Rice's Feed Service, Inc. v. Dodson

904 S.W.2d 475, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1233, 1995 WL 392434
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 1995
DocketNo. 19643
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 904 S.W.2d 475 (Rice's Feed Service, Inc. v. Dodson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rice's Feed Service, Inc. v. Dodson, 904 S.W.2d 475, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1233, 1995 WL 392434 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

FLANIGAN, Judge.

Plaintiff Rice’s Feed Service, Inc. brought this action against defendants Dorothy Dodson and the two personal representatives of the estate of William Lacy Dodson, who died April 7,1993. The trial witnesses referred to decedent as “Lacy,” and this opinion will do the same. Lacy and Dorothy Dodson, at all material times, were engaged in the cattle business as a general partnership.

The petition was in two counts. Count I sought recovery for the unpaid purchase price of cattle feed sold by plaintiff to the partnership. The sales took place over a period beginning January 14, 1992, and ending March 30, 1993. Count II incorporated most of the allegations of Count I, and fur[476]*476ther alleged: on March 9, 1993, an account was stated between plaintiff and the partnership, and it was agreed that there was due from the partnership to plaintiff, on February 28, 1993, a balance of $203,957.33, which the partnership promised to pay; the partnership paid $16,251.30, leaving a balance as of March 9,1993, of $187,706.03. Each count sought recovery of the unpaid amounts, plus interest.

Defendants filed an answer and a counterclaim. The answer, in addition to containing denials, alleged: during the period set forth in the petition defendants paid plaintiff $277,-074.68, and “said account has either been fully or partially paid”; plaintiff has unlawfully charged interest in violation of § 408.060,1 and defendants have not agreed to the assessment of the interest charges.

The counterclaim alleged: between January 1982 and April 1993, “defendants” purchased feed from plaintiff and paid over $2,100,000 on an open account; plaintiff deducted from the payments “interest payments from the balance due on the said account each month at the rate of 1.5 percent per annum (sic) during the term of the account,” in violation of § 408.020 and § 408.030.

The counterclaim prayed that the court enter judgment for plaintiff for the sum due, or for defendants for the sum overpaid, and that the court enter judgment for defendants for double the amount paid as usury, together with reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Following a nonjury trial, the trial court found the issues in favor of plaintiff and against defendants, and awarded plaintiff judgment against defendants on Count I in the sum of $17,912.02, together with interest at 18 percent per annum from and after April 30, 1993. The award on Count I was based on unpaid invoices for sales from February 28, 1993, to March 30, 1993. On Count II, plaintiff was awarded the sum of $187,706.03 against defendants, together with interest at 18 percent per annum from and after March 9, 1993. Defendants were denied relief on their counterclaim. Defendants appeal.

In their first two points, which will be considered together, defendants contend: the judgment on Count II was improper because plaintiff did not establish an account stated; even if the evidence was sufficient to show an account stated, the evidence did not “bar proof of usury”; there was no proof of a written agreement justifying the award of 18 percent interest on either Count I or Count II; defendants were entitled to relief on their counterclaim for usury, and the trial court erred in ruling otherwise, “in that usury was established because plaintiff charged and received more than 9 percent interest on an account where there was no written agreement and the account was not a business loan”; and defendants “did not waive their claim for usury” and “in any event the payment of usurious interest was not voluntary.”

This court reviews this nonjury case on both the law and the evidence as in suits of an equitable nature and gives due regard to the opportunity of the trial court to have judged the credibility of the witnesses. Rule 73.01(c). The judgment of the trial court will be sustained by the appellate court unless there is no substantial evidence to support it or it is against the weight of the evidence or it erroneously declares or erroneously applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32[1] (Mo. banc 1976). “Appellate courts should exercise the power to set aside a decree or judgment on the ground that it is ‘against the weight of the evidence’ with caution and with a firm belief that the decree or judgment is wrong.” Id. [2].

For the reasons which follow, this court rejects defendants’ first two points. This court holds that the evidence was sufficient to support the award on Count II on the basis of an account stated, and to support the award on Count I on the basis of unpaid invoices for sales taking place after the account was stated, and that the transactions between the parties, the sale of cattle feed for a time sale price higher than a cash price, were not subject to the usury statutes.

[477]*477Count II of the petition was based upon the theory of account stated.

“[A]n account stated is an agreement between parties, having had previous financial transactions, that a balance struck is correct and due between them, and a promise by the debtor, either express or implied, to pay the balance. It is a new cause of action arising from the prior monetary transactions, and amounts to an admission of liability by the debtor. If the debtor makes no express promise to pay, the retention of the account rendered for a reasonable time without objection admits to the account and implies a promise to pay. The circumstances of a particular case determine the reasonable period of time that an account may be retained without objection.”

Ozark Mountain Timber Products, Inc. v. Redus, 725 S.W.2d 640, 648[5,6] (MoApp. 1987) (citations omitted).

“[A]n account stated need not settle all the dealings between the parties and becomes an account stated only as to the items contained therein and agreed on..." Hall v. Knapp, 552 S.W.2d 299, 301[1] (Mo.App.1977).

“[0]f course, an administratrix may state an account concerning money due her decedent. 1 C.J.S. Account Stated § 8, p. 697. Long ago, in Cunningham, Adm’r v. Sublette, 4 Mo. 224, 226, the court said, ‘Smith’s (a partner’s) admission to one witness, that the firm owed the intestate $1,100, is, in our opinion, such as ought to have been left to a jury, and if they believed the witness, it would be sufficient to justify them in finding for the plaintiff, on the count for an account stated with the intestate in his lifetime, * *

Wiggins v. Weston, 339 S.W.2d 781, 782[1-3] (Mo.1960). See also Cady v. Kyle, 47 Mo. 346 (1871); 1A C.J.S. Account Stated § 3c., p. 72.

“An account stated need not be evidenced or proved by a writing. Alexander v. Scott, 150 Mo.App. 213, 222, 129 S.W. 991, 994 [1910]; Bloss v. Aurora Milling Co., 207 Mo.App. 402, 229 S.W. 833, 835[3] [1921]; 1 Am.Jur., Accounts and Accounting, § 21, p. 276; Gerstner v. Lithocraft Studios, Inc., Mo.App., 258 S.W.2d 250, 253[1] [1953].”

Siegel v. Ellis, 288 S.W.2d 932, 938[7] (Mo.1956).

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904 S.W.2d 475, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1233, 1995 WL 392434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rices-feed-service-inc-v-dodson-moctapp-1995.