Paulos v. Best Securities Incorporated

109 N.W.2d 576, 260 Minn. 283, 1961 Minn. LEXIS 574
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 9, 1961
Docket38,206
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 109 N.W.2d 576 (Paulos v. Best Securities Incorporated) 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
Paulos v. Best Securities Incorporated, 109 N.W.2d 576, 260 Minn. 283, 1961 Minn. LEXIS 574 (Mich. 1961).

Opinion

Thomas Gallagher, Justice.

Plaintiff, a Minnesota resident, instituted this action against Best Securities Incorporated, a New York corporation, not qualified to do *285 business in Minnesota or having a place of business here, and certain of its officers and agents, none of whom were physically present here, for violation of Minn. St. 80.07, 1 80.12, subd. I, 2 and 80.18, 3 in the sale of certain common stocks to plaintiff.

Pursuant to § 80.14, subd. I, 4 service of process upon the defendants was made by leaving a copy of the summons and complaint for each of them with the commissioner of securities for the State of Minnesota as defendants’ attorney for such service. No answers were interposed and subsequently plaintiff entered a default judgment against all of the defendants in the sum of $6,399.58.

*286 This is an appeal from an order quashing such service and vacating the judgment. In a memorandum attached to the order, the trial court stated:

“It appears conclusively that the defendant corporation is a New York corporation and that the other defendants named in said action also reside outside of the State of Minnesota, and that they have never been engaged within the State of Minnesota in the sale of securities. It appears conclusively that the defendants never registered nor attempted to register the stocks which they subsequently sold to the plaintiff in this case. It further appears that they never appointed the Commissioners of Securities as their agent for the service of summons in this State. It further appears that they never through any agents within the State of Minnesota * * * carried on their operations to .sell stocks. It appears conclusively that the sales here involved were based almost entirely on and arose out of telephone communications had between the defendants in New York and the plaintiff in the State of Minnesota. There appears to have been a small amount of mail matter passed between the parties also. In the light of the foregoing facts it seems too clear for serious argument that the sales here in question were in fact New York sales and that the defendants did nothing to subject them to any penalties under Minnesota law.

* * * * *

“Under the factual situation here presented it is not possible to properly serve process upon the defendants through the Commissioner of Securities of the state of Minnesota * * *. Garber vs. Bancamerica-Blair Corp., 205 Minn. 275, 285 N. W. 723.”

*287 Plaintiff contends that defendants’ violations of §§ 80.07, 80.12, subd. 1, and 80.18 in effect constituted defendants’ appointment of the Minnesota commissioner of securities as their attorney for the service of process 5 and subjected them to the jurisdiction of the Minnesota courts under § 80.14, subd. 1; and further that as to Best Securities its actions with reference to its sales to plaintiff of common stocks not registered here constituted “doing business” here as defined in § 303.13, subd. 1(3), 6 so as to afford the Minnesota courts a valid basis for jurisdiction of both the subject matter of the action and of this defendant.

It is not disputed that none of the individual defendants ever maintained offices or were physically present in this state during the transactions described; that neither Best Securities nor . any of its officers or agents were ever present here during such transactions; that Best Securities was not at any time qualified to do business here as a foreign corporation; that plaintiff, a St. Paul attorney, was at no time present in New York during the transactions described; and that all communications between plaintiff and defendants were either by mail or by telephone.

The facts upon. which plaintiff claims Minnesota courts acquired jurisdiction are as follows: Initially defendants mailed pláintiff a letter entitled “Our Invitation To You” in which they proposed *288 to send plaintiff a weekly periodical designated “Best’s News & Views,” which purported to analyze news stories relative to stock market action. In response thereto plaintiff mailed to defendants a printed card which defendants had enclosed in their communication to plaintiff requesting that defendants mail plaintiff the regular issues of the periodical described. These periodicals which plaintiff subsequently received contained descriptions and information relative to certain corporations whose shares, though unregistered here and unlisted on any exchange, could be purchased through defendants. Included therein was Alaska International Corporation, a company engaged in various oil and development activities, stock in which defendants were offering for sale as indicated.

Subsequently, numerous long distance telephone conversations ensued between the parties. As a result of these conversations and the correspondence between the parties, plaintiff at various times between June 2, 1959, and February 9, 1960, purchased from defendants as brokers a total of 3,495 shares of Alaska International Corporation’s common stock for the .sum of $5,791.25. To pay for this plaintiff mailed his checks from St. Paul to defendants in New York. There defendants credited plaintiff’s account with the shares of stock thus purchased, all of which were delivered to plaintiff except 800 shares covered by the last order.

On March 24, 1960, defendants called plaintiff from New York and advised him to sell his shares of Alaska International Corporation which he had purchased through them, as it had fallen in value to .625 per share — plaintiff’s shares accordingly then having a total value of but $2,266.50. At the same time, defendants urged him to authorize them to use the proceeds of the contemplated sale for the purchase of stock in some other corporation which they represented as brokers. Later this same day they reported to plaintiff that they had sold all of his stock in Alaska International Corporation and had credited his account with $2,183.50. This sum is still held by them.

We are of the opinion that plaintiff’s substituted service of process upon the defendants under § 80.14, subd. 1, as above described, was valid and gave the district court jurisdiction of both the subject matter of the action described in the complaint and of the defendants *289 named therein. The provisions of § 80.14, subd. 1, authorizing such service, were enacted by L. 1941, c. 547, § 11, following decisions in Garber v. Bancamerica-Blair Corp. 205 Minn. 275, 285 N. W. 723, and Sivertsen v. Bancamerica-Blair Corp. (D. Minn.) 43 F. Supp. 233. 7 Prior to that time the governing statutes (Mason St.

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Bluebook (online)
109 N.W.2d 576, 260 Minn. 283, 1961 Minn. LEXIS 574, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/paulos-v-best-securities-incorporated-minn-1961.