In re Moody

131 F. 525, 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedAugust 15, 1904
DocketNo. 394
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 131 F. 525 (In re Moody) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Moody, 131 F. 525, 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217 (N.D. Iowa 1904).

Opinion

REED, District Judge

(after stating the facts). The Hawkeye Band Company claims to be a good-faith purchaser of this stock of merchandise from Edward J. Moody, that it was in actual possession thereof as such prior to the filing of the petition in bankruptcy, and that the court of bankruptcy therefore had no jurisdiction to summarily take possession of such property from it. The affidavits filed by the land company tend to show that on May 14, 1904, it purchased this stock of merchandise in good faith from the alleged bankrupt, without notice of his insolvency, paid therefor $400 in cash, paid a note of Moody’s to the First State Bank of Hawkeye for $100, gave its own note for $1,000 and a quarter section of land in Fayette county, took actual possession of said goods on that day, and a written bill of sale of the same, which it duly recorded, and was in the open and exclusive possession of said property at the time the receiver was appointed; that Moody was employed by it as a clerk after it purchased the stock of goods, and that he was acting in that capacity only when the receiver was appointed ; that the petitioning creditors and the receiver all knew of such purchase by and possession of the land company when the receiver was appointed, but he took the same from its custody, against its protest, and without its consent.

The examination by the petitioning creditors of some of the affiants whose affidavits were so presented by the land company tends to show that the land so conveyed by that company in part payment for the stock of goods was subject to a mortgage for $6,000, and was deeded to Myrtle Moody, wife of Edward J. Moody; that the $1,000 note was made payable to her, or delivered to her at the time of the transaction; that one of the members of the land company is an officer of the First State Bank of Hawkeye; that Moody remained in the store after the sale of the goods to the land company, carried the keys thereto, and continued to sell the goods as he had been selling them before said sale; that he was to have a percentage of the daily sales of goods for his salary, and that the proceeds of such sales above this were to be applied upon the note for $1,000 which the land company gave as part payment for the stock of merchandise; and the petitioning creditors claim that the transaction between Moody and the land company.was intended by both of said parties as a fraud upon the creditors of Moody, and that the land company is not, therefore, a good-faith purchaser of said, property.¡ Counsel for the land company cite and rely upon In [527]*527re Rockwood (D. C.) 91 Fed. 363; Bernheimer v. Bryan, 93 Fed. 767, 35 C. C. A. 592; Beach v. Macon Grocery Co., 116 Fed. 143, 53 C. C. A. 463, and other similar cases. In the first of these it was ruled by Judge Shiras that the marshal or a receiver should not be appointed, under section 69 of the bankruptcy act of July 1, 1898, c. 541, 30 Stat. 565 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3450], to take possession of property from a third person who was in actual possession thereof under claim of right prior to the institution of bankruptcy proceedings. In general, the rule so announced should be followed, and should be observed by referees acting under authority of section 38 (3), 30 Stat. 555 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3435], in appointing receivers. In Bardes v. Bank, 178 U. S. 524, 20 Sup. Ct. 1000, 44 L. Ed. 1175, in speaking of the powers conferred upon courts of bankruptcy by sections 2 (3) and 69 of the bankruptcy act of July 1, 1898, c. 541, 30 Stat. 545, 565 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, pp. 3421, 3450], it is said, “These provisions can hardly be considered as authorizing the forcible seizure of such property in the possession of an adverse claimant.” These rulings, however, were made prior to the decision of the Supreme Court in Bryan v. Bernheimer, 181 U. S. 188, 21 Sup. Ct. 557, 45 L. Ed. 814, hereinafter referred to, and they must yield to that decision; and whether or not the marshal or a receiver should be directed to take possession of property in the hands of third parties will depend upon the circumstances of the particular case. Bernheimer v. Bryan and Beach v. Macon Grocery Company are authority for the contention of the land company that, if it was in fact in possession of the property at the time the receiver took possession thereof, the court of bankruptcy would be without jurisdiction to summarily take the property from it, and it should be returned to the land company, and the right to the property determined in an action therefor by the trustee in the event that Moody should be adjudged bankrupt. But these decisions upon this point are overruled by the Supreme Court in Bryan v. Bernheimer, 181 U. S. 188, 21 Sup. Ct. 557, 45 L. Ed. 814. In this case the Supreme Court held that a court of bankruptcy has authority under section 2 (3) of the bankruptcy act of July 1, 1898, c. 541, 30 Stat. 545 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3421], after the adjudication of bankruptcy, to order the marshal or receiver to take possession of the property of the bankrupt from a third party who acquired such possession and the alleged right thereto from the bankrupt, or one holding his title and right only, after the filing of the petition, and before the adjudication of bankruptcy. It is contended by the land company that this should only be done after the adjudication, for until that time it cannot be known that the court of bankruptcy will have authority to make distribution of the property. In Re Rochford, 124 Fed. 182 (C. C. A., Eighth Circuit), the property appears to have been in the possession of one who claimed to own and to have acquired it from the bankrupt a month before the petition in bankruptcy was filed; and it is there held that the bankruptcy court had authority to order the receiver to take possession thereof after the filing of such petition, and before the adjudication. Davis v. Bohle, 92 Fed. 325, 34 C. C. A. 372 (Eighth Circuit), is to the same effect.

[528]*528Section 2 of the bankruptcy act of July 1, 1898, c. 541, 30 Stat. 545 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3421], provides that courts of bankruptcy are invested with jurisdiction to “* * * (3) appoint receivers or marshals upon the application of parties in interest * * * to take charge of the property of bankrupts after the filing of the petition and until it is dismissed or the trustee is qualified. * * *” It is the filing of the petition, therefore, and not the adjudication, that authorizes this action by the court of bankruptcy. Such filing is the commencement of the proceedings, and in effect is an attachment or sequestration from that time of all the property of the bankrupt not exempt to him for the benefit of his creditors. Bank v. Sherman, 101 U. S. 403, 25 L. Ed. 866; Mueller v. Nugent, 184 U. S. 14, 22 Sup. Ct. 269, 46 L. Ed. 405. The court from that time may draw to its actual custody the property of the bankrupt within its territorial jurisdiction. If an adjudication follows, such property will be distributed by the court. If it does not, it will be restored to the bankrupt, or the person from whose custody it was taken. In most of these cases the distinction is observed between proceedings in bankruptcy, as such, and controversies at law or in equity under section 23, Act July 1, 1898, c. 541, 30 Stat. 552 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3431]. But in Bryan v. Bernheimer the Supreme Court is careful to state that the powers of the bankruptcy court under section 2, cl.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
131 F. 525, 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-moody-iand-1904.