Kelvinator St. Louis, Inc. v. Schader

39 S.W.2d 385, 225 Mo. App. 479, 1931 Mo. App. LEXIS 212
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 2, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 39 S.W.2d 385 (Kelvinator St. Louis, Inc. v. Schader) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kelvinator St. Louis, Inc. v. Schader, 39 S.W.2d 385, 225 Mo. App. 479, 1931 Mo. App. LEXIS 212 (Mo. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

*483 HAID, P. J.

'This is an appeal from a judgment for $2000 in favor of plaintiff in a replevin action tried to the court upon waiver of trial by jury.

Plaintiff brought its suit to recover possession of four Kelvinators, models No. 5512 LB condensing units, serial numbers 141905, 141909, 141828 andl 141868, and thirty-six 08V frost coils of the alleged value of $2000.

Defendant denied generally all of the allegations of the petition andl alleged that he is, .and was at the date of the institution of the suit, entitled to the possession of the property.

The facts show that on April 9, 1928, Stanley Epstein, Inc., executed to Kelvinator St. Louis, Inc., a purchase agreement for installing refrigerating machinery and equipment in buildings 6648 and 6652 ■Washington Ave., St. Louis, that on May 11, 1928, Stanley Epstein, Inc., executed .a chattel mortgage to the Kelvinator St. Louis, Inc., covering “Kelvinator (s) Models Nos. 4-5542 LB condensing units No. 141905, 141909, 141828, 141868” and “Other equipment (itemize) 36 — 08V frost coils” for a total of $3690, of which the mortgagor paid $600, and after adding to the balance a time financing charge of $82.19, left a balance due of $3172.19 which was to be paid in twenty-four monthly payments of $132.17 each, with interest at the rate of six per cent., from date of mortgage to due date and a larger rate after maturity.

The chattel mortgage recited that, “to secure payment of the purchase price, the mortgagor does'hereby grant, bargain, sell and mortgage unto said mortgagee, tbe above described personal property, to have and to hold unto said mortgagee, his personal representatives, successors and assigns forever.” Under the chattel mortgage the mortgagor also agreed not to remove the merchandise from the address given below until he first obtains the written consent of the mortgagee or his assigns. Under the chattel mortgage the mortgagor also consented that the mortgagee or his assigns, without notice or liability for damages, might take possession of said merchandise without process of law wherever found and authorized the mortgagee to resell such merchandise. The mortgage was signed by Stanley Epstein, Inc., by Stanley Epstein, Pres., and the address given being 904 Chestnut Street. The chattel mortgage was filed for reco/rd in the office of the recorder of deeds of the city of St. Louis on May 16, 1928.

The equipment above referred to was installed in two apartment buildings numbered 6648 and 6652 Washington Boulevard, University City, Missouri, the installation being made in the lattejr part of April and first part of May, 1928, by an electrical company for the *484 plaintiff. At the time of the execution of the chattel mortgage, as shown by that instrument, Bertha Chertoff held the legal title to the real estate upon which the apartments were located. The last monthly payment was made under the chattel mortgage on March 11, 1929.

There was a second deed of trust on each of the pieces of property above mentioned, but the record does not disclose the dates thereof, nor when they were recorded. These deeds of trust were acquired by the Reliable Loan & Investment Company at some time previous to July 8, 1929 (the date of acquisition not appearing in the record), without actual knowledge of the chattel mortgage. These deeds of trust were foreclosed, the one on 6648 Washington Avenue on July 29, 1929, and the one on 6652 Washington Avenue on July 15, 1929. The two properties were purchased at the foreclosure sales by the defendant, the stenographer acting as straw man for the Reliable Loan & Investment Company.

Sometime prior to the purchase at foreclosure sale and previous to July 8, 1929, the Reliable Loan & Investment Company learned of the chattel mortgage as is evidenced by two letters it wrote the plaintiff.

The plaintiff’s witnesses testified, in substance, that the plaintiff, through an electrical company, installed the system; that each of the apartments had in it an ice box which was not attached to the building; that there were four condensing units, two water cooled and two air cooled; that the compressors were placed upon two concrete blocks set upon the floor and that these blocks in turn were set upon cork which was in no wise attached to the basement floors; that the coils weire placed in the ice boxes located in the various apartments and were fastened thereto by four bolts or studs; that the condensers were separate units and could be removed simply by disconnecting the electric connection at the switch and disconnecting the tubing at the pressure tank and since the condensers are not attached to the floor they could then be taken away; that the coils in the ice boxes were separate units .and when removed therefrom the ice box could again be used to put in ice or to put in another coil; that there are six sets of conduit risers in each building which start in the basement and go eighteen inches above the floor on the third floor; that there is a hole made through the ceiling of the first floor, the ceiling of the second floor and the floor of the third floor and if these risers were removed there would be a hole in the floor and ceiling of each floor; the risers are fastened to the walls of the building by pipe straps, one pipe strap in each apartment which is screwed to the wooden molding around the top of the ice box, that there is a box on the side of the ice box called a junction box which is not attached to the wall; that from the water cooled apparatus there is tubing imbedded in the concrete floor connecting with the sewer system; that the removal of the compressors in the basement would *485 in no way affect the property and the removal óf the coils would have no effect on the ice boxes; there was also a switch box and its baseboard attached to the building; that if the compressors were removed another type of compressor could be installed; that if the conduit and outlet box were removed a hole in the floor would be left an,d if the tubing was removed it would leave the conduit system throughout the buildings; that removing the tubing would not affect the building; that the tubes are in no way connected with the walls or floors; the conduits being the only things connected with the building proper; that there is no way of distinguishing coils of a certain model number from any other coils of the same model number.

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Bluebook (online)
39 S.W.2d 385, 225 Mo. App. 479, 1931 Mo. App. LEXIS 212, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelvinator-st-louis-inc-v-schader-moctapp-1931.