Siegel v. Union Assurance Society

90 Misc. 550, 153 N.Y.S. 662
CourtCity of New York Municipal Court
DecidedMay 15, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 90 Misc. 550 (Siegel v. Union Assurance Society) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering City of New York Municipal Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Siegel v. Union Assurance Society, 90 Misc. 550, 153 N.Y.S. 662 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1915).

Opinion

Finelite, J.

The plaintiff was the owner of an automobile which was insured by the defendant for the sum of $1,500 under a policy of insurance issued by the defendant to the plaintiff on the 24th day of May, 1914, against loss or damage to said automobile by theft, robbery or pilferage by any person or persons other than those in the employment, service or household of the plaintiff. The automobile was valued at the sum of $1,500. Thereafter, about the 28th day of September, 1914, said car was placed in the garage and salesroom of B. W. Lewis, Inc., in the city of New York, under instructions of the plaintiff to his chauffeur to take said car to the garage of B. W. Lewis, Inc., for the sale of the same. Thereupon an agreement was entered into, which reads as follows: ‘6 This is to acknowledge receipt of your 1913 Hudson touring car, with the following equipment: Two shoes, regular equipment. It is agreed and understood that R. W. Lewis, Inc., is to sell said car and pay you the sum of $700 in full payment for same, said payment to be made after R. W. Lewis, Inc., has sold above mentioned car. It is further agreed and understood that there is to be no charge for storage or other charges and that you may end this contract and remove car at any time prior to sale without [552]*552notice. I am the sole owner of the above mentioned automobile and guarantee same to be free and clear from all incumbrances'. These statements are made by me for the purpose of inducing the it. W. Lewis, Inc., to accept my car as above mentioned. Date, September 28, 1914. Witness, E. Garcel, R. W. Lewis, Inc. By A. E. Kannengieser, H. A. Siegel. Accepted, Harry Prince, 19 West Twenty-third street. Chelsea 5936.” Harry Prince was the chauffeur of the plaintiff, who was directed by the plaintiff to take said car to the garage of Lewis, Inc. About five o ’clock in the afternoon of said day the plaintiff had a conversation by ’phone with Kannengieser, the representative of B. W. Lewis, Inc., notifying him to do nothing further with the car until the plaintiff communicated with B. W. Lewis, Inc., which he would do in the morning; that on the following morning, September twenty-ninth, about noon, plaintiff endeavored to get into communication with Lewis and found that the said Lewis had the night before disposed of the car for the sum of $400'. Lewis admitted that the car was sold about seven o’clock in the evening of September 28, 1914, to a man whose name is unknown, for the sum of $400. Plaintiff contends that by the disposal of the car by Lewis without waiting the further instructions from the plaintiff and after signing the agreement hereinabove quoted there was a larceny or theft of the property insured under the policy issued by the defendant for which the defendant would be held liable, because Lewis disposed of the car without returning the proceeds thereof and disobeying the conditions of the agreement aforesaid, to wit, and it is agreed and understood that B. W. Lewis, Inc., is to sell said car and pay the sum of $700 in full payment for same, said payment to be made after Lewis, Inc., has sold above mentioned car. ’ ’ By [553]*553the said Lewis, Inc., disposing of said car and appropriating the money to its own use, the plaintiff contends that this in itself was a larceny or theft for which the defendant would be liable under its policy, but reference must be had to the Personal Property Law (Consol. Laws, chap. 41; Laws of 1901, chap. 45; Laws of 1911, chap. 571) for the contract of sale on which the defendant relies, contending that thereunder no liability exists against it for the retention of the proceeds of the sale of said car by Lewis, Inc., under and pursuant to the contract made between the plaintiff and the said Lewis, Inc., for the sale of said car. ' Section 100 of the Sales Act of the Personal Property Law expressly reognizes the contract of"” sale or return,” and makes provision for it in section 100, which reads in part as follows: ‘ ‘ Unless a different intention appears, the following are rules for ascertaining the intention of the parties as to the time at which the property in the goods is to pass to the buyer * * * Rule 3. When goods are delivered to the buyer ‘ on sale or return, ’ or on other terms indicating an intention to make a present sale, but to give the buyer an option to return the goods instead of paying the price, the property passes to the buyer on delivery, but he may revest the property in the seller by returning or tendering the goods within the time fixed in the contract, or, if no time has been fixed, within a reasonable time.” The reasonable time in said rule refers to when the contract - was to be terminated between the parties by demand made by the vendor upon the vendee, as in the case at bar. Lewis, Inc., had the privilege of returning the automobile to the plaintiff at any time prior and up to the time the plaintiff might make a demand upon him for the return of the same. Thereafter R. W. Lewis, Inc., was indebted to plaintiff in the sum of $700' for [554]*554goods sold and delivered. This section of the Personal Property Law has been passed npon in numerous cases wherein the courts have held that they were of the opinion that it only applies to cases in which a sale has been agreed upon, subject to the test being satisfactory; in other words, the statute was intended to apply to conditional sales of goods. The legislature did not intend to attempt to force a sale where the goods have merely been delivered on trial. Goods are often thus delivered with a view to negotiating if the test proves satisfactory. That is a reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence with respect to the delivery and installation of the property in question. Fox v. Proctor, 160 App. Div. 712. To quote from House v. Beak, 141 Ill. 290: “A contract, on sale and return, is an agreement by which goods are delivered by a wholesale dealer to a retail dealer to be paid for at a certain rate, if sold again by .the latter; and if not sold to be returned (Story on the Law of Sales, sec. 249). If the vendee returns the goods, the contract "of sale is at an end; if he does not, the sale becomes absolute, and the price of the goods may be recovered in an action for goods sold and delivered. If no time is specified within which the return is to be made, the law implies that they are. to be returned within a reasonable time. What is a'reasonable time will depend upon the circumstances of each case (id.). In such cases, the property in the goods passes to the purchaser, subject to an option in him to return them within a fixed or reasonable time; the price is fixed at the time of the sale and delivery of the goods; the purchaser deals with the goods as his own, disposes of them as he pleases, for cash or on credit, is under no obligation to give any account of his disposition of them, and is only liable to pay for them at a price fixed beforehand, with[555]*555out any reference to the price at which he sells them. Jameson v. Gregory, 4 Metc., Ky. 363; In re Linforth, 4 Sawy. 370; Ex parte White (In re Nevill), L. R. 6 Ch. App. 397; see also Schlesinger v. Stratton, 9 R. I. 578; Buswell v. Bicknell, 17 Me. 344; Smith v. Clews, 105 N. Y. 283; Benjamin on Sales, 7th ed, sec. 597, at pp. 606 and 607, American Note.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
90 Misc. 550, 153 N.Y.S. 662, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/siegel-v-union-assurance-society-nynyccityct-1915.