Marlowe v. First State Bank of Jacksboro

371 S.W.2d 826, 52 Tenn. App. 99, 1962 Tenn. App. LEXIS 132
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 12, 1962
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 371 S.W.2d 826 (Marlowe v. First State Bank of Jacksboro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marlowe v. First State Bank of Jacksboro, 371 S.W.2d 826, 52 Tenn. App. 99, 1962 Tenn. App. LEXIS 132 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

COOPER, J.

The plaintiff Allie Newport Marlowe brought this suit seeking to recover $3,360.00 deposited in a savings account with the defendant bank. The defendant admitted the existence of the account, but denied being indebted to the plaintiff. The defendant averred that the deposit in question was the proceeds from four U. S. government bonds wrongfully redeemed by the plaintiff through the defendant bank,- that the defendant had had to re-imburse the Bureau of Public Debt for the payment of the bonds, and was entitled to set-off this payment against the claim of the plaintiff.

After hearing proof without the intervention of a jury, the trial judge awarded the plaintiff a judgment for $3,360.00 plus interest in the amount of $95.76, and awarded the defendant a judgment against the plaintiff “as for set off or counter claim the sum of $3,360.00 to be credited on or applied to the judgment of the plaintiff.” The Court further found that the plaintiff'’s travel expenses incident to taking her discovery deposition should be borne by the plaintiff and that the defendant should recover the $50.00 advanced plaintiff by the de[101]*101fendant under a stipulation which provided for re-payment in the event the Court found the plaintiff should bear the expense.

The plaintiff perfected a limited appeal, appealing only from the judgment awarded the defendant. There was no appeal by the defendant.

The plaintiff filed numerous assignments of error directed to (1) the Court’s finding of fact; (2) the defendant’s pleadings, and (3) the Court’s holding that the plaintiff had to pay travel expenses incident to giving her pre-trial deposition.

First considering those assignments directed to the trial judge’s findings of fact, we are of the opinion that the evidence supports the findings of the trial judge rather than preponderates against them as insisted by plaintiff. T.C.A. sec. 27-303.

The record reveals that the savings account in question was opened on March 6, 1958 by John Marlow, and that on that date he withdrew $6,902.50 from a savings account in the name of “John Marlow or Zada Marlow”, and deposited the funds in the account of “John Marlow or Allie Newport.” The exact relationship between John Marlow and Allie Newport at the time the savings account was opened is not clear from the evidence; however, John Marlow and Allie Newport were married on April 7, 1959, approximately one year after the account was opened.

On March 13, 1958, the plaintiff gave John Marlow $1500.00 for deposit in the account. Marlow, on that date, also redeemed four United States Savings Bonds through the defendant bank in the total amount of $3,360.00, and [102]*102placed tlie proceeds in tlie newly opened “ Jolin Marlow or Allie Newport” savings account. Tliese bonds were payable to “Zada Marlow (John’s wife) POD John Mar-low”. Tlie letters “POD” meant payable on death. The bonds bore the genuinely endorsed signature of Zada Marlow, and when it was recognized by the defendant’s cashier, the bonds were redeemed even though the registered owner, Zada Marlow, was living and was not personally presenting the bonds for payment as was required by Sec. 321.7 of Treasury Department Circular No. 750.

The plaintiff accompanied Marlow to the bank, and waited in the automobile while Marlow cashed the bonds and made the deposit. Plaintiff took possession of the bank book on Marlow’s return to the automobile, and kept it in her possession at all times, except the instances when she accompanied Marlow to the bank and permitted him to have the bank book to withdraw funds.

Within the month, the defendant sent the bonds to the Federal Reserve Bank, Atlanta, Georgia, as fiscal agent of the U. S. Treasury Department, for collection. The bank received credit for $3,360.00, the amount paid on redemption of the bonds.

The defendant bank learned, on November 28, 1958, that a federal agency was conducting an investigation of the legality of John Marlow cashing the bonds, but no official demand was made at the time by the U. S. Treasury Department for re-imbursement of the funds credited to the defendant in payment of the bonds.

The defendant bank continued to pay to John Marlow the interest on the total amount on deposit, including the funds from the bonds, through January 2, 1960. On [103]*103that date, Marlow attempted to close out the account. The defendant bank permitted the withdrawal of $6,765.00, but refused to pay the remaining $3,360.00, explaining that there was a question of whether or not John Marlow was entitled to the proceeds from the bonds. The money withdrawn by Marlow was used by both Marlow and the plaintiff as they desired.

On May 19, 1960, the defendant, on demand of the U. S. Treasury Department, paid the Bureau of Public Debt $3,360.00 and charged the payment against the “John Marlow or Allie Newport” account.

On June 4, 1960, John Marlow assigned his interest in the account to the plaintiff with the statement “if you can get it you can have it. ’ ’ It was conceded by plaintiff that no consideration was given for the assignment, and that the assignment was made on the advice of counsel.

August 31, 1960, the United States paid Zada Marlow, the registered owner of the bonds in question, $3,360.00, the March 13, 1958, redemption value of the bonds, plus interest thereon.

The trial judge found, and we think properly so, that the plaintiff was familiar with the “John Marlow or Allie Newport” account from its inception; that she was aware of the irregularity of the bond redemption and the deposit of the proceeds in the account; and that while it was John Marlow who conducted the business with the bank, he was acting for plaintiff as well as himself and she was chargeable with his knowledge of the developments and transactions in respect to the account.

In her brief and argument, plaintiff insists that the claim of the defendant was not a proper claim to be [104]*104established under a plea of set-off or recoupment as there was no mutuality, the claim was unliquidated and was in tort, referring us to numerous cases listed in Michie’s Digest, Vol. 14, Sec. 11(1) and Sec. 12, and to the general annotations to T.C.A. sec. 20-1001.

Even though the cases relied on by plaintiff were only cited generally, we have considered them and are of the opinion that the claim of defendant probably was cognizable under T.C.A. sec. 20-1001; however, a decision on that issue would not be controlling in the present case in view of the provisions of T.C.A. sec. 20-1008, and the proof showing that the plaintiff was a resident of Dayton, Ohio at the time she filed this action and the defendant filed its plea of set-off. See Sliger v. Parks, 196 Tenn. 676, 270 S. W. (2d) 319.

T.C.A. sec. 20-1008 provides that:

“In actions or suits in which a resident of another state and a resident of this state are adversary parties, every claim or demand against the suing parties, or any of them, whether liquidated or unliquidated, sounding in tort or contract, express or implied, or whether arising in the same or a different transaction, may be set up by plea of setoff, or as counterclaim by counter declaration * * *. ”

In Sliger v. Parks, supra, the Supreme Court quoted from the opinion of this Court as follows:

“At the time of the institution of the suit in question, the plaintiff had become a non-resident of the state.

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Bluebook (online)
371 S.W.2d 826, 52 Tenn. App. 99, 1962 Tenn. App. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marlowe-v-first-state-bank-of-jacksboro-tennctapp-1962.