon said merchandise, and that the proceeds thereof be applied to the satisfaction of plaintiff’s mortgage indebtedness. The said trustee, as intervener, has appealed, assigning among ethers, as error, that the judgment is not sustained by the findings, and insufficiency of the evidence to sustain certain findings. The effect of the findings and judgment is to make plaintiff’s mortgage a prior lien upon said merchandise in preference to any of the creditors of the mortgagor. So far as the matters necessary to be considered are concerned, there is no material conflict in the evidence. The mortgage to plaintiff was executed and delivered on the ist day of March, 1913, and withheld from record until the 26th day of July, 1913.

[1] It is first contended by appellant that plaintiff’s mortgage is inherently void by reason of the provisions thereof, in that it covers a stock of general merchandise, and there is no provision therein with reference to sales from said stock in the usual course of retail trade, and no provision for any accounting of the proceeds of sales to the mortgagee, and no' provision as to after-acquired merchandise that might be added to said stock in the usual course of said business. It appears that the mortgagor did make sales from the mortgaged property, and did pay to plaintiff the amount of about $750. We are of the view that, under such circumstances, such a mortgage is not absolutely or conclusively void, but is prime facie or presumptively -void, and that the one claiming under such a mortgage has the burden of showing that it was made in good faith upon proper consideration and without intent to hinder or delay creditors-. This burden was met by plaintiff by showing it to be a purchase-money mortgage securing an indebtedness of $2,465, and being a part of the purchase price of said stock of merchandise, valued at about $9,000, which was, on the ist day of March, 1913, sold and delivered by plaintiff to defendant. There was no evidence tending to show that said mortgage was given with any intent, by either party, to defraud, hinder, or delay -creditors, or that said mortgagor was insolvent at the time of the excution of said mortgage, or at the time of the filing thereof, or that said mortgagor or mortgagee, at either of said -times, had any reason to be-' lieve that said mortgagor was insolvent, or that -said mortgage was made in view or contemplation of bankruptcy on the part of said [324] mortgagor, so' as to make the giving thereof an unlawful preference, or void, under sections 60 and 67 of the federal Bankruptcy Act. The following authorities seem, to sustain this conclusion: Black Hills Mercantile Co. v. Gardiner, 5 S. D. 246, 58 N. W. 557; First National Bank v. Calkins, 12 S. D. 411, 81 N. W. 732; Cobbey on Chattel Mortgages, §§ 219 to 312; Robinson v. Elliott, 2 Wall. 513, 22 L. Ed. 758; Jones on Chattel Mortgages, § 405b; Greeley v. Winsor, 1 S. D. 618, 48 N. W. 214; Lane v. Starr, 1 S. D. 107, 45 N. W. 212; 1 Fed. Stat. Ann. § 60, pp. 672 to 677 ,and section 67, pp. 688 to 696; Asbury Park Association v. Shepherd (N. J. Ch.) 50 Atl. 65; Miller v. Shriver, 197 Pa. 191, 46 Atl. 926; Grant v. Powers Dry Goods Co., 23 S. D. 195, 121 N. W. 95.

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Hollenbeck v. Louden, 152 N.W. 116, 35 S.D. 320, 1915 S.D. LEXIS 49 (S.D. 1915).

152 N.W. 116 (Hollenbeck v. Louden) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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