Mahaska County State Bank v. Crist

54 N.W. 450, 87 Iowa 415
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJanuary 30, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 54 N.W. 450 (Mahaska County State Bank v. Crist) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mahaska County State Bank v. Crist, 54 N.W. 450, 87 Iowa 415 (iowa 1893).

Opinion

Robinson, C. J.

— On the twenty-second day of February, 1888, Crist and Smith purchased of Springer &'Willard a stallion, named “Bosco,” for the agreed price of one thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars, and in payment therefor gave them five hundred dollars in money, and the note in suit. The note was payable on the first of May, 1889, at Webster City, Iowa, with interest thereon at six per cent, per annum. At the time of the purchase, and as a part of the transaction, the parties thereto entered into an agreement in writing, which provided that, if the horse proved not to be a reasonably sure foal getter,, the seller should, at the [417]*417option of the buyers, refund the money paid; or, if the horse was returned as sound and in as good condition as when sold, to replace him with another horse. The agreement further provided that the horse sold should not be considered as fully tested until he had been kept by the buyers one year from the beginning of the -first season after the sale, and that the buyers should make to the sellers a written monthly statement of the services -rendered by the horse, his condition, and the name and address of the owners of the mares served. The horse was used during the season of 1888, but on the second day of April, 1889, it was returned to Springer & Willard with the claim that he had not proved to be a reasonably sure foal getter. An attempt was made to effect a settlement under the terms of the agreement, but failed. The note was transferred to the plaintiff, and this action was commenced to recover the amount for which it was given.

The defendants Crist and Smith admitted the making of the note, but pleaded the agreement under which it was taken; that they have complied with the requirements of the agreement on their part, and are entitled to a return of the note; and that the plaintiff took it with knowledge of their rights. In a counterclaim they demand a return of the note. • In their cross petition they plead the facts involved in the purchase of the horse, including the agreement for its return, and the repayment of the purchase price, and allege that, when they returned the horse, Springer & Willard were the owners of the note in suit, and agreed to return it, but thereafter conspired with the plaintiff to transfer the note to it, for the purpose of avoiding the defense which then existed, as against the payees; that the plaintiff was at the time fully informed in regard to such defense, and took the note carrying out a corrupt agreement with Springer & Willard to deprive Crist [418]*418and Smith of their right of defense. Judgment is demanded in the cross petition against Springer & Willard for the sum of five hundred dollars, with interest thereon at six percent, from the date of the sale, for the surrender of the note in suit, or, in the event of a recovery thereon by the plaintiff, then for a like recovery against Springer & Willard. The district court rendered judgment against the plaintiff for costs, and in favor of Crist and Smith and against Springer & Willard, for the sum of five hundred and sixty-one dollars and sixty-five cents and costs.

not°eT:Tnno-erfburdenoSf tions.'mstlu0" I. The plaintiff concedes, for the purposes of this appeal, that Crist and Smith established a good defense to the note as against the payees, but insists that it acquired the note in good faith, for a valuable consideration, before maturity, and that the defense established is not available against it. Officers of the plaintiff testified that it acquired the note in suit, with other notes, on the ninth day of April, 1888, as collateral security for a loan of ten thousand dollars made on that day to Springer & Willard, which has not been paid; that the bank had no knowledge of any defense to the note, nor of the right of the makers to its return in any event, but took the note in good faith, in the ordinary course of business. It was negotiable in form, and indorsed in blank when transferred to the bank. The court charged the jury as follows:

“4; * * * In the absence of evidence, the holder of a promissory note, indorsed by the person to whose order it is made payable, is presumed to be a holder in good faith, and entitled to recover. Such presumption may be rebutted or overcome by evidence from which the jury believes either that the note was transferred by the payee after due, or that the party to whom it was transferred took it with notice of the defense thereto.
[419]*419“5. Thus you will observe that, in order to defeat a recovery by the plaintiff bank, it is incumbent on the defendants Crist and Smith to establish by a preponderance of the evidence, first, the truth of the defense which they have pleaded against the note in suit; and, second, the fact that the bank purchased the note with notice of such defense, or that it made such purchase after the note became due. If both these propositions have been so established, then plaintiff can not recover; but, if either proposition has not been so established, then plaintiff will be entitled to your verdict for the full amount of the note in suit. * *
“8. If you find from the evidence that the plaintiff bank received the notice in good faith, and before it was due, as a collateral security for a loan made to Springer & Willard, and that said loan is still unpaid, then plaintiff will be entitled to a verdict; that is, the holder of a note as collateral security for the payment of a loan made at the time the collateral security is deposited is to be treated as a purchaser, and if he receives such collateral in good faith, and before due, he holds it free from the defenses to which it would be liable in the hands of original holders to the same extent as has already been explained in the preceding paragraphs. * *

It is said that the last paragraph quoted is in conflict with the other two, and that it is erroneous, for the reason that it placed the burden upon the plaintiff of proving that it was a holder in good faith of the note. We do not think the paragraph was intended to have the interpretation given it by the plaintiff, nor that the jury so understood it. The different portions of the charge must be construed together, and, when that is done, it is clear that the jury were told that one who takes a note as collateral security for a loan made at the time it was taken is to be treated as a purchaser, and that, if the plaintiff so took the note in suit, the [420]*420presumption is that it was taken in good faith, and that the plaintiff was entitled to recover, and that the-burden of defeating a recovery by proving the defense pleaded was upon the makers of the note.

2' laterafseour-Mes.tl0na II. It is further contended that Crist and Smith wholly failed to establish a defense to the note as against the plaintiff, and we are of the opinion that this is true. The testimony of officers of the plaintiff, corroborated by Springer & Willard, is that the note was taken in good faith, in the ordinary course of business, as collateral security for a loan then made, and as yet unpaid; that the note was so taken more than a year before it was due, before its makers knew or suspected that the hors© would not prove to be satisfactory, and without knowledge of the agreement under which he was sold.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Richards v. Anderson Erickson Dairy Co.
699 N.W.2d 676 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 2005)
Penunuri v. Superior Court
565 P.2d 905 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1977)
Cooley v. Ensign-Bickford Company
209 N.W.2d 100 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1973)
CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY v. GR Kinney Co.
140 N.W.2d 129 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1966)
Pond v. Anderson
44 N.W.2d 372 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1950)
Smith v. Coutant
6 N.W.2d 421 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1942)
Ryan v. Amodeo
249 N.W. 656 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1933)
Hawkins v. Smith
205 P. 188 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1922)
Hoegh v. Miller
190 Iowa 557 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1920)
Schuetz v. International Harvester Co. of America
167 Iowa 634 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1914)
Fulton Bank v. Mathers
143 N.W. 400 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1913)
First National Bank v. Dutcher
104 N.W. 497 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1905)
Brown v. Holden
94 N.W. 482 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1903)
Janes v. Osborne
108 Iowa 409 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1899)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 N.W. 450, 87 Iowa 415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mahaska-county-state-bank-v-crist-iowa-1893.