Morthrift Plan v. Fischer

196 Cal. App. 2d 865
CourtAppellate Division of the Superior Court of California
DecidedOctober 24, 1961
DocketCiv. A. No. 127681
StatusPublished

This text of 196 Cal. App. 2d 865 (Morthrift Plan v. Fischer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Superior Court of California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morthrift Plan v. Fischer, 196 Cal. App. 2d 865 (Cal. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinions

MUNDT, P. J.

This is an appeal by the defendants from an order of the Municipal Court, Sacramento Judicial District, denying the defendants’ motion for a change of venue from that court to the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of El Dorado.

[866]*866In its complaint the plaintiff sets forth that it is the assignee of seller’s interest in a conditional sales contract allegedly entered into between United Enterprises, as seller of a water conditioner, and the defendants as buyers. A copy of the purported conditional sales contract is attached to the complaint. Plaintiff prays for judgment for the entire contract balance, together with costs, because of an alleged breach of the agreement to pay the first installment.

The defendants filed a demurrer to the complaint, together with a motion for change of place of trial to the court which would have jurisdiction of the subject matter in El Dorado County. They filed an affidavit as to their defense on the merits and an affidavit and points and authorities in connection with their motion to change venue to El Dorado County.

By their affidavit the defendants clearly indicated that they were at all times residents of El Dorado County and that the contract attached to plaintiff’s complaint (if it constituted a contract at all) was signed in El Dorado County and not in Sacramento County.

The plaintiff relied upon the verified complaint and the alleged contract incorporated therein and the affidavit of Jack B. Hunt, manager of Morthrift Plan, in opposing the motion for change of venue. The verification attached to the complaint was sworn to by the same Jack B. Hunt who made the affidavit in opposition to the motion for change of venue.

The alleged contract attached to the complaint contains the following provisions: “Buyer agrees to pay Seller or order the Time Price Balance designated herein in lawful money of the United States of America at the office of Morthrift Plan....”

The alleged contract on the first line thereof shows the words and figures: “Sacramento, Calif. March 15, 1960.”

The affidavit of Jack B. Hunt, in opposition to the motion, sets forth the wording of the alleged contract as above and further states that the office of Morthrift Plan is and was at all times mentioned in the complaint, situated at 1229 “K” Street, Sacramento, California. The verification attached to plaintiff’s complaint, which also was signed by Hunt, states that “he is Manager of the Sacramento Office of Plaintiff Corporation. ’ ’

Based upon the foregoing information before it, the municipal court refused to transfer the case to the county of defendants’ residence.

[867]*867Section 395, Code of Civil Procedure, subsection (1), provides in part: “ (1) ... When a defendant has contracted to perform an obligation in a particular county, either the county in which such obligation is to be performed, or in which the contract in fact was entered into, or the county in which the defendant, or any such defendant, resides at the commencement of the action, shall be a proper county for the trial of an action founded on such obligation, and the county in which such obligation is incurred shall be deemed to be the county in which it is to be performed unless there is a special contract in writing to the contrary.”

The parties would have to agree that the defendants are entitled to have the case tried in the county of their residence unless the plaintiff has brought itself within one of the exceptions set forth in the above-quoted provisions of section 395, subsection (1). Kaluzok v. Brissom, 27 Cal.2d 760, 763 [167 P.2d 481, 163 A.L.R. 1308].

Plaintiff contends first of all that the wording " Sacramento, Calif.” at the top of the alleged contract is some evidence that the contract was made in Sacramento County and for that reason alone the trial court’s determination should not be disturbed. This court heretofore adopted that view in a case where neither of the parties set forth by affidavit facts sufficient to determine where the contract was in fact made and the notation in the instrument was in effect the only evidence on the subject. In this case, however, the defendants’ affidavit states that all conversations and the signing of the instrument in question took place in El Dorado County and the affidavit of plaintiff does not dispute said statements. In view of the positive testimony that the contract (if made at all) was made in El Dorado County, the mere notation “Sacramento, Calif.” on the document is not sufficient evidence that it was made in Sacramento County to justify the trial court in retaining venue.

The second and main contention of plaintiff is that the contract, by its terms, shows that it was payable at the office of Morthrift, and that this is sufficient to bring the case within the “special contract in writing” exception set forth in the statute hereinbefore quoted. In other words, plaintiff contends that it is unnecessary for the contract itself to specify the actual location of the plaintiff’s place of business where defendant is required to perform if that can be determined by extrinsic evidence. Defendants, on the other hand, contend that the instrument in question must itself furnish [868]*868the geographic location of the place of performance in specific language.

There does not appear to be a decision of the Supreme Court or of the District Courts of Appeal which deals with the precise point before us. Armstrong v. Smith (1942), 49 Cal.App.2d 528 [122 P.2d 115], and Gulick v. Justice’s Court (1929), 101 Cal.App. 619 [281 P. 1031] are often cited as requiring the location to be specified but Armstrong dealt with an “implied” promise not mentioned in the agreement at all and the Gulick case held that a check upon which payment had been stopped was not a “special contract in writing” under a similar statute. The court in the Gulick case stated that a special contract to perform at a specified place was intended by the Legislature to require the wording often found in promissory notes but that statement was unnecessary to the decision because the obligation for which the check was given was the obligation sued upon and not the check given to satisfy it upon which payment had been stopped. Nevertheless, the court may well have been correct in its view of the legislative intent.

There have been several appellate department decisions which more precisely involve the situation before us. Unfortunately they take divergent views of the question. In the ease of Fidelity Thrift & Loan Assn. v. Hall (Nov., 1960), 186 Cal.App.2d Supp. 895 [9 Cal.Rptr. 596] the assignee of the conditional vendor brought suit in Fresno County and the defendants moved for a change of venue to Kern County where they resided and where the contract was made. The contract provided: “Purchaser agrees to pay said contract balance in successive monthly installments payable at Fidelity Thrift & Loan Association on the same day of each month ...” In its verified complaint the plaintiff association had alleged that its principal and only place of business was located in Fresno Judicial District, County of Fresno, State of California.

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Related

Caffrey v. Tilton
240 P.2d 273 (California Supreme Court, 1952)
Kaluzok v. Brisson
167 P.2d 481 (California Supreme Court, 1946)
Armstrong v. Smith
122 P.2d 115 (California Court of Appeal, 1942)
Gulick v. Justice's Court
281 P. 1031 (California Court of Appeal, 1929)
Inglewood Thrift & Loan v. Colby
188 Cal. App. 2d 857 (Appellate Division of the Superior Court of California, 1961)

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Bluebook (online)
196 Cal. App. 2d 865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morthrift-plan-v-fischer-calappdeptsuper-1961.