Jacoby v. Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Co.

72 F.2d 420, 1934 U.S. App. LEXIS 4580
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 7, 1934
DocketNo. 418
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 72 F.2d 420 (Jacoby v. Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jacoby v. Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Co., 72 F.2d 420, 1934 U.S. App. LEXIS 4580 (2d Cir. 1934).

Opinion

AUGUSTUS N. HAND, Circuit Judge.

The Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company is a corporation organized under the Insurance Law of the state of New York and subject to the supervision of its insurance department. It was engaged in tho business of guaranteeing the payment of the principal and interest of mortgages including those against which are issued and now outstanding $350,000,000 of participation certificates and of which complainants are the holders of $12,100. These certificates recite that the title company “hereby assigns to the purchaser an undivided share” in a particular bond and in the first mortgage securing the same, and provide that the bond and mortgage together with the policy of Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company “guaranteeing to holders of this and similar certificates payment of principal and interest” are held by the Title Guarantee & Trust Company “as depositary and agent for the holders of such certificates which shall never aggregate more than the amount of principal remaining unpaid on said bond and mortgage. * * * ” They also provide:

(1) That the Title Guarantee & Trust Company holds the bond and mortgage and the policy of Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company for the benefit of the purchaser and any other persons interested therein.

(2) That the company on receipt of the interest and principal shall distribute the same among the persons entitled thereto.

(3) That tho company shall have full power to take any action it may deem necessary to enforce any of the provisions of the bond and mortgage and to protect the mortgage security.

(4) That the company may for its own corporate account he the holder or pledgee of similar shares in tho bond and mortgage.

(5) That the company may take up and cancel the certificate at any time on thirty days’ notice in writing to the purchaser.

(6) That the certificate is nonnegotiablc a.nd can be transferred only by surrender to the company.

The form of guaranty policy issued by the Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company provides that:

“By the acceptance of this guarantee this Company is made irrevocably the agent of the insured, until tho bond and mortgage be paid, with the exclusive right, but at its own expense, to sue for and receive the proceeds of any policy of title insurance or fire insurance covering tho mortgaged premises; and to eollect tho interest as it falls due on the bond and mortgage hereby guaranteed. Out of the interest so collected this Company is authorized to retain as its premium for this guarantee the excess over the guaranteed rate named above.”

The insured agrees:

“1. To permit this Company to collect all interest and the principal secured by said bond and mortgage, and to refrain from collecting any part of the interest or principal secured by said bond and mortgage except through this Company. *
“4. To allow this Company, in the name of the insured, to exercise any right or option secured to the insured by said bond or mortgage, and to refrain from exercising any such right without the consent of this Company. * * * ”

Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company met its obligations as they occurred until the bank holidays in March, 1933, when it was closed under the President’s Proclamaiion. It was permitted to reopen on March 15, 1933, under rules and regulations of the superintendent of insurance which, in order to prevent preferences, prohibited further paying out of moneys to the holders of its guaranties until it had collected them.

On August 2, 1933, the superintendent of insurance applied to the New York Supreme Court, Kings county, for an order to show cause why he should not be allowed to, take possession of the assets and business of Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company for the purpose of rehabilitation. On the same day the court made an order authorizing him to take possession of the property of that company and conduct the busi[422]*422ness; thereof and enjoined all persons, including the holders of participation certificates guaranteed by it, from dealing with or disposing of the assets of the corporation while the corporation was being rehabilitated except upon a proper authorization from the superintendent of insurance until the further order of the court.

It also enjoined the holders of participation certificates from bringing any action at law, or suit in equity, against the Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company, or its assets, or against the superintendent of insurance, or from in any way interfering with the possession or control of the latter.

Pursuant to this order, the superintendent of insurance took possession of the business and property of the Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company on August 3, 1933, and since that date has been continuously operating its business. The plan .of rehabilitation of Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company approved by the court provided for the formation of a new corporation known as Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Corporation. Its capital of $3,200,000 consists of cash and current assets transferred to it by the superintendent of insurance from the free assets of the old company in exchange for all of its capital stock, which is held by the superintendent for the creditors of the old company. The adoption of the plan of rehabilitation, including the formation of the new corporation, was found by the state Supreme Court to be “the most economical and efficient method of rehabilitation and * * * for the best interests of the creditors and policyholders of Bond and Mortgage Guarantee Company.” This type of rehabilitation was specifically sustained by the Appellate Division in People, by Van Schaick, v. National Surety Co., 239 App. Div. 490, 268 N. Y. S. 88, affirmed by the Court of Appeals on March 20, 1934, 264 N. Y. 473, 191 N. E. 521. Since August 3, 1933, the superintendent of insurance has been continuously collecting interest upon certificated mortgages and remitting the same to the certificate holders.

Pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of the Sehaekno Act (Laws N. Y. 1933, c. 745), the superintendent of insurance, on September 22, 1933, took over and since then has exercised and controlled the functions of Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company with respect to all of the certificated mortgages guaranteed by it, and has exercised the powers of section 4 in the distribution of moneys with respect to certificated issues. The latter section authorizes the superintendent of insurance to collect the principal and interest from the mortgages, to deduct a reasonable amount to cover costs and expenses, and to distribute the balance to the holders of the mortgage investments, but with power to withhold the same for such time as he deems expedient or to apply any part thereof for any purpose which he deems desirable for the protection of such holders.

The certificate of Jacoby is for $7,000, and is in a $1,000,000 mortgage on property in Queens county. While there are defaults in payment of taxes and interest upon the mortgage, the mortgagor is at the present time negotiating with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for a loan with which to pay up all arrears of taxes and pay in advance interest at the rate of 4 per cent, a year to the certificate holders for three years if they will consent that the mortgage be subordinated to a prior mortgage to be given to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.

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Related

First Nat. Bank v. Lafayette Nat. Bank
40 F. Supp. 480 (E.D. New York, 1941)
Goldman v. Staten Island Nat. Bank & Trust Co.
98 F.2d 496 (Second Circuit, 1938)
McLoughlin v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
89 F.2d 699 (Second Circuit, 1937)
In Re Manbeach Realty Corporation
10 F. Supp. 523 (E.D. New York, 1935)
In Re New York Title & Mortgage Co.
9 F. Supp. 319 (N.D. New York, 1934)
Depen v. Lawyers' Title & Guaranty Co.
72 F.2d 705 (Second Circuit, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
72 F.2d 420, 1934 U.S. App. LEXIS 4580, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacoby-v-bond-mortgage-guarantee-co-ca2-1934.