National Surety Corp. v. Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc.

326 F. Supp. 1171, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13197
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedMay 20, 1971
DocketNo. HS 69-C-24
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 326 F. Supp. 1171 (National Surety Corp. v. Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Surety Corp. v. Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., 326 F. Supp. 1171, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13197 (W.D. Ark. 1971).

Opinion

[1172]*1172MEMORANDUM OPINION

OREN HARRIS, Chief Judge.

In this action the plaintiff, National Surety Corporation, seeks a judgment in the sum of $30,972.76, plus interest at 6%, alleged to be due on a promissory note signed by defendants, Freeman C. Talley and Wilda Talley, individually, and Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., by Freeman C. Talley, President, Attest: Wilda Talley, Secretary, dated January 3, 1967. The plaintiff also seeks to foreclose the lien of á certain mortgage by Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., executed at the same time of the alleged note, January 3, 1967, by Crystal Springs signed by Freeman C. Talley, President, Attest: Wilda Talley, Secretary, to secure the payment of the note. James M. Fowler and Mattie I. Fowler, were joined as defendants in view of their interest and ownership of the shares of stock in Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc. The Arkansas Bank & Trust Company was joined as a defendant as the holder of collateral in the form of certificates for 995 shares of stock for safekeeping. The Arkansas Bank & Trust Company also participated in a loan from the Small Business Administration, evidenced by a promissory note dated February 26, 1959, payable to the bank in the sum of $99,500 in monthly installments of $1,096 over a period of ten years. The payment of this note was secured by a mortgage on Crystal Springs’ leasehold interest in twenty-one acres of land described therein and on personal property used in connection with the boat and fishing village business.

The defendants, Freeman C. Talley and Wilda Talley, individually, are in default in this suit and National Surety Corporation is entitled to judgment for the full amount sued on against them individually.

The plaintiff, National Surety Corporation, contends that it is entitled to judgment on the note against Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., and is entitled to foreclosure of the mortgage as security thereon.

The defendant, Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., James M. Fowler and Mattie I. Fowler, contest the contention of National Surety Corporation and insist that the corporation is not entitled to such relief against Crystal Springs because the execution of the note and mortgage by Crystal Springs did not create an enforceable obligation as to Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc.

The defendant, Arkansas Bank & Trust Company, is concerned only as the holder of the shares of stock for safekeeping in connection with the security agreement between National Surety Corporation and the Talleys, subject to a prior security interest of the defendants, James M. Fowler and Mattie I. Fowler. The bank was also holding the stock certificates by assignment from Peggy C. Peek of an indebtedness which is not involved in this proceeding. The defendant, Arkansas Bank & Trust Company, has refrained from filing separate brief, but instead relies on the brief filed in behalf of Crystal Springs and the Fowlers.

To better understand the somewhat complicated situation surrounding this controversy, it is necessary to briefly summarize the sequence of events resulting in this litigious proceeding.

Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., an Arkansas corporation in Garland County, Arkansas, was formed on February 27, 1956, for the operation of a boat and fishing village business. It owned a lease of twenty-one acres of land from the Corps of Engineers located on Lake Ouachita. Initially it issued a total of 1000 shares of capital stock. Soon after its formation, the defendants, James M. Fowler and Mattie I. Fowler, purchased 995 shares of the stock with the other 5 shares owned by Roy Bentley. The Fowlers operated the fishing village until October 1,1960.

On February 26, 1959, Crystal Springs obtained a loan in the sum of $99,500 from the Arkansas Bank and Small Business Administration, evidenced by a promissory note and secured by a mortgage as described hereinabove. The mortgage was duly filed for record and the [1173]*1173defendant, Arkansas Bank & Trust Company, became the serving agent for the Small Business Administration on the loan. Payment of the loan was guaranteed by the Fowlers with final maturity date of the note on February 26, 1969.

On October 1, 1960, the Fowlers sold their 995 shares of stock in the Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., to the Talleys. Roy Bentley continued to own the other 5 shares of stock. At that time Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., consisted of the leased tract of twenty-one acres, a lodge containing thirty rooms, a motel with thirty rooms, a motel with twelve units, a three-room apartment, a seven-room house, a restaurant, eight boat docks with 128 boat stalls, a service dock, three gasoline pumps, a bait sales shop, a motor room, and a trailer park area.

The unpaid portion of the purchase price to be paid by the Talleys to the Fowlers for Crystal Springs was $157,-662.65, evidenced by a promissory note signed by Freeman C. Talley and Wilda Talley, dated October 1, 1960, with 5% interest and payable in monthly installments of $525, including principal and interest, commencing July 1, 1961. The 995 shares of stock purchased by the Talleys were pledged to the Fowlers to secure payment of the note. The note was assigned to the defendant, Arkansas Bank & Trust Company, and the certificates for the 995 shares of stock were delivered under a collateral pledge agreement to the bank for safekeeping. The Fowlers reserved the right to declare the unpaid balance due and payable upon default in payment of any two successive installments.

The Talleys took over the operation of the Crystal Springs Village at the time of the purchase on October 1, 1960, and conducted the business until a foreclosure sale on February 22, 1968.

The Talleys became delinquent of their monthly payments on the note in 1966 and on October 18,1966, the Fowlers exercised their right of acceleration by serving notice thereof on the Talleys. Subsequently, on October 28, 1966, the Fowlers filed suit against the Talleys in the Chancery Court of Garland County, Arkansas, for judgment on the unpaid balance of the note and foreclosure of the pledged stock. On the trial of the case November 2, 1967, the court awarded judgment to the Fowlers in the sum of $131,662.35, plus interest at the rate of 10% per annum from August 1, 1966, and for attorney’s fees in the sum of $14,599.95 and ordered foreclosure of the pledge and sale of the 995 shares of stock. The judgment was entered January 19, 1968. On February 22, 1968, at a Commissioner’s Sale in accordance with the decree of the Chancery Court the Fowlers purchased the 995 shares of stock and at that time the judgment record in the Foreclosure Decree was endorsed by crediting it with the sum of $145,000 as the proceeds of the sale.

National Surety Corporation is a major bonding company operating throughout the United States. For several years prior to October 1, 1960, when the Talleys purchased the stock in Crystal Springs Fishing Village, Inc., Freeman C. Talley was an experienced pipeline construction operator. In 1965, during the period of time when the Talleys were operating the fishing village, Freeman C. Talley was successful with obtaining three construction contracts. With the award of each contract he was required to supply performance and payment bonds with a corporate surety thereon. The respective amounts of the contracts were $60,595; $34,390; and $34,702.40.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
326 F. Supp. 1171, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-surety-corp-v-crystal-springs-fishing-village-inc-arwd-1971.