In re Rosenbaum Grain Corp.

17 F. Supp. 417, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1799
District Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided December 22, 1936·No. No. 59666·Published

Opinion

HOLLY, District Judge.

On the 23d of April, Rosenbaum Grain Corporation filed its petition under section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act, as amended (11 U.S.C.A. § 207), and on that date the petition was approved and a trustee appointed.

Rosenbaum Grain Corporation, prior to the 23d day of April, 1935 (the date of the filing of its petition under section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act, as amended), was engaged inter alia in the business of grain and stock brokerage and maintained branch offices in various cities throughout the United States. Marian K. Livingston, the claimant, a resident of Bloomington, 111., desired to sell 25 shares of F. W. Wool-" worth & Co. stock and directed her husband, as her agent, to go to the Blooming-ton office of the Rosenbaum Grain Corporation to have said stock sold for her at a specified price. The Bloomington office of the Rosenbaum Grain Corporation wired instructions to the principal office in Chicago and it was agreed that the Rosenbaum Grain Corporation would execute the order to sell and would immediately transmit a sum equal to the proceeds therefrom to the claimant upon the delivery by her of the certificates of stock. Rosenbaum Grain Corporation then turned the order over to Rothschild & Co. to sell said stock and Rothschild & Co. forwarded the order to sell to Harris Upham & Co., who sold the stock on the New York Stock Exchange for $1,403.13, and after deducting their usual fees, commissions, and taxes, there remained the net sum of $1,396.95 as the proceeds from the sale of the F. W. Woolworth & Co. stock. The claimant had no knowledge that Rosenbaum Grain Corporation would execute this sale through Harris Upham & Co. Subsequently thereto, [418] claimant delivered said shares of stock to the Bloomington office of the Rosenbaum Grain Corporation, and it was delivered by it to Harris Upham & Co. on the 23d day of April, who then credited the account of Rosenbaum Grain Corporation with the net sum realized. At the close of business on the date of the sale of said stock Rosenbaum Grain Corporation was indebted to Harris Upham & Co. in the sum of $27,-381.71, together with an interest item of $59.75, and prior to the close of business on that date Harris Upham & Co. credited the account of Rosenbaum Grain Corporation with' the sum of $3,593.72, which sum included the proceeds from the sale of 25 shares of Woolworth stock, along with proceeds of other transactions.

On April 23, 1935, Harris Upham & Co. had in its possession various securities delivered to it by Rosenbaum Grain Corporation under a pledge to secure the above indebtedness, namely, $27,441.46, and on April 24, 1935, the pledged securities were sold for the total sum of $51,982.48, from which sum was deducted the amount due and owing by Rosenbaum Grain Corporation to Harris Upham & Co., and the net amount of $22,252.66 was remitted to the trustees of Rosenbaum Grain Corporation and is now held by them.

The claimant received a dividend in the sum of $15 which was declared payable on June 1, 1935, to holders of record on April 23, 1935.

The master found that the claimant was entitled to a preference. The trustees objected to the finding, their objections were overruled, and they thereupon entered their exceptions to the report at the time it was filed with this court.

It is conceded by counsel for the trustee that when the' debtor understood to sell the'shares of stock of petitioner, it became her agent and that a fiduciary relationship between the debtor and petitioner was thereby created. But, the trustee argues, upon the sale of the stock the relationship changed, and thereafter the debtor no longer occupied the position of a trustee, but only that of an ordinary debtor, that to constitute a trust “there must be a subject matter, that is a res, and unless it appears there is such a res no trust relationship can be imposed upon any of the parties.” Fur- -, ther, counsel says, “That when the claimant directed Rosenbaum Grain Corporation to sell her shares of stock for her, she did not in fact contemplate or expect that the identical moneys received by Rosenbaum Grain Corporation from the sale of this stock to third persons would or should be returned to her.” With this statement of fact there can be no disagreement. I cannot agree, however, that because petitioner did not expect the identical moneys received by Rosenbaum Grain Corporation to be turned over to her, that the trust relation created when the stock was turned over to them ceased to exist when the stock was sold.

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In re Rosenbaum Grain Corp., 17 F. Supp. 417, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1799 (N.D. Ill. 1936).

17 F. Supp. 417 (In re Rosenbaum Grain Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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