National Surety Co. v. Winslow

173 N.W. 181, 143 Minn. 66, 1919 Minn. LEXIS 446
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 13, 1919
DocketNo. 21,261
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 173 N.W. 181 (National Surety Co. v. Winslow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Surety Co. v. Winslow, 173 N.W. 181, 143 Minn. 66, 1919 Minn. LEXIS 446 (Mich. 1919).

Opinion

Brown, C. J.

At the time of the commencement of this action, on December 37, 1915, a garnishee summons was duly issued therein to and subsequently sérved upon the Capital National Bank, a corporation, and Grant, Smith & Company, a copartnership. The bank subsequently disclosed that it Ead in its possession and control belonging to defendant in the action the sum of $957, made up of a 'bank account subject to defendant’s check. The service of the garnishee summons upon Grant, Smith & Company was defective, but when the matter came before the court below there was a waiver of the defect by consent of the parties, and dis[68]*68closure was then made to the effect that on the date of the attempted service the copartnership was indebted to defendant in an amount exceeding $3,000.

Some question was raised on the argument in this court as to the waiver of the defect in the service, but the trial court expressly found such waiver by all the parties, and our examination of the record leads to the conclusion that the finding is fully supported by the facts there disclosed. So we pass that feature of the case without further comment.

Paul J. Kalman & Company, a copartnership, appeared in the action as interveners and by their complaint laid claim to the money on deposit in the garnishee bank in the name of defendant and subject to his check, and also to the indebtedness disclosed by the Grant, Smith & Company copartnership. Issue was joined on the claim so presented, and after due trial thereof the court, upon findings of fact made the basis of interveners’ claim, as conclusions of law held that the claim was not valid as against plaintiff in the action, and judgment was ordered accordingly. Judgment was so entered and interveners appealed.

Interveners’ claim to the money in the bank to the credit of defendant, and to the indebtedness due him from Grant, Smith & Company, is founded upon a contract with defendant the terms and provisions of which will be presently stated, which they insist vests in them: (1) A right to the money and the indebtedness similar to an equitable lien, superior to the rights or claims of the general creditors of defendant; 'and (2) that the contract vested in them a right to the money and indebtedness as parties jointly interested in the transaction out of which the same accrued. They also claim the indebtedness under and by virtue of an express assignment made by defendant and accepted by Grant, Smith & Company prior to the service of the garnishee summons herein. We dispose of the questions in the order stated.

1. The contention that the contract referred to gives rise to an equitable lien upon the funds in question in interveners’ favor, or a right similar to such a lien, is not sustained. We find nothing in the contract taken as a whole to justify the conclusion of the creation, of any relation between defendant and interveners, other than that of debtor and creditor, with' the privilege on the part of interveners, as creditors, obviously to guard against a diversion or dissipation of the money advanced by [69]*69them, to supervise and in effect direct the expenditure of the money earned by defendant under the contract, as well as the funds so advanced-And it is clear that a relation of that character, though coupled with the supervisory right mentioned, can vest in interveners no legal or equitable personal claim to the funds arising out of the transaction. .

The contract recites that defendant has secured or is about to secure contracts for laying the flooring in certain buildings under construction in the city of St. Paul, and, to enable him to carry out and perform the same, interveners undertook and agreed to advance all necessary funds for material and labor, not exceeding the sum of $10,000. It was provided that of the money so advanced a certain sum should be used for the purchase of necessary machinery, and the balance, or so much thereof as might be necessary, to the payment exclusively of work, labor and material used in the particular contracts'. Defendant agreed to devote his time to the. performance of the contracts, and out of the money received therefor to pay himself the sum of $200 per month, to be charged as a part of the expense of performance.. All money advanced by interveners, together with that received by defendant on the contracts, was required to -be deposited in his name in a bank satisfactory to the parties, to be drawn out on his check, countersigned by interveners. This method of -withdrawing the funds from the bank was to continue until all -advances were repaid to interveners, when defendant could withdraw the money by his individual check. The interveners reserved the right to keep the books of account in reference to the work, but it was expressly stipulated that such books should be the sole property of defendant and free of access to him. It was further agreed that, if defaults should be made in payments due on the contracts being performed by defendant, interveners were authorized “as the -agents - and representatives” of defendant to institute in his name all such actions or proceedings as might be necessary to enforce the same; and further, that if defendant found it necessary and he should in fact file liens against the property covered by the contracts he would on the completion thereof assign the same to interveners as further security for the payment of advances made by him. or “otherwise satisfactorily secure the said advancements.” It was also agreed that defendant should not at any time “use or involve in any way the credit or name of the second parties (interveners), nor shall he at [70]*70any time 'attempt to represent them, as their agent, or in any manner obligate them by reason of said contracts or the work thereunder.”

And further, that: “The second parties (interveners) shall in no wise be deemed obligated for the fulfillment in any wise of any of the terms of said contracts for the doing of the work heretofore mentioned.”

It was lastly agreed that the net profits derived from the performance of the contracts should be divided equally between the parties, and the basis for arriving at or computing the same was stated and set forth. The amount interveners received by such division was made their compensation for the advances made to defendant, though the contract further provided that if they failed to advance the full amount agreed upon they should have no share in the profits, and only be entitled to a return of the amount actually advanced with interest at the rate of six per cent.

As heretofore stated,1 we can find no basis from the terms and provisions of the contract which properly may be construed as vesting in interveners an equitable lien upon or other right to either the bank account or the Grant, Smith & Company indebtedness. The contract reserves no such right in express terms and hone can be spelled out by necessary implication; there is no distinct or other appropriation of either to the payment of interveners’ claim for advances. The whole scope and effect of the various stipulations of the contract by which interveners were given a supervisory control over the performance of the contracts to facilitate which the advances or loans were made, was in protection of their granted right to have the money so advanced devoted to the particular purpose, and not diverted to the performance of other contracts, in which interveners had no interest, or the personal uses of defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
173 N.W. 181, 143 Minn. 66, 1919 Minn. LEXIS 446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-surety-co-v-winslow-minn-1919.