Luikart v. Schmidt

286 N.W. 687, 136 Neb. 497, 1939 Neb. LEXIS 120
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 27, 1939
DocketNo. 30619
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 286 N.W. 687 (Luikart v. Schmidt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Luikart v. Schmidt, 286 N.W. 687, 136 Neb. 497, 1939 Neb. LEXIS 120 (Neb. 1939).

Opinion

Paine, J.

An action was instituted by E. H. Luikart, as receiver of the State Bank of Blair, to recover constitutional super-added liability from the stockholders of said bank, said action being brought under section 7, art. XII of the Constitution of Nebraska. T. E. Stevens, the appellee herein, filed an amended answer, pleading, first, a general denial, and, second, that the cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations. Upon trial it was found by the district judge that the'petition was filed within four years from the accrual of the cause of action, and that the evidence did not establish any liabilities of the bank remaining unpaid which accrued while the defendant T. E, Stevens was a stockholder, and for which he would be liable under said section of the Constitution, and therefore the petition was dismissed as to the defendant T. E. Stevens. The receiver appeals, but from the finding of the court against him on the issue of limitation of action T. E. Stevens did not take a cross-appeal to this court, so that question is not before us.

The facts in the case may be briefly stated as follows: The State Bank of Blair was organized January 3, 1916, on which date T. E. Stevens became the owner of 20 shares out of the 500 shares issued by the bank. .He held these [499]*499shares of stock until February 6,1924, at which time he sold and transferred them to D. J. Hundahl, who held them until April 8, 1924, when he sold the same 20 shares of stock to Lyle Reeh, who owned them at the time the bank failed. On March 17, 1934, all corporate assets having been exhausted, a balance was found due from the debtors of the bank, including its stockholders, in the sum of $258,570.62, and on February 19, 1936, the petition was filed in this case against some 21 or more stockholders of said bank, including said T. E. Stevens, the appellee herein, as well as D. J. Hundahl and Lyle Reeh, each of whom had owned the same 20 shares of stock, and no more.

The evidence discloses that on June 20, 1924, the said State Bank of Blair was taken over by the department of trade and commerce of the state of Nebraska, and operated by said department as a going concern, subject to certain restrictions; that more than three years later, to wit, December 17, 1927, said bank was adjudged insolvent, and R. O. Brownell appointed its receiver.

When said bank was placed in receivership, there were 45 creditors who filed claims based on certificates of deposit, and some of these certificates had been issued as renewals of former certificates, and it was finally ascertained that six certificates, the smallest of them being for $1,000 and the largest in the sum of $9,000, had been issued and reissued repeatedly, as shown on exhibit No. 4, and that the originals of these six certificates in the same amounts had been issued prior to February 6, 1924, the date on which T. E. Stevens, appellee, sold his stock.

It is the contention of the receiver, appellant, that the mere renewal of a certificate of deposit does not have the legal effect of a new certificate of deposit, and that the debt accrues on a certificate of deposit on the date of the issuance of the original certificate of deposit.

We are cited to authorities by the receiver which indicate that some courts hold that a certificate of deposit is somewhat the same as a receipt for money or a promissory note. On the other hand, it is contended by the appellee that a [500]*500note is an evidence of a loan, and not a deposit, and that a certificate of deposit does not bear interest after the date of its maturity, so that the owner of such certificate must surrender his certificate and enter into a new contract by purchasing a new certificate if he desires to secure further interest earnings on such sum of money.

It is contended by the appellee, and supported by the evidence, that if the holders of any of the six certificates of deposit originally issued before the appellee ceased to be a stockholder in the bank on February 6, 1924, had demanded cash and interest upon the maturity of the first or each renewal of said certificates of deposit, the cash would have been paid upon demand. The evidence also discloses that, when each certificate of deposit was presented at the window for payment, it was canceled and filed away, and so noted on the records of the bank, whether it was paid in cash or a new certificate issued.

Agnes R. Martin is one of the six certificate holders who owned a certificate of deposit prior to the time appellee sold his stock in the bank, and an examination in her case might clarify the situation as to all of these. On December 1, 1923', she purchased a certificate of deposit for $2,500 in said bank. This was two months and five days prior to the date that the appellee sold his stock in the bank. This certificate was presented and renewed many times, the holder thereof taking out the interest due thereon and buying a new certificate of deposit for the same amount, and on June 10, 1927, she purchased certificate No-. 21802 for $2,500, being exhibit No. 32. This exhibit is on the same form as all of the others issued by this bank. It states that it is not subject to check and is nonnegotiable. It is payable to herself or her assigns (but not to her order), only upon the return of the certificate properly indorsed, and the. certificate states that on June 10, 1927, the date of the certificate, she has deposited with said bank $2,500 in current funds. This form of certificate, with these many restrictions, differs apparently from some of the certificates of deposit referred to in the opinions from other states. There [501]*501is nothing in the evidence to show that she did not receive $2,500 in cash for the prior certificate and pay the bank $2,500 in cash “in current funds,” as stated on the face thereof, for the present certificate, which she has filed as a claim against the bank.

In the evidence in the case at bar, Carl J. Schmidt, who had been for many years an officer in the bank, testified, when called by the receiver, that when these time certificates were tendered’they were stamped “Paid” and put away as canceled instruments, and if a new certificate was issued on that date it was given a new number, and the transaction of the issuance of the new certificate was complete in itself.

It is also noteworthy that the creditors, in filing their claims on certificates of deposit, made no reference to any antecedent liability, and each claim was based solely on the last certificate issued, which is attached to their claim.

In the assignment of errors the receiver contends that the judgment of the district court is contrary to the evidence and to law; that the renewal of such a certificate of deposit, after the appellee sold his bank stock, did not relieve him of liability therefor, as the renewals only changed the evidence of the original deposit. Therefore, the court erred in finding and adjudging that the renewal of the certificates of deposit constituted a discharge of the original liability on former certificates issued while the appellee Stevens was a stockholder in the bank. To support these alleged errors, the receiver relies, first, on the proposition that a certificate of deposit in a bank is, in legal effect, the same as a promissory note, and that the renewal of a promissory note is not a payment of the original note unless there is a specific agreement that it extinguishes the original indebtedness, and therefore that the renewal of a certificate of deposit does not constitute final payment thereof, and cites Nebraska cases in support of this contention.

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Related

Luikart v. Schmidt
292 N.W. 723 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1940)

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Bluebook (online)
286 N.W. 687, 136 Neb. 497, 1939 Neb. LEXIS 120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/luikart-v-schmidt-neb-1939.