Ryttenberg v. Schefer

131 F. 313, 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 23, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 131 F. 313 (Ryttenberg v. Schefer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryttenberg v. Schefer, 131 F. 313, 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196 (S.D.N.Y. 1904).

Opinion

HOET, District Judge.

This is a suit in equity brought by the trustee of the firm of Radon & Co., bankrupts, against the members of the firm of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel, to determine the ownership of a fund. Radon & Co. were engaged in the business of commission merchants and dealers in woolen goods, in the city of New York. On December 7, 1897, they made a written agreement with the firm of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel, who were commission merchants in New York, which agreement provided as follows:

“1. Radon & Co. agree to transact all their business through Schefer, Schramm & Yogel. The lease of the premises at 530 Broadway, now occupied by Radon & Co. shall be assigned to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel. All goods at present consigned or owned by Radon & Co. shall be consigned by their respective owners to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel as factors for sale upon commission.
“2. Schefer, Schramm & Vogel agree, on the request of Radon & Co., to advance to the respective consignors two-thirds of the net market value of the goods respectively consigned. Account sales shall be furnished to said consignors monthly and Schefer, Schramm & Vogel agree to discount such sales for the respective consignors.
“Schefer, Schramm & Vogel shall be entitled to a commission of two and one-half per cent, on the net amounts of sales, and interest in the accounts current with said consignors shall be charged and credited at the rate of six per cent, per annum.
“3. Radon & Co. agree to take charge of all said cor 'gned goods for Schefer, Schramm & Vogel and of the sale of said goods, and shall defray all the expenses incident to such sale or to the business conducted at 530 Broadway, including the rent of said premises and the premiums for insurance on the said consigned goods, and shall reimburse Schefer, Schramm & Vogel for all payments made by them for any such expenses. But all sales shall be under the supervision of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel and shall be made in their name and on their behalf, and all goods sold shall be charged on bill heads reading ‘Bought of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel.’ The terms of sale shall in no case exceed four months from date of bills. Radon & Co. shall furnish to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel monthly accounts of sales made for the resxjeetive consignors.
“4. Schefer, Schramm & Vogel do not assume the risk of overadvances and Radon & Co. shall be liable to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel for any loss which may accrue by any such overadvances. An account shall be kept between Schefer, Schramm & Vogel and Radon & Co. which shall be called ‘Radon & Co. Guarantee Account.’ In this account Radon & Co. shall be charged with [315]*315the net amounts of the account sales furnished by them to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel as aforesaid and also with the rent of said premises and premiums for insurance on said consigned goods and with any moneys paid by Schefer, Schramm & Vogel to Radon & Go., or on their behalf, to defray the expenses of the business conducted at 530 Broadway, or for any other purpose in connection therewith, and also with the commissions of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel payable as aforesaid. Radon & Co. shall be credited in said account with all payments upon the sales therein charged as aforesaid and they shall also be credited in said account with all commissions charged to consignors in their respective accounts current with Schefer, Schramm & Vogel.
“Radon & Co. shall at all times pay to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel, for credit to said guarantee account, a sufficient amount of money so that the debit of said account shall at no time exceed seventy-five per cent, of the solvent accounts then outstanding and representing the sales made as aforesaid in the department under the charge of Radon & Co.
“Interest shall be charged and credited in said guarantee account at the rate of six per cent, per annum.
“5. Radon & Co. shall be responsible for the stock of consigned goods of which they shall take charge as aforesaid, and for the management of the sales thereof, and they agree to furnish to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel letters from said consignors in which they shall respectively agree that Radon & Co. shall have the management of their sales and that Radon & Go. alone shall be responsible to them for such management, and that the responsibility of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel to said consignors shall be strictly limited to the financial part of the business entrusted to them as factors as aforesaid.
“6. This agreement shall continue in force for one year from January 1st, 1898, and after said date it shall continue subject to termination by either party upon six months’ notice in writing.”

Radon & Co. continued to transact business at 530 Broadway for about a year and a half after the making of this agreement, and then removed to 33 Greene street, and continued business there until April 14, 1903. On that day they filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy, and a receiver was appointed, who on April 15th qualified and took possession of the merchandise at 33 Greene street, and in a warehouse at 41 Thirteenth avenue. Schefer, Schramm Sc Vogel claimed to have a lien upon such merchandise and the outstanding accounts under the above agreement; and thereafter, under an order of this court, entered upon the consent of all the parties, the merchandise was sold, and the proceeds thereof, together with the proceeds of the outstanding accounts collected by the defendants, were deposited in a trust company, subject to the order of this court. Subsequently, by like consent and order, the money so deposited was delivered to the defendants; they giving a bond to pay to the plaintiff any amount which might be ultimately found to belong to the bankrupt estate.

In pursuance of the above agreement, the lease of the premises occupied by the bankrupts at 530 Broadway, and later of those at 33 Greene street, was assigned by Radon & Co. to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel. Schefer, Schramm & Vogel thereafter paid the rent to the landlord, and charged it to Radon & Co. in their account. Each of these premises consisted of an upper floor. On the street entrance were placed signs of “Radon & Co.” On the entrance door of the floor rented were placed two signs — one “Radon & Co.,” and below that “Schefer, Schramm & Vogel, Annex.” The merchandise shipped by manufacturers was invoiced to Schefer, Schramm & Vogel, and on its arrival at New York was delivered and kept at Radon & Co.’s place of business. Goods were also purchased by Radon & Co., and [316]*316delivered and kept at their place of business. The consignment business gradually diminished, and the purchases by Radon & Co. gradually increased, so that for several years before the failure, and at the time of the failure, most of the goods on hand were goods purchased by Radon & Co. The bills for mechandise sold, whether consigned or purchased, had printed on them at the top “Radon & Co., Woolen Commission Merchants, 32 Greene Street,” at one side, and “Bought of Schefer, Schramm & Vogel, 476 & 478 Broome Street,” on the other side. Rater an additional notice was stamped in red ink on the bills for goods sold, as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
131 F. 313, 1904 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryttenberg-v-schefer-nysd-1904.