Hunt v. Doran

100 N.W. 222, 92 Minn. 423, 1904 Minn. LEXIS 583
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 24, 1904
DocketNos. 13,883—(156)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 100 N.W. 222 (Hunt v. Doran) 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
Hunt v. Doran, 100 N.W. 222, 92 Minn. 423, 1904 Minn. LEXIS 583 (Mich. 1904).

Opinion

START, C. J.

Action by the receiver of the Allemannia Bank to enforce payment of the defendant’s alleged liability as owner of ten shares of the capital stock of the bank. The alleged defensé was that any action to enforce such liability was barred by the statute of limitations. The action was tried by the court without a jury, and findings of fact made. As a conclusion of law, judgment was directed for the defendant on the ground that the action was barred.' The plaintiff appealed from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The plaintiff’s assignments of error challenge many of the findings of fact of the trial court on the ground that they are not sustained by the evidence. He also assigns errors as to the rulings of the court in the admission of evidence, and in denying defendant’s motion to amend the findings. We find it necessary to consider only a limited number of the questions raised and discussed by plaintiff’s counsel, for not all of the findings of fact made by the trial court are essential to support its conclusion. The general facts in reference to the Allemannia Bank —such as its failure, the appointment of receivers, and the termination [424]*424of the receivership proceedings, its reorganization, and the subsequent appointment of the plaintiff as its receiver — are set forth in the opinion in the case of Hunt v. Roosen, 87 Minn. 68, 91 N. W. 259, to which reference is here made.

The here material facts found by the court are substantially these: On October 10, 1892, the Allemannia Bank was a banking (corporation duly organized under the laws of this state, and the defendant was then the owner of ten shares of its capital stock, which stood on the records of the bank in his name until October 19,1896. On the day last named, the defendant, for value and in good faith, sold and assigned his stock, and it was then transferred upon the records of the bank, to the Local Investment Company, a corporation. There now remains unpaid of the indebtedness of the bank on the day of such transfer of the stock the sum of $15,000. On January 4, 1897, the bank became insolvent, and a receiver was appointed for it in proceedings duly had and taken pursuant to Laws 1895, p. 298, c. 145, who resigned, and two other receivers were appointed in his place. The receivers so appointed continued to act until May 26, 1898, when the bank was reorganized, and judgment to that effect entered in proper proceedings duly instituted in the district court. The assets of the bank then in the hands of the receivers were turned over to the bank pursuant to the judgment, with the consent of its creditors, and the receivership terminated, and the receivers discharged. Pending such receivership, and in course of a suit to enforce the liability of stockholders, the defendant paid the sum of $500 to the chairman of the reorganization committee, and the money, upon the reorganization of the bank, was turned over to it.

On June 9, 1900, the plaintiff, in a new action and proceeding, was appointed receiver of the bank, pursuant to Laws 1895, p. 298, c. 145, and April 3, 1901, the court made its order assessing each share of the stock of the bank to the amount of its par value. All other facts found by the trial court and all requested findings of fact are immaterial, in the view we take of this case. Of the findings we have recited, two are controlling. They are those which relate to the sale and transfer of the defendant’s stock, and to the termination of the first receivership, and the turning over to the bank of all of the assets of the bank in the hands of the receivers with the consent of its creditors.

Each of these findings is sustained by the evidence. No serious ques[425]*425tion is or can be made that the evidence does not sustain the finding to the effect that the first receivership was terminated, and all of the assets of the bank were, with the consent of the creditors, turned over to it, and the receivers discharged by the judgment and order of the court. In and by this judgment and order all the assets of the bank in the hands of the receivers were vested in the bank, and it was authorized and directed to reopen its doors for the regular transaction of the business of a bank of deposit, loan, and discount under the laws of the state. The receivers, upon making proof that they had, pursuant to the judgment, turned over to the bank all of its assets in their hands, were discharged by order of the court. This judgment and order appear from the record in this particular case to be valid — whatever may have been the fact in other cases — as to the bank and its creditors.

The objection to the finding as to the transfer of the defendant’s stock is that the trial court was not authorized by the evidence to so find, in view of the facts admitted by the pleadings. The question, then, is not that the finding is not sustained by the evidence — there is no assignment of error to that effect — but that the finding is contrary to the admissions and allegations of the pleadings.

The complaint alleged that the defendant caused a pretended transfer of his stock to the Local Investment Company to be entered upon the books of the bank for the purpose of defrauding the creditors of the bank, and to evade his stock liability for their claims, and, further, that in fact the defendant never made any transfer‘of his stock to the Local Investment Company. The answer specifically denied all the allegations of fraud in the complaint, and affirmatively alleged that he, in good faith and for value, sold the stock and transferred and delivered the certificate to a party other than the Local Investment Company, and that such person was then solvent, and that he agreed to cause the stock to be transferred on the books of the bank from the name of the defendant, and that it was so transferred from his name on the books of the bank October 19, 1896. The plaintiff’s point is that it is admitted by the pleadings that the defendant did not transfer his .stock to the Local Investment Company. The defendant does not claim that he did, nor did the trial court so find.

What the court did find was that the stock was sold in good faith for value, and that the stock was transferred on the books of the bank [426]*426to the Local Investment Company. The certificate of the stock having been signed in blank, it may have been sold several times before it was transferred on the records to the Local Investment Company. The defendant was asked on the trial by his counsel to state to whom and for what consideration the transfer was made, the plaintiff objected, and the question was withdrawn. We hold that the finding is sustained by the evidence, and that it is not inconsistent with the admissions and allegations of the answer.

The only other finding of fact that it is necessary to refer to is the one relating to the payment of the $500 by the defendant in the suit of the receivers to enforce the liability of stockholders. The defendant moved the trial court to strike out this finding, and to substitute in lieu thereof a finding of fact to the effect that the $500 was paid by the defendant in the reorganization proceedings, and that he consented to such proceedings and to the judgment. This was refused, and the plaintiff here urges that the evidence is practically conclusive that the payment was so made, and that the defendant did so consent. It may be conceded that the evidence is such that the trial court might have so found, but it was not bound so to do. The plaintiff, in this connection, cites and relies on the case of Hunt v. Roosen, 87 Minn. 75, 91 N. W. 259.

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Bluebook (online)
100 N.W. 222, 92 Minn. 423, 1904 Minn. LEXIS 583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunt-v-doran-minn-1904.