Planters Bank v. J. Eskind & Sons

99 So. 148, 134 Miss. 696, 1924 Miss. LEXIS 289
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 3, 1924
DocketNo. 23951
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 99 So. 148 (Planters Bank v. J. Eskind & Sons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Planters Bank v. J. Eskind & Sons, 99 So. 148, 134 Miss. 696, 1924 Miss. LEXIS 289 (Mich. 1924).

Opinion

Holden, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

. This is a chancery suit between appellees, J. Eskind & Sons, and the Planters’ Bank, to determine the question as to which one of them has the superior lien upon a certificate for ten shares of bank stock, which was issued by appellant to Youngblood, a stockholder, who assigned the certificate to appellees to secure a debt due them; the bank claiming a lien upon the certificate by virtue of a provision of its charter providing there shall be a lien in favor of the bank upon the stock of each stockholder to secure the payment of any indebtedness of such stockholder to the bank, and that the certificate shall not be transferred until all such indebtedness has been paid the bank by the stockholder.

At the time the certificate was assigned by Youngblood to appellees, Youngblood was indebted to the bank. The assignment by Youngblood to appellees was accompanied by delivery of the certificate, and appellees had no notice of any lien on the certificate in favor of the bank, except constructive notice from the recording of the bank’s charter. The chancellor decreed that the lien of appellees was paramount to that of the bank, and awarded the certificate to appellees, to be sold and ap[700]*700plied on the payment of the debt dne to them by Young-blood. Prom this decree the bank appeals.

We here 'Set out the agreed statement of facts in the record:

“Complainants, J. Eskind & Sons, filed their suit in the chancery court of Leflore county against the Planters’ Bank, of Schlater, Miss., and S. I. Gensburger, trustee of the estate of B. C. Youngblood, bankrupt, A decree pro confesso was taken against said trustee, who claims no interest in this controversy.

“The defendant, Planters’ Bank, filed an answer and cross-bill to complainants’ bill, and complainants answered the cross-bill, and issue having been joined, the following facts, being undisputed from the pleadings and proof, were before the chancellor in rendering his final decree, and are the facts agreed upon to be submitted to the supreme court on appeal:

“In 1905, Planters’ Bank was-incorporated as a banking corporation under the laws of the state of Mississippi, domiciled at Schlater, Miss., and having the following provision in its charter: ‘ (9) There shall be a lien in favor of said corporation upon the corporate stock of each stockholder to secure the payment of any and all indebtedness of such stockholder without regard to time when same was contracted or when due and no such stock shall be transferred until all indebtedness of such stockholder to said corporation shall have been paid in full. Said lien may be waived at any time by written indorsement signed by the president, vice president, or cashier of said corporation.’ The charter was recorded in Leflore county October 23, 1905.

“Thereafter, in 1918, fifteen thousand dollars additional stock was issued by the bank, among which was the certificate for ten shares of stock, which is involved in this. litigation, which was sold and issued to B. 0. Youngblood in 1918. The certificate of stock contains no provision whatever reserving to the bank any lien upon the certificate for any indebtedness due or to be[701]*701come due to the bank by the holder of the certificate, and the certificate issued under the above charter, which has never been amended, unless by law.

“At the time of the issuance of this certificate to Young-blood, manual possession of the certificate was delivered to Youngblood, and he kept same continuously in his possession until it was delivered by him to complainant, J. Eskind & Sons, as hereinafter stated. At the time the certificate was issued to Youngblood, Mr. Thayer, the cashier and active managing officer of the bank, stated to Youngblood that he (Youngblood) could not borrow any money from the bank with the stock as collateral with the bank, as that was forbidden by law, or words to that effect.

“On August 5, 1920, Youngblood was indebted to complainants, who are wholesale merchants, and in consideration of the agreement by complainants to extend the time for the payment of this indebtedness until August '5, 1921, and in order to secure merchandise to be sold by complainant to Youngblood in the future, Youngblood transferred and assigned the certificate to complainants on August 5,1920, as collateral security for his said debt to complainants, which was thereupon evidenced by a note executed on August 5, 1920, by Youngblood to complainants, this note being due and payable August 5, 1921.

“The note provides that the certificate is pledged to secure the note, and complainants, by the terms of the note, are given a lien upon the certificate not only for the payment of the note but also for such further advances as may thereafter be made by complainants to Youngblood. Thereafter complainants, in pursuance of this agreement, during the fall of 1920, sold and delivered to Young-blood merchandise to the amount of six hundred seventy-nine dollars and forty-four cents. During the years 1919 and 1920, and up until February 10, 1921, Youngblood was indebted to the Planters’ Bank in the sum of one thousand two hundred forty-six dollars for a loan made [702]*702in the fall of 1919, and on February 10, 1921, all his indebtedness to said bank amounted to four thousand one hundred ninety dollars and ninety-one cents, for which amount Youngblood on February 10, 1921, gave his note to said bank, payable January 1, 1922.

“This note provides on its face that it is collaterally secured by certain notes from Pentecost & Eubanks to Youngblood, of the total face amount of six thousand dollars and makes no reference whatever to its being secured by any lien on said certificate of stock. The Eu-banks and Pentecost notes were thought by the bank to be worth their face value when attached as collateral to the Youngblood note to the bank, but they have since jjroven worthless, Pentecost having gone into bankruptcy.

“All during the years 1919 and 1920, and on August 5, 1920, and at the time when said note dated February 10, 1921, was executed by Youngblood, the bank, through its proper officers, considered Youngblood entirely solvent and considered his indebtedness to the bank entirely sound and secure without the security of the certificate of stock, and did not make any request of Youngblood to put up as collateral security his certificate of stock, and at that time the bank was relying on Youngblood’s personal reliability and the collateral mentioned in the face of the note from Youngblood to the bank, the same being the Pentecost and Efibanks notes, although said bank never expressly waived such lien unless it did so by reason of the facts herein stated. But all during this time the bank made no attempt to enforce any lien upon the stock, or to obtain possession of the certificate.

“'On June 8, 1921, Youngblood became a voluntary bankrupt, and said Gensberger became the trustee of his estate in bankruptcy. On August 3, 1921, complainants wrote to Planters ’ Bank a letter inclosing the certificate to the bank, explaining how it had been transferred to complainants by Youngblood and asking that the bank transfer the stock to complainants on the books of the corporation. This letter was not answered, and on Au[703]*703gust 16, 1921, complainants wrote to the bank again, quoting the letter of August 3rd, and asking for a reply, and thereupon the bank, through said Mr.

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Related

Bank of Pontotoc v. Robinson
101 So. 561 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1924)

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Bluebook (online)
99 So. 148, 134 Miss. 696, 1924 Miss. LEXIS 289, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/planters-bank-v-j-eskind-sons-miss-1924.