Osterling v. Allegheny Trust Co.

103 A. 528, 260 Pa. 64, 1918 Pa. LEXIS 469
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 7, 1918
DocketAppeal, No. 82
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 103 A. 528 (Osterling v. Allegheny Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Osterling v. Allegheny Trust Co., 103 A. 528, 260 Pa. 64, 1918 Pa. LEXIS 469 (Pa. 1918).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Moschzisker,

The plaintiff sued in assumpsit and recovered a verdict, upon which judgment was entered; defendant has appealed. For purposes of this review, the case may be divided into two distinct parts, the first involving questions pertaining to a claim for interest on a deposit made by plaintiff with the defendant trust company, and the second relating to a claim for professional services performed by the former while acting as an architect for the latter,

[67]*67As to the first branch of the case, from testimony produced by plaintiff the jury might have found, and in view of their verdict we must conclude they did find, the following facts: On September 2, 1902, plaintiff deposited $11,889 with defendant; the latter has two departments for the receipt of deposits, one of which handles savings accounts, bearing interest at four per cent, per annum, and the other checking accounts, paying two per cent, per annum; the deposit in controversy was made upon the agreement that it should constitute a savings account, and that defendant should pay four per cent, yearly interest thereon; the deposit remained intact until 1916, never having been drawn against; plaintiff did not at the outset receive a pass book, but, about November 11,1902, he called at the bank and obtained one; at this time the book in question' contained an entry of the original deposit only; the pass book was never again at the bank until March 25,1914, when various items of interest to date were added, the first of these being, “Int. to Dec. 1/02, $57.53”; when plaintiff examined these entries, he discovered that defendant had calculated interest at the rate of two per cent, instead of four per cent, per annum; he made protest, and, when his complaint was not heeded, brought suit.

The above facts are stated from the most favorable view of the proofs that can be taken in behalf of the plaintiff, and they disregard much evidence produced by defendant tending to show that the original deposit was made and accepted upon the basis of a checking account; but, as previously stated, in view of the verdict we must assume that the jurors not only believed the evidence relied upon by plaintiff and, where irreconcilable, disbelieved that produced by defendant, but also drew all inferences in favor of the former. When thus viewed, the record is ample to sustain the verdict and judgment for plaintiff so far as they relate to the first branch of this case; but there are several assignments alleging trial errors, in connection with the part of the controversy we have been considering, which require determination,

[68]*68The third assignment complains of a ruling on the evidence. The defendant produced a former employee, and endeavored to have him testify concerning what was stated in one of its books of account upon the subject of the rate of interest to be paid plaintiff. With this book before him, the witness was asked, “Does that page state the rate of interest on the account?” Counsel for plaintiff objected, saying, “We have no objection to their showing the amounts of interest actually entered, but we do not think their own statement of [the rate of interest] is proper.” This objection was sustained, and an exception noted. It is to be observed that the entries were not being used to refresh the witness’s memory, and that no offer was made of the book in question as an independent piece of evidence; moreover, the entries in plaintiff’s pass book are a transcript from defendant’s ledger, and it was admitted at the trial that they showed interest at the rate of two per cent., not four per cent., annually. Under the circumstances, we do not see that error was committed by the ruling complained of, or that the defendant was prejudiced thereby. A memorandum on defendant’s ledger, not disclosed to plaintiff, to the effect that the account was to bear interest at two per cent., even if an entry of that character were there (and we find no offer upon the record to prove such to be the case), would not be evidence against plaintiff to disprove the contract alleged by him concerning the rate of interest, either as part of the res gestas or upon any other proper theory: Murphy v. McMullin, 219 Pa. 506; Hottle v. Weaver, 206 Pa. 87.

The fourth assignment complains of the trial judge’s refusal to affirm a point submitted by defendant to the effect that, if the jury believed the first entry of interest in plaintiff’s pass book was made in January, 1903 (as testified by defendant’s witnesses), and that plaintiff had possession of the book since that date, then there was “a legal presumption......he had knowledge of the fact that the interest was computed at two per cent, per an[69]*69num”; and, “not having raised any objection until March 25, 1914,” plaintiff was “estopped from claiming interest at a higher rate than two per cent, per annum.” This request could not properly have been answered by an affirmation, for it is too strongly drawn. The entry referred to does not state upon its face the rate of interest or the time from which it was calculated; therefore, even if the jury believed it to have been made on the date contended for by defendant, this would not raise “a legal presumption” that plaintiff knew the interest was computed at two per cent, per annum. All the accompanying circumstances were for the jurors to consider, and from them they might have inferred that plaintiff did in point of fact have the knowledge which defendant claims he possessed, but they were not bound in law so-to do. The verdict, however, comprehends a finding, in no way influenced by the alleged error now under consideration, to the effect that the entry in question was not made in plaintiff’s pass book until March 25, 1914; this being the case, it is apparent that the answer here complained of did the defendant no harm, even if the request had been a proper one, which clearly it was not.

The fifth assignment embraces a contention that all interest accruing before February 10, 1910, above the two per cent, per annum admitted by defendant, is barred by the statute of limitations, the date given being six years prior to suit. Plaintiff’s amended statement of claim contains an allegation that the interest is payable semiannually, and, in connection with the point now before us, defendant attempts to make much of this assertion; but it is evident the averment in question means simply that twice in each year interest is to be calculated upon and added to plaintiff’s account, and not that it accrues at these times as a separate demand. “Interest, in its very nature, is but an incident of a debt” (Heath v. Page, 63 Pa. 108, 121), and ordinarily it is not compounded (Stokely v. Thompson, 34 Pa. 210), yet here, from time to time, the defendant appears actually [70]*70to have increased the corpus by adding accumulated interest, thereafter allowing interest upon the principal thus enlarged, in accordance with the custom of savings funds. In other words, the entries in plaintiff’s pass book show that defendant did not in any sense treat the interest items as separate debts, but merely as increments of the principal deposit. A few cases may be found wherein, under contracts stipulating for annual payments of interest, it was held that “so much of the interest as accrued more than the statutory period before action brought is barred, notwithstanding the principal debt may not be barred” (22 Cyc. 1574; Dearborn v. Parks, 5 Me.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 A. 528, 260 Pa. 64, 1918 Pa. LEXIS 469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/osterling-v-allegheny-trust-co-pa-1918.