People ex rel. Nelson v. Union Bank

31 N.E.2d 343, 308 Ill. App. 91, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1065
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 22, 1941
DocketGen. No. 41,349
StatusPublished

This text of 31 N.E.2d 343 (People ex rel. Nelson v. Union Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. Nelson v. Union Bank, 31 N.E.2d 343, 308 Ill. App. 91, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1065 (Ill. Ct. App. 1941).

Opinion

Mr. Presiding Justice Hebel

delivered the opinion of the court.

On March 22, 1933, by leave of court first had and obtained, 28 petitioners filed their intervening petition in this cause, alleging that they have claims against the receiver of the Union Bank of Chicago for money had and received together with interest thereon at the rate of 5 per cent per annum from January 2, 1926, and that such claims are trust claims and should be paid in full. These claims vary from $500 to $40,560. Later, Lottie Moran, one of the petitioners, was dismissed as a party to said intervening petition. The receiver filed an amended answer thereto. The matter was referred to a master who, in due course, made his report of the law and the evidence, which report the court approved after overruling all exceptions thereto and dismissed said intervening petition and ordered the receiver to pay the master’s fees and charges of $1,515.90. From this order this appeal was faken by the petitioners.

From the facts as they are related in the petitioners ’ brief, it appears that on April 1, 1925, one, A. S. Alexander, entered into a contract with the Commercial Bank and Trust Company of Miami, as trustee, to purchase 8,884 acres at $375 an acre or a total of $3,317,726.25. The contract provided that when $1,327,090.50 of the purchase price had been paid the bank would execute a special warranty deed for the premises free and clear and take back a mortgage for the balance which mortgage was to contain a clause releasing any of the lands upon the payment of $500 per acre, “provided, however, that all lands lying in any one section should be released at the same time. ’ ’

On August 1, 1925, Alexander assigned this contract to one, Robert Boyland, who was in the employ of a certain Mark Rafalsky of New York. On August 21, 1925, twenty days afterwards, Boyland, for a stated consideration of $100,000, gave four options to purchase out of this land four parcels, totaling about 2,355 acres, to Harry Phelps, Ralph Hartenstein. and Fred Morphett, three employees of one, O. Frank Croissant, a real estate subdivider, with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. On October 15 and 16,1925, these options were assigned to Frank K. Reilly, one of Croissant’s associates; and on October 20, 1925, Reilly entered into four contracts for deeds with Boyland. In these four contracts Boyland agreed to convey the acreage described in the four options upon the payment of $2,993,250, of which $673,312.50 was acknowledged and the remainder of $2,319,937 was made payable in three equal installments on or before the 21st day of August in the years 1926, 1927 and 1928, and were evidenced by Reilly’s notes. Four warranty deeds were executed by Boyland to Reilly and on October 22, 1925, were deposited with the Palm Beach Bank and Trust Company of West Palm Beach, Florida, with instructions to deliver them to Reilly or his assigns upon proper showing that the deferred installments “have been paid and that the transaction is otherwise complete.” By these four contracts for deeds Reilly agreed to pay Boyland $2,500 per acre for 1,015 acres and $1,500 per acre for 1,345 acres. Boyland under his assignment agreed to pay $375 for this land.

On December 31,1925, Reilly made four assignments of this acreage to Gr. Frank Croissant, trustee. These assignments were filed for record on June 25, 1926, and were recorded on June 29, 1926 in Palm Beach, Florida. This acreage was to be purchased for the purpose of subdividing it into lots to be sold by Croissant, as trustee, to the public at prices which would have netted enormous profits to the syndicate members. In October or November, 1925, this acreage was actually subdivided, contracts for deeds from Croissant as trustee printed, in which Croissant as trustee agreed to convey in fee simple the lots purchased by “a good and sufficient deed,” “title to be shown by abstract of title or Title Guarantee Policy . . . showing title in grantor,” and many lots were sold.

When these option contracts were made Croissant was in -Europe, but before his return his organization began selling units in the syndicate which was to be formed for the development and sale of this Florida acreage described in the options and subsequent contracts. Moneys were collected from syndicate subscribers and deposited in the Union Bank of Chicago and a receipt, referred to as an interim receipt, was given to the syndicate purchasers. This interim receipt was entitled “In re: Trust No. 949,” and acknowledged the receipt in full payment of a preorganization subscription to a syndicate to be known as G-. Frank Croissant’s Boca-Raton Development, to be organized for the purpose of purchasing acreage in Florida. This receipt — as stated in the briefs — -is an “interim receipt and a permanent receipt will be substituted therefor when prepared and executed. It is understood that if the proposed syndicate is not completed and the land is not purchased by January 2d, 1926, the holder hereof is entitled to the return of the amount subscribed.” This was signed by the Union Bank of Chicago as agent, by Greorge T. Preschern or F. H. Hayes.

Croissant returned to Chicago by October 11, 1925, and an intensive selling campaign was launched under his direction. Advertisements about Boca-Raton acreage appeared in the various Chicago papers, which is quoted as follows:

“The banks handle your money — I don’t.” “One more big point — I will make a contract with this syndicate that my Florida organization of over 500 sales persons — nine Florida offices — will devote their entire time to this proposition until 75% of the total has been sold. And I will back them to the extent of $500,000.00 for sales promotion, including advertising, in five months or less.” The attention of petitioners was directed to these advertisements and they were told by salesmen that all the funds would be deposited with the Union Bank of Chicago, that this bank would handle the money, that Croissant would have nothing to do with the handling of the funds and that if the proposed syndicate was not completed and if the land was not purchased by January 2, 1926, they would have returned to them the money paid by them to the syndicate. In reliance on these representations petitioners purchased the units in the proposed syndicate in varying amounts from $500 to $40,560, and all received their interim receipts from the bank prior to January 2,1926. Attorneys were employed to draw up a trust agreement dated December 15, 1925, by and between the various subscribers, called beneficiaries, and Croissant, in the dual capacity of trustee and manager. This' trust agreement recites that, “the beneficiaries are about to cause to be conveyed to and vested in the trustee, as trustee under the trust agreement,” the acreage in question, in Boca-Raton. Among other 'things this trust agreement provides: that the title to all of the subdivision lots be in the trustee who was to prepare, execute and record a plat of the subdivision lots, and furnish the price schedule at which said lots were to be sold; that the trustee have full power and authority to manage, improve, sell and convey the trust estate or any part thereof, and to partition the subdivision lots; a committee of five persons of whom Croissant was one and George Presehern another, was created to represent the beneficiaries; all notices were to be given to George T. Presehern at the Bank’s address; the beneficiaries were to have an undivided interest, they having subscribed a total of $2,100,000, which was the capital of the syndicate, divided into 4,200 units of $500 each.

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Mester v. Quincy National Bank
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Bluebook (online)
31 N.E.2d 343, 308 Ill. App. 91, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1065, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-nelson-v-union-bank-illappct-1941.