Simms v. Ramsey

90 S.E. 842, 79 W. Va. 267, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 40
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 21, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 90 S.E. 842 (Simms v. Ramsey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simms v. Ramsey, 90 S.E. 842, 79 W. Va. 267, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 40 (W. Va. 1916).

Opinion

Poffenbarger, Judge:

This appeal taken by judgment lien creditors involves primarily a question of priority of liens, turning on the status of a deed of trust which, on its face, purports to secure the payment of four negotiable promissory notes for the sum of $2,500.00 each.

The notes described in 'the deed of trust, payable to the order of J. P. Chapman and W.. E. Deegans, at the Kanawha Valley Bank, Charleston, W. Va., were made and delivered to the payees thereof by W. H. Ramsey, the judgment debtor, but he was not, at the date of the execution thereof, indebted to Chapman and Deegans in the sum of $10,000.00, the aggregate of the four notes, nor did they give in exchange therefor, money or property of that amount or value, or any other. Nor were any of the notes ever negotiated. Deeming the deed of trust, duly admitted to record, and the notes sufficient for their protection in the execution of a verbal contract or agreement between them and Ramsey, constituting the substantial, if not the sole,- consideration of the notes and deed of trust, they simply held the former and caused certain things to be done which, they claim, amounted to performance of the -oral agreement and brought certain large sums of money within the security and protection of the deed of trust. Some of the sums so claimed, aggregating $2,142.14, were allowed by the commissioner, and others, amounting to more than $8,000.00, disallowed;

One ground of resistance of the claims of Chapman and Deegans, is that they were hot due and owing to them in their individual capacity, nor, in a legal sense, at all, but to a corporation, the Payette Liquor Company, practically all of the stock of which was held by Chapman and Deegans. At the date of the execution of the notes and deed of trust, Ramsey was indebted to the corporation in divers sums amounting in the aggregate to $3,692.42. After the date of the execution thereof, he became indebted to it in other large sums. Still others for which Ghapman and Deegans may have been bound, the former as to some and the latter as to othters, were paid by it. In addition to this, Chapman and Deegans elaim $2,034.52, oh account of indebtedness of W. [270]*270L. Ramsey, not the debtor in tbe deed of trust, but bis son. This sum is made up of three different items, a balance due' from W. L. Ramsey of $719.52, on account of his notes paid; judgment debts against him in favor of the Winona National Bank, for $650.00, not paid; and notes of his to the National Bank of Thurmond for $665.00, on which Chapman is liable as endorser.

The basis of these claims is an alleged provision of the oral agreement, binding Chapman and Deegans to pay notes and debts of W. L. Ramsey for which W. H. Ramsey was bound. The commissioner disallowed these three items because he thought there was no proof of endorsement of any of the alleged notes by W. H. Ramsey. No such notes have been produced or filed. They claim also $1,300.00, on account of a note executed by W. H. Ramsey, endorsed by Chapman and payable- to the Ansted National Bank, in lieu of others of Ramsey’s notes, on which Chapman and Deegans, or one of them, was endorser; a note for $400.00 executed by Ramsey to A. S. Russell and payable to the Ansted National Bank; and a judgment against W. H. Ramsey, Chapman and Dee-gans for $320.30. These three items make up the amount allowed by the commissioner.

Chapman claims that, at the date of the execution of the deed of trust, he was surety for Ramsey in two forthcoming bonds, one taken on an execution in favor of the Quinnimont Coal Co., for slightly more than $2,000.00 and the other on an execution in favor of the Charleston Milling and Produce Co., for about $800.00, including interest and costs. Though he promised, in his deposition, to file these bonds and the checks showing payments of the amounts due on the executions, he filed only the latter of the two bonds, and some checks of the Payette Liquor Company payable to the sheriff of the county, one of which for $500.00 bears this memorandum: “W. H. Ramsey, Quin. C. Co. Judgment.” This, with another payable to the sheriff, makes up $2,234.27, the alleged amount of the Quinnimont Coal Co. judgment. Other checks of the Payette Liquor Co. payable to the sheriff amount to $1,525.01, a sum nearly double the amount of the Charleston Milling and Produce Co. execution. The residue went to [271]*271■discharge judgments in favor of the National City Bank for $315.81, and costs, A. Janutolo for $201.29 and costs and the Winona National Bank for $114.66 and costs and $103.32 .and costs. Whether either Chapman or Deegans was in any way liable for any of these judgments other than those in .favor of the Qmnnimont Coal Co. and the Charleston Milling .and Produce Co., does not appear. Chapman thinks.he was .surety in a forthcoming bond, other than the two here mentioned, but he does not specify it, wherefore the claim as to -it fails for want of proof. Two unpaid judgments apparently in favor of the Winona National Bank, were taken against ■Chapman, W. H. Ramsey, L. G. -Kincaid and W. L. Ramsey, •on notes of the latter, endorsed by his codefendants therein.

To the allowance so made, M. J. Simms who, as surety for Ramsey, had paid a judgment against himself and Ramsey in favor of the Montgomery National Bank for the sum of $f,031.67, and claims the benefit of the lien thereof by subro-gation, the Merchants National Bank of Indianapolis, Ind., having a judgment for $754.57, A. Janutolo holding a judgment for $137.32, W. A. Anderson, a judgment creditor in the sum of $186.12, and the Payette Bottling and Ice Co., a judgment creditor in the sum of $1,126.61, excepted, notwithstanding their judgments are subsequent to the date of •the deed of trust. To the disallowance of the larger portion of the amount claimed by them, Chapman and Deegans excepted. The court" overruled the exceptions of the judgment creditors, attacking the allowance made under the deed of trust, and, in large measure, sustained the exceptions of Chapman and Deegans. The aggregate of their claims was .$11,574.53, while the aggregate amount of the notes secured by the deed of trust and the interest thereon, at the date of the decree, was $10,968.28. Deeming the notes security for ■ their claims to the extent of the principal sums represented by them and the interest thereon, the' court limited their allowance to the aggregate of said principal sums and interest.

If the payee and holders of the notes had jointly paid debts . of the grantor in the deed of trust, whether liable therefor as . endorsers or otherwise, on the faith of an oral agreement to ..do so, constituting the consideration of the notes or basis of [272]*272tbe lien given them, that trust deed and notes would stand as security for the money so paid by them. An existing indebtedness in any form or. a verbal agreement to make future advancements in any form, constitutes a valid basis of a mortgage for a specific sum, such as the notes, here involved represent, and the lien thereof for advancements made under it is good against subsequent liens, in the absence of actual notice thereof before the advancements are made. Du Bois v. First Nat. Bank, 43 Col. 400; Bishop & al. v. Warner & al., 19 Conn. 460; Gardner v. Webber, 34 Mass. 407; Adams v. Smedley, 38 L. R. A. (Mich.) 490; McKinster v. Babcock, 26 N. Y. 378; Reeves v. Evens, 34 Atl. Rep. (N. J.) 477; Dunn’s Trustee v. McAlpin & Co., 90 Ky. 78; Corey v. Jackson Probate Judge, 56 Mich. 524; Showman v. Lee, 86 Mich.

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Bluebook (online)
90 S.E. 842, 79 W. Va. 267, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 40, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simms-v-ramsey-wva-1916.