Manufacturers' Trust Co. v. Bachrach

69 F.2d 816, 1934 U.S. App. LEXIS 3677
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMarch 19, 1934
DocketNo. 235
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 69 F.2d 816 (Manufacturers' Trust Co. v. Bachrach) 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
Manufacturers' Trust Co. v. Bachrach, 69 F.2d 816, 1934 U.S. App. LEXIS 3677 (2d Cir. 1934).

Opinion

AUGUSTUS N. HAND, Circuit Judge.

On December 1, 1926, the above-named bankrupt entered into a building loan agreement with Manufacturers’ Trust Company whereby the lender agreed to. make a building loan of $2,900,000 to be evidenced by the bond of the borrower aiid to be secured by mortgage to the trust company for the benefit of the holders or registered owners of the certificates provided for in such mortgage. The mortgage was to be upon certain premises at the comer of Livingston street and Boerum place in Brooklyn and the building to be erected thereon by the bankrupt. The bond and [817]*817mortgage were executed and delivered by the bankrupt to the Manufacturers’ Trust Company, as trustee, and the mortgage after describing the real estate contained, as did a similar provision in the building loan agreement, the following1 clause:

“Together with all the estate and rights of the Mortgagor in and to said premises and in and to the buildings and impr ovements thereon, * * * and together with all appurtenant fixtures and articles of personal property now or hereafter attached to or used in connection with said premises, it being hereby expressly agreed that any and all property covered by the foregoing description shall be deemed to be fixtures and appurtenances constituting part of the real property of the Mortgagor. '? *' * ”

It was provided in the building loan agreement, that the lender should advance the loan to the borrower in installments, and that the money advanced was to bo “applied to the cost of erecting the building upon the mortgaged premises.” The lender was obliged to advance the entire amount without regard to whether the bankrupt purchased any furniture, furnishings, or equipment that it might require in the conduct of its business as a benevolent order. After all the payments were made and the building was completed-pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the furniture, furnishings, and equipment were purchased by the bankrupt — most of them subject to conditional bills of sale.

On or about December 1, 1932, the mortgagor having defaulted in the payment of an installment of principal of $75,000 due on August 1, 1932, and the entire unpaid balance of principal baring thereby become payable pursuant to the terms of the trust mortgage, the Manufacturers’ Trust Company, as trustee, commenced action to foreclose the same, and judgment of foreclosure and sale was entered about the 19th day of January, 1933. The description of the property directed to be sold by. the judgment of foreclosure included the following:

“Together with all the estate and rights of the Mortgagor in and to said premises and in and to the buildings and improvements thereon, * s * together with all appurtenant fixtures and articles of personal property attached to or used in connection with said premises.”

On May 1, 1933, the sale in foreclosure was had, and' the Manufacturers’ Trust Company, as trustee, purchased the mortgaged premises known as the Elks Club House, claiming .the furniture, furnishings, equipment, and personal effects of the mortgagor. Thereafter and on the 2d day of May, 1933, a voluntary petition in bankruptcy was filed by the mortgagor in the Eastern district of New York, and thereafter the appellee, Herman S. Bachrach, became trustee of the bankrupt. The trustee instituted a proceeding before the referee for the purpose of obtaining an order directing the appellant, Manufacturers’ Trust Company, to turn over all the furniture, furnishing’s, equipment, and personal property which had been in the mortgaged premises. An order wa's made in that proceeding that the adverse claim of the Manufacturers’ Trust Company to the furniture, furnishings, and persona] property was neither real nor substantial, that Herman S. Baehrach, as trustee of the bankrupt, had title to the same, subject only to any rights of additional vendors, and that the Manufacturers’ Trust Company should turn over to him such furniture, furnishings, and personal property. The order of. the referee was affirmed by the District Court, and, from the order of affirmance, the present appeal has been taken. We think the Manufacturers’ Trust Company did not acquire title to the personal property in question through the foreclosure sale, and that the order of the court below to that effect was right and should be affirmed.

The chattels involved in the present proceeding consisted of pianos, billiard tables, chairs, carpets, linens, utensils, and various other kinds of furniture and equipment not attached to the building. As hearing on the practical construction of the building loan agreement by the Manufacturers’ Trust Company, it is to be noted that the contract did not require the borrower to place the chattels in question in the mortgaged premises so that the full amount of the mortgage might be advanced upon security installed in the premises, hut provided for advances to the full amount upon the completion of the building, whether or not any furniture or other chattels had been placed in the mortgaged premises. Moreover, when the borrower did procure the chattels, they were purchased to a great extent under contracts of conditional sale. The prospectus under which the appellant sold participating certificates in the mortgage described only the land and building as the security therefor, and made no mention of personal property or equipment. Likewise the appellant in effecting fire insurance covered the real estate only. It is also to be supposed that appellant construed the mortgage as not covering the personal property that is now in dispute when it proposed an agreement that it should receive a chattel mortgage from [818]*818the borrower upon such property as additional security.

The New York decisions, which are controlling as to liens upon fixed property situated within the state show that the mortgage held by the appellant did not cover the equipment in dispute. In Central Chandelier Co. v. Irving Trust Co., 269 N. Y. 343, 182 N. E. 10, 11, the mortgage was of land and such personal property as came within the following clause: “Together with all fixtures and articles of personal property, now or hereafter attached to, or used in connection with the premises, all of which are covered by this mortgage.” Certain lighting fixtures had been installed, but others were lying around loose in various rooms and could not be used until attached. The mortgagor was adjudicated a bankrupt. It was held that the plaintiff, as owner of the unattached fixtures, against which there was an unfiled conditional bill of sale, could recover them, or their values, as against the trustee in bankruptcy, because they were not within the terms of the clause in the mortgage. The court said: “This mortgage did not by its terms amount to a full and complete chattel mortgage so as to cover personal property delivered to and in the possession of the vendee, but not yet attached to the real estate.”

In City Bank Farmers Trust Co., v. Progress Club (N. Y. Law Journal, October 31, 1932, p. 1848) affirmed 237 App. Div. 812, 260 N. Y. S. 990, the mortgage contained the clause: “Together with all fixtures and articles of personal property, now or hereafter attached to, or used in connection with the premises.” The court held that these words did not cover furnishings and movable chattels of the club which were not attached to the realty. In Bank of Manhattan Trust Co. v. Elida Corporation, 147 Misc. 375, 265 N. Y. S. 115, Justice Schmuek construed a similar clause in the same way. In New York Title & Mortgage Company v.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 F.2d 816, 1934 U.S. App. LEXIS 3677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manufacturers-trust-co-v-bachrach-ca2-1934.