Peoples Trust & Savings Bank v. Standard Printing Co.

119 N.W.2d 378, 19 Wis. 2d 27
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 5, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 119 N.W.2d 378 (Peoples Trust & Savings Bank v. Standard Printing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peoples Trust & Savings Bank v. Standard Printing Co., 119 N.W.2d 378, 19 Wis. 2d 27 (Wis. 1963).

Opinion

Wilkie, J.

There are several separate issues to be considered on this appeal.

1. Is there an-issue of fact on the legal status of the plaintiff and its ability to sue Standard on the overdue Standard note to Libman ?

[31]*312. In the action by the plaintiff on the Standard note, is Standard entitled to claim a credit or setoff of $3,984.10 as alleged damages suffered by Standard by reason of Libman’s alleged fraud against Standard?

3. If the plaintiff is entitled to bring suit against Standard on the overdue Standard note to Libman, which note was in turn delivered and pledged by Libman to the plaintiff, is the plaintiff limited in its recovery to the amount of the principal debt between Libman and the plaintiff ($2,500 plus interest) ?

On the pleadings and affidavits before thé trial court we are of the opinion that for the reasons set forth below no issues of fact were presented and that the trial court should have granted summary judgment to the plaintiff on the terms indicated in this opinion. As properly stated by the trial court, the motion for summary judgment searches the record, and in arriving at its decision, the court, on the motion, could properly consider all of the allegations contained in the pleadings plus the various affidavits filed in relation to the motion. (See Sullivan v. State (1933), 213 Wis. 185, 251 N. W. 251.) The lower court cited two passages from Hyland Hall & Co. v. Madison Gas & Electric Co. (1960), 11 Wis. (2d) 238, 244, 105 N. W. (2d) 305:

“As has been said many times by this court, the inquiry on summary judgment is not to decide the questions of fact raised by the affidavits and other proof, but to decide whether such questions exist arid should be submitted to the trier of the facts.
“ We have often said that the power of the courts under the summary-judgment statute . . . should be exercised only when it is plain that there is no substantial issue of fact or of permissible inference from the undisputed facts to be tried.’ ”

Issue 1. Is there an issue of fact on the legal status of the plaintiff and its ability to sue Standard on the overdue Standard note to Libman? The trial court determined that summary judgment could not be granted to the plaintiff be[32]*32cause there was a fact issue raised by the pleadings and not settled by the affidavits as to whether the plaintiff was a holder or owner of the Standard note. We must hold that there is no question of fact on this issue, and that plaintiff’s legal status as to the note can be determined as a matter of law from the undisputed facts.

The trial court considered the detailed pleadings and affidavits and concluded:

“The denial that plaintiff is now or ever was the holder or owner of defendant’s note is contained in the original answer, the amended answer, and the second amended answer. As to the plaintiff not being the holder or owner, the answers are not as definite and certain as they might be, but no motion has been made by plaintiff to make them more definite and certain. While the answers may not be as definite and certain in this regard as they might be, nevertheless, the question of whether the plaintiff is now or ever was the holder or owner of the note in question is sufficiently raised, and it is present.”

The affidavits before the trial court did contain certain facts about plaintiff’s legal status with respect to the Standard note. In substance, affiant, R. T. Bennie, chairman of the board of plaintiff corporation, stated that the plaintiff’s loan to Libman was secured by the promissory note in question, which is in the possession of the plaintiff under and pursucmt to the pledge agreement (which was also in evidence); B. Berk, attorney for plaintiff and Libman, swore that the note was delivered by Libman as collateral security for loan; R. M. Tetzlaff, president of plaintiff corporation, swore that he notified Standard that the plaintiff was the holder oí defendant’s note, and that he further directed collection of the note held by plaintiff as collateral security; Q. V. Reinke, cashier of piaintiff corporation, swore that Libman received a loan from plaintiff and to secure said loan Libman delivered the Standard note to plaintiff and simultaneously executed a [33]*33“pledge agreement” under and pursuant to which the plaintiff took and held said. defendant’s- note and still. holds the same; Libman stated that he delivered the note and-executed the pledge agreement pursuant to which the plaintiff holds said note of Standard. In his affidavit Mr. Arthur. Kaftan, attorney for Standard, sets forth his denial that the plaintiff is now or ever was the owner of Standard’s note.

Under these facts, all parties concede that the plaintiff is not a “holder in due course” of the note. Neither is plaintiff a “holder,” for sec. 116.01 (7) of the Wisconsin statutes, 1957, defines a holder as “the payee or indorsee of a bill or note, who is in possession of it, or the bearer thereof.”. The note was not indorsed here and for that reason alone the plaintiff could not be a “holder.” Under the undisputed facts showing (1) the Standard note to be in the possession of the plaintiff together with the related and duly executed pledge agreement, and (2) the advance of $2,500 by plaintiff to Libman in exchange for a note secured by the Standard note, the plaintiff was “a transferee for value,” the “owner” of the note, such status as transferee being settled by sec. 116.54, Stats. 1957, which provides:

“Transfer without indorsement; subsequent' in-dorsement. Where:the holder of an instrument payable to his order transfers it for value without indorsing it, the transfer vests in the transferee such title as the transferer had therein, and the transferee acquires, in addition, the right to have the indorsement of the transferer. But for the purpose of determining whether the transferee is a holder in due course, the negotiation takes effect as of the time when the indorsement is actually made.”

Wisconsin cases recognizing the status of such transferee of an unindorsed note, are Implement Credit Corp. v. Elsinger (1954), 268 Wis. 143, 153, 66 N. W. (2d) 657; Bjelde v. Dolan (1946), 248 Wis. 153, 157, 21 N. W. (2d) 258.

[34]*34As the transferee of the note, the plaintiff possesses such title as the transferor, Libman, had, and acquired the right to maintain 'an action in plaintiff’s own name on the note. Thus, the plaintiff did have the right to sue as such transferee and no fact issue was presented as to its status.

The trial court also determined there was an issue of fact to be tried on the amount of indebtedness owed by Libman to Standard to' apply as a credit against the first instalment due on the Standard note. We will not consider this matter further on this appeal in view of our analyses of the second and third issues.

Issue 2. In the .action by the plaintiff on the Standard note, is Standard entitled to claim a credit or setoff of $3,984.10 as alleged damages suffered by Standard by reason of Libmas alleged fraud against Standard? The plaintiff, as transferee of the Standard note from the transferor, Lib-man, on a suit to collect on the note is subject to defenses available to Standard as against Libman.1

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Bluebook (online)
119 N.W.2d 378, 19 Wis. 2d 27, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peoples-trust-savings-bank-v-standard-printing-co-wis-1963.