Lawyers' Mortgage Co. v. Anderson

67 F.2d 889, 3 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1186, 13 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 418, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 4678
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedDecember 4, 1933
DocketNo. 42
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 67 F.2d 889 (Lawyers' Mortgage Co. v. Anderson) 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
Lawyers' Mortgage Co. v. Anderson, 67 F.2d 889, 3 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1186, 13 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 418, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 4678 (2d Cir. 1933).

Opinion

MANTON, Circuit Judge.

Appellee recovered moneys paid under protest as stamp taxes alleged to be due upon the issuance by it, during the period from February 16, 1926, to February 1, 1930, of guaranteed first mortgage certificates without placing thereon documentary stamps. Appellant made the assessment pursuant to section 800, Schedule A (1), title 8, of the Revenue Acts of 1924 and 1926 (26 U. S. C. § 901, 26 USCA § 901, Schedule A (1) and note), which provided for a stamp tax “On all bonds, debentures, or certificates of indebtedness issued by any corporation ['person’ in the 1924 act], and all instruments, however termed, issued by any corporation with interest coupons or in registered form, known generally as corporate securities, on each $100 of face value or fraction thereof, 5 cents. * * * ” A summary judgment was granted below on a motion made therefor by the appellee.

The appellee, a corporation, is organized under the New York Insurance Law (Consol. Laws, c. 28). During the period in question, it owned various bonds secured by mortgages on real estate. It issued, in connection with [890]*890these bonds, two classes o£ first mortgage certificates.

The first class of certificates “assigned and transferred” to a designated assignee, termed by the certificate “the assured,” a share or interest to the extent of a certain sum in a specified bond and mortgage. The appellee certified in this form of certificate that “it holds said bond and mortgage together with any guaranties of payment, insurance policies and other instruments and evidences of title relating thereto for the benefit of the assured.” On the face of each certificate it appeared that it was one of a series of like tenor of an aggregate sum not in excess of the bond and mortgage, and that the certificates were all secured by the bond and mortgage. The certificate guarantees to the assured the payment of interest, at the rate of 5% per cent, per annum, within five days after the due date of interest, under the terms of the bond and mortgage and the payment of the principal amount as and when collected, but, in any event, absolutely within eighteen months after payment shall he due and shall be demanded by the assured. By its terms the appellee was appointed irrevocable agent of the assured to collect or sue for interest and principal due under the bond and mortgage, to satisfy and discharge the mortgage in its own name on receiving full payment, to collect, sue for, receive, or compromise the fire insurance on the mortgaged property in ease of loss by fire, to extend under such terms and conditions as it may see fit, the time of payment of installments of interest or principal due under the mortgage, to extend or waive any right, provision, or option contained in the bond and mortgage, and to take any action it may deem necessary to enforce any of the provisions of the bond and mortgage. By the certificate the appellee reserved the privilege, at its option, to take up the certificate at any time on giving thirty days’ notice to the assured upon payment of the principal amount and interest.

The second class of certificates contained substantially the same provisions. It was issued upon a group of bonds and mortgages held by the appellee and assigned to the “assured” an undivided share to the extent of the sum stated in the bonds and mortgages specified. These bonds and mortgages have the same dates of maturity.

The physical form, size, and appearance of these first mortgage certificates with steel engraved colored border, printed in registered form with assignability by indorsement and registration on the books of the company, were such as is used generally for corporate securities. This has been held a matter of importance in cases of a documentary stamp tax. United States v. Isham, 17 Wall. 496, 21 L. Ed. 728; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. United States, 273 U. S. 100, 103, 47 S. Ct. 263, 71 L. Ed. 558; United States v. Klausner, 25 F.(2d) 608 (C. C. A. 2).

In Bowers v. Lawyers’ Mortgage Co., 285 U. S. 182, 52 S. Ct. 350, 76 L. Ed. 690; the court dealt with the question of liability of this appellee for the capital stock tax imposed under the provisions of the Revenue Act of 1921 (section 1000, 42 Stat. 294); the issue there being whether the appellee was an insurance company under the terms of that act (section 246, 42 Stat. 262)., It was said that the guaranty by the plaintiff constituted an insurance contract. But the insurance part of the business of the corporation was held to be incidental, and it was held not to be an insurance company and subject to the capital stock tax. But whether or not 'these certificates are instruments known generally as corporate securities is an entirely different question. There is the guaranty of the corporation obligating the appellee to pay or see that the holder is paid in any event which makes it a corporate security. Lederer v. Fidelity Trust Co., 267 U. S. 17, 45 S. Ct. 206, 69 L. Ed. 494. These first mortgage certificates arc listed on the New York Real Estate Exchange, where other real estate securities, bonds, and stocks are listed. Under the New York Personal Property Law (Consol. Laws, c. 41) § 21, and' the Decedent Estate Law (Consol. Laws, e. 13) § 111, they are proper and legal investments for the funds of trusts and estates.

The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in construing this statute, said that it was the intention of Congress that it should be regarded broadly and comprehensively. Willcuts v. Investors’ Syndicate (C. C. A.) 57 F. (2d) 811. In Lederer v. Fidelity Trust Co., supra, railroad equipment certificates were issued by a trust company as security for moneys advanced by a syndicate to purchase equipment leased by the trust company and the railroad company was under a contract for periodical payments as rentals with the ultimate acquisition of title by it. The certificates were payable with interest to bearer or registered holder from the rentals thus to be paid by the railroad company, and it was held that they were subject to a stamp tax under the provisions of the Act of February 24,1919 (title 11, § 1100 and Schedule A, 40 Stat. 1133, 1135). They were classed [891]*891as instruments issued by a corporation known generally as corporate securities. The court said at page 32 of 267 U. S., 45 S. Ct. 206, 207:

“We do not regard the precise limits of the Trust Company’s undertaking as important. If it were only to collect and pay money received by the Company under the secured contract of the Railroad it would be a security for money payment.”

The appellee imposed upon itself an obligation to collect and pay the money under the secured contract — the bond — with the mortgagor, and the undertaking of the appellee was therefore, in the language of the Supreme Court, a security for money payment. The appellee promises to pay interest and principal in any ease within the time specified in the certificate. In Mortgage Guarantee Co. v. Welch, 38 F.(2d) 184 (C. C. A. 9), the stamp tax there considered involved the provisions of the Revenue Act of 1926 (26 U. S. C. § 901

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67 F.2d 889, 3 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 1186, 13 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 418, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 4678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawyers-mortgage-co-v-anderson-ca2-1933.