Penn v. Citizens' Bank

32 La. Ann. 195
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedFebruary 15, 1880
DocketNo. 5856
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 32 La. Ann. 195 (Penn v. Citizens' Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Penn v. Citizens' Bank, 32 La. Ann. 195 (La. 1880).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Mask, J.

Pierre S. Sanchez was indebted to the Citizens’ Bank; and the debt was secured by mortgage, granted in 1858. Finding himself unable to'pay this debt, he made terms with the bank and obtained an extension. He gave his three promissory notes, for equal amounts, payable 31st January, 1869,1870,1871, respectively, aggregating $16,347, the amount due 31st January, 1868; and to secure the payment he granted a mortgage, in favor of the bank, on the 23d March, 1868, on the same property, a sugar plantation, situate then in the parish of St. Martin, now in the parish of Iberia.

In September, 1869, plaintiff entered into a contract of partnership with Sanchez for the cultivation of this plantation for a term beginning first of October, 1869, and. ending first of January, 1874.

By the terms of this contract Sanchez furnished the plantation with the buildings, thirty-one árpente of cane, 56 árpente of corn, then standing on the place, some cattle, and utensils.

Plaintiff paid Sanchez $3000 in cash, and Sanchez obligated him[197]*197self to maintain plaintiff in the peaceable possessi m and enjoyment of the premises during the whole term of the partnership.

Plaintiff was to have the entire control and management of the plantation, and of all business connected with it; to furnish all mules, teams, wagons, and farming implements necessary for raising the crops; to furnish provisions, and advance for the payment of the wages of the laborers; and to provide all the means necessary for working and carrying on the plantation. For all amounts disbursed by him he was to charge the usual interest and commissions ; and he was to receive and sell all the crops, charging the usual commission on sales.

If he should deem it necessary to erect any new buildings for the use of the plantation, during the continuance of the partnership, the cost was to be carried to the account of Sanchez, and be borne by him; and Sanchez was not to contract any debt for account of the partnership.

After deducting .the expenses of working the plantation the residue of the proceeds of the crop of each year was to be divided equally between plaintiff and Sanchez.

The mules, cattle, and implements purchased during the partnership were to be charged to the account of the crops. - Such as might remain at the termination of the partnership were to be divided in kind, or taken by one or the other of the partners at valuation, or sold at public’auction, as they might agree.

The property was in a very dilapidated condition; and plaintiff spent large sums in repairs and in fitting the plantation for cultivation. He put up four double cabins ; built plantation bridges ; repaired the machinery and kettles; furnished a new boiler; dug ditches and a canal; and opened a pond to supply water for the sugar-mill.

In January, 1871, the Citizens’ Bank, under executory process on the mortgage in its favor, seized, and subsequently sold the plantation, and became the purchaser at $10,000 cash, the appraised value being $13,000.

Before the sale plaintiff obtained permission of the bank to remove the mules, implements, and utensils purchased by him, and used on the plantation ; and there was a separate appraisement of the seed-cane in the field in mats.

Shortly after the sale this suit was brought to recover of the bank. $15,000, of which $3000 were claimed for that amount paid by'plaintiff to Sanchez under the contract of partnership, which was defeated by the seizure and sale by the bank; $300 for repairs to the kettles and machinery ; $1600 for a new boiler ; $1000 for four new cabins ; $1500 for ditching, digging a canal, and opening the pond ; $3500 for 140 acres [198]*198stubble-cane; $3600 for twenty-four acres of plant-cane; and $500 for new bridges.

These sums are claimed on the grounds that the works, improvements, and additions, made and paid for by plaintiff, and the plant and stubble cane on the plantation added $12,000 to its value; that the bank proceeded with the seizure and sale in spite of plaintiff’s objections and remonstrances, and finally evicted him from the property ; and that the bank had the possession, benefit, and advantages of the works, additions, and improvements, and of the plant and stubble cane, and is therefore liable to plaintiff for the value, $12,000.

The answer of the bank denies liability to plaintiff ; denies that the foreclosure of the mortgage was in spite of plaintiff’s objections and remonstrances ; and avers that it was with plaintiff’s full knowledge, and that the sale was made at his suggestion or advice.

It is also alleged in the answer that the seed-cane put up in mats was greatly injured by the cattle in the neighborhood, in consequence of plaintiff’s failure to keep up his fences ; that it was appraised at $100, the one half of which defendant agreed to pay to plaintiff; and that defendant deposits the amount, $50, in court for the benefit of plaintiff.

Defendant also pleads that all the improvements plaintiff may have made on the place, he made as a partner, for his own benefit, and he reaped the fruit of his labor and expenses by making the crop, which he applied to his own benefit ; and that all the improvements he may have made as a partner -became immovable by destination, and belong to the place.

The judgment of the district court rejected the demand of plaintiff, and he appealed.

We cannot imagine any possible .obligation that existed on the part of the bank not to enforce its mortgage rights ; or to grant longer indulgence to Sanchez. In December, 1858, when the original mortgage was given, the debt was $17,600. In January of 1868, it had been reduced to $16,347. The bank extended the payment; and at the end of the three years’ delay, nothing had been paid on account. The mortgage, with the pact de non alienando, deprived Sanchez of the power to make any disposition of the property, whether by sale or mortgage, or other contract, to the prejudice of the mortgage held by the bank. By the contract between plaintiff and Sanchez, the mortgaged property was the contribution of Sanchez to the partnership ; and the $3000 cash paid by plaintiff must be considered as their estimate of the excess of the contribution by Sanchez over that by plaintiff, which consisted of the obligations and undertaking on his part, as stipulated in the contract. This contract was subordinate to the mortgage rights of the [199]*199bank; and for any prejudice to his rights under that contract, by reason ■of the exercise of its rights by the bank, plaintiff must look to Sanchez alone.

As to the four cabins, the new buildings put up by plaintiff, the contract specially provided that they were to be paid for by Sanchez. They were to be used by the partnership ; but they were no more the property of the partnership, or of plaintiff, than the plantation was. They were the property of Sanchez, just as the plantation was: they were immovable by destination: they were part of the realty covered by the mortgage; and plaintiff, by the terms of the contract, must look to •Sanchez alone for reimbursement of the cost.

The stubble-cane was certainly part of the realty. It could not have been severed from the soil in which it was growing without destroying it; and it was not susceptible of separate ownership.

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32 La. Ann. 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/penn-v-citizens-bank-la-1880.