Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc. v. Gates

196 N.W.2d 70, 10 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 804, 1972 N.D. LEXIS 169
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 28, 1972
DocketCiv. 8766
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 196 N.W.2d 70 (Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc. v. Gates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc. v. Gates, 196 N.W.2d 70, 10 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 804, 1972 N.D. LEXIS 169 (N.D. 1972).

Opinions

STRUTZ, Chief Justice.

The plaintiff corporation sold to the defendant certain pipe which was not paid for by the defendant when plaintiff asserts payment became due. The parties, sometime after the plaintiff claims payment was due, went to the Union National Bank in Minot and co-signed a note for the amount of the purchase price, the plaintiff receiving all the proceeds of such loan. When the note became due at the bank, the defendant refused to make payment, asserting that the pipe which the plaintiff had delivered to him was not fit for the purpose for which he had purchased it. The plaintiff thereupon paid the note at the bank, and sued the defendant for the full amount thereof. The trial court found for the plaintiff, and the defendant appeals to this court from the judgment entered, demanding trial de novo.

The first issue to be determined on this appeal is whether the defendant, as appellant, was entitled to a trial de novo in this court, and a retrial of the facts in this case. Chapter 311 of the 1971 Session Laws repealed Section 28-27-32, North Dakota Century Code, which had provided for a trial de novo. The effective date of the repeal was July 1, 1971. The plaintiff now raises the issue of whether a trial de novo is available to the defendant at this time.

The record discloses that notice of appeal and demand for trial de novo were served on April 21, 1971, and that undertaking on appeal and supersedeas bond were served on April 23. The notice of appeal, the undertaking, and the supersedeas bond were filed within a day or so after being served. Our law provides that an appeal in a civil matter is taken on service of notice of appeal, and is perfected on service of undertaking for costs. Sec. 28-27-05, N.D.C.C. The appellant did serve and file his notice of appeal and undertaking prior to the effective date of repeal of the trial de novo statute. Therefore, the demand for trial de novo was timely made, and this court will try the facts in the case anew, giving appreciable weight to the findings of the trial court.

The facts, as gathered from the record, disclose that the defendant, in addition to being engaged in the business of farming, engages in the manufacture of harrow attachments which he calls “Quick-Tach” and which he produces on his farm. John Luxem, owner and operator of the plaintiff Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc., had heard that the defendant used pipe in his business and called on the defendant for the purpose of selling pipe to him. Luxem made several calls to the defendant’s farm, [72]*72and it was either on one of those calls or on an occasion when the defendant called on Luxem at the plaintiff’s place of business in Minot that they got down to the business of discussing prices. Luxem advised the defendant that he could save twenty per cent on the cost of the pipe if he would order in carload lots.

The defendant testified that he finally ordered a cardload of “standard” pipe with wall thickness of 0.133 inch. At the time of or prior to placing his order, he took a short piece of the pipe which he had been using to the plaintiff as a sample of what he wanted. This sample of pipe had a wall thickness of 0.133 inch. The defendant claims that he told Luxem that he wanted the same type of pipe as he had left as a sample. Luxem does not deny this, but asserts that he never considered the thickness of the sample pipe brought in by the defendant because the defendant had requested him to order standard pipe, and that is the type of pipe which the plaintiff delivered to the defendant.

At the trial, the plaintiff produced as an expert on pipe the manager of Twin City Testing, Engineering Laboratories, Inc., who testified that “standard pipe” varies in wall thickness from 0.116 to 0.133 inch. He stated that the trade would recognize pipe as “standard” regardless of its wall thickness, if that thickness was between 0.116 and 0.133 inch, inclusive, and that any pipe having a wall thickness between these specifications would meet the requirement of “standard pipe.” He further testified that pipe with a wall thickness of 0.120 inch, which was the wall thickness of much of the pipe which the plaintiff delivered to the defendant, was standard pipe, but that pipe of that specification should not be used where it is subject to external stress and should be used only for steam, water, gas, and air lines.

The defendant testified that he had used the pipe which he received from the plaintiff in the manufacture of about 500 harrow-attachment units, and that by the time of trial he had had to replace 100 of such units. He believed that eventually all 500 units would have to be replaced.

There is dispute as to when the pipe was to be paid for. The plaintiff claims that payment was due on August 10, 1969. The defendant, on the other hand, contends that he told Luxem he would be unable to pay for an entire carload unless he were permitted to pay for such pipe as he used it and sold the attachments which he was manufacturing. In any event, it is not disputed that the pipe was not paid for by October 20, 1969. On that date, the parties went to the Union National Bank at Minot and signed a note for the full amount due for the pipe. The money thus obtained was given to the plaintiff. The plaintiff and the defendant signed the note as joint makers, jointly and severally promising to pay the amount specified therein, by April 20, 1970. Although the note was signed by the parties as joint makers, Luxem testified that the plaintiff had signed only as an accommodation maker. The defendant, however, claims that he signed the note only as an accommodation to the plaintiff, which needed the money.

When the note became due, on April 20, 1970, the defendant refused to make payment, and it was paid by the plaintiff. The note then was endorsed over to the plaintiff without recourse by the Union National Bank.

Each of the parties thus claims to have signed the note only as an accommodation to the other maker. If the defendant is correct, and he signed as an accommodation maker with the plaintiff, the plaintiff clearly cannot recover from the defendant since a party for whose accommodation a note was executed cannot recover from the accommodation party. First State Bank of Eckman v. Kelly, 30 N.D. 84, 152 N.W. 125 (1915). It therefore becomes important to know just what the dealings of the parties were which led to the signing of the note. The plaintiff obviously was not a holder in due course of the note, and the defendant could raise any [73]*73defense he might have to the payment it, including failure of consideration. Under Section 41-03-32, North Dakota Century Code, the Uniform Commercial Code defines a “holder in due course” as one who takes the instrument without notice that it is overdue or has been dishonored or of any defense to its payment. The plaintiff not being a holder in due course, the entire transaction which led to the giving of the note therefore can be examined to determine whether there was a failure of consideration for the giving of the note. In a suit on a note given for purchase of personal property, a claim of breach of warranty is equivalent to a plea of failure of consideration, and such defense is allowed on the principle that consideration of a note is open to inquiry as far as promise to pay depends upon its existence. A. E. Speer, Inc. v. McCorvey, 77 Ga.App. 715, 49 S.E.2d 677 (1948). of

The defendant purchased the pipe from the plaintiff for the purpose of manufacturing harrow attachments.

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Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc. v. Gates
196 N.W.2d 70 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
196 N.W.2d 70, 10 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 804, 1972 N.D. LEXIS 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northern-plumbing-supply-inc-v-gates-nd-1972.