Smith v. Northrup

29 N.Y.S. 851, 87 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 65, 61 N.Y. St. Rep. 602
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 15, 1894
StatusPublished

This text of 29 N.Y.S. 851 (Smith v. Northrup) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Northrup, 29 N.Y.S. 851, 87 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 65, 61 N.Y. St. Rep. 602 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1894).

Opinion

MARTIN, J.

This action was brought upon a written instrument or guaranty, which was as follows:

[852]*852“Clinton, N. Y., March 22, 1800.
“For value received, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, I hereby guaranty the payment of a certain bond and mortgage, bearing date the 22d day of December, 1885, and given by David Allen and Ann, his wife, to Loren Smith, deceased, within one year from the date of this instrument. Witness my hand and seal, this 29th day of March, 1890.
“Geo. B. Northrup. [L. S.]”

The defendant’s answer admitted signing and delivering a guaranty of the payment of the bond and mortgage mentioned in the foregoing instrument, and alleged that there was no valid consideration for the execution thereof, and “that the consideration for the guaranty moving from plaintiff to defendant was the agreement on the part of the plaintiff to suspend, or not to foreclose within one year, and that the guaranty did not itself contain the agreement, and being an executory agreement, not already fulfilled, but to be performed afterwards, it should have been a part of the guaranty, and that without it the guaranty could not be enforced.” As a further defense, the defendant alleged that such guaranty was obtained by the fraud and false representations of the plaintiff as to the number of prior incumbrances there were upon the premises mentioned in the mortgage referred to in the guaranty,, and that he relied upon such fraudulent representations when he executed the instrument in suit. Upon the trial, the question chiefly litigated was whether the guaranty was obtained by means of such fraudulent representations. That question was submitted to the jury in a charge whereby it was instructed that, if it found that the representations alleged were made as proved by the defendant, the plaintiff could not recover. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff. A careful reading of the evidence contained in the appeal book renders it quite manifest that the question whether the guaranty in suit was obtained by the fraud or fraudulent representations of the plaintiff was one of fact, and that its determination by the jury should not be disturbed. The appellant, however, contends that this guaranty was void under the statute of frauds, for the reason that it does not state the agreement of the plaintiff, which was the consideration for the defendant’s promise to guaranty the payment of the bond and mortgage described therein. On the trial, it was proved that the sole consideration for the guaranty was the agreement of the plaintiff not to foreclose the mortgage within one year. This was not disputed. The defendant’s precise claim is that the plaintiff’s agreement to extend the time of payment of the bond and mortgage for the period of one year; should have been set out in the guaranty as the consideration therefor, and that, having been omitted, it does not comply with the requirements of the statute of frauds, which provides that every agreement which contains a special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another person shall be void unless such agreement, or some note or memorandum thereof, be in writing and subscribed by the party to be charged therewith. We find no sufficient authority in the cases cited by the appellant to uphold his contention. We think they are clearly [853]*853distinguishable from this. In the case before us, the written instrument upon which this action is based was a guaranty of the bond and mortgage described therein, and contained all the provisions of the agreement to be performed by the parcy who signed it. Hence, the question here is whether the consideration for the defendant’s agreement was sufficiently stated. The writing stated that, “for value received, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged,” the defendant guarantied the payment, etc. Thus the first question presented is whether the words “for value received” were a sufficient expression of the consideration to constitute a A'alid contract under the statute of frauds.

In Miller v. Cook, 23 N. Y. 495, it was held that the words “for A'alue received,” in a guaranty of a promissory note, were a sufficient expression of the consideration to answer the requirements of the statute of frauds, and, in the opinion in that case, the cases of Watson v. McLaren, 19 Wend. 557, Douglass v. Howland, 24 Wend. 35, Cooper v. Dedrick, 22 Barb. 516, and Brewster v. Silence, 8 N. Y. 207, were referred to as authorities sustaining that decision. Mosher v. Hotchkiss, 3 Keyes, 161, is to the same effect. The doctrine of the Miller Case was also recognized in Drake v. Seaman, 97 N. Y. 230. Within the doctrine of these cases, it would seem that the words “for value received” were a sufficient statement of the consideration of the guaranty in suit to answer the requirements of the statute. Moreover, it appeared on the face of the guaranty that the debt secured by the bond and mortgage Avas to be paid in one year from date, and the debt was then past due. Construing these instruments (the guaranty and the bond and mortgage) together, in the light of the circumstances of this case, can it be said that it did not sufficiently appear on the face of the guaranty that the defendant’s undertaking was in consideration of the extension of the time of payment for one year? If not, then the writing was clearly sufficient to fulfill the requirements of the statute. In Ryde v. Curtis, 8 Dowl. & R. 62, a guaranty was in these terms: “I hereby agree to become security for Mr. B. <3r., now your traveler, in the sum of £500, for all money he may receive on your account;” and it was held that it sufficiently appeared upon the face of that instrument that the consideration for the guaranty was the continuance of the traveler in the service of the plaintiff. In Kennaway v. Treleavan, 5 Mees. & W. 498. where the words were, “I hereby guarantee to you the sum of 250 pounds in case Mr. P. should make default in the capacity of agent and traveler to you,” it was held that it sufficiently appeared in the guaranty that the consideration for the undertaking was the future employment of P. in the capacity of agent and traveler. In Newbury v. Armstrong, 6 Bing. 201, the instrument was: “I agree to be security to you for J. C., late in the employ of J. P., for whatever you may intrust him with while in your employ, to the amount of fifty pounds;” and it was held that the consideration for the guaranty sufficiently appeared,—that it was to be implied that C. had left one service, and the guaranty was given in consideration of his being taken into another. In Hutton v. Padgett, [854]*85426 Md. 228, the agreement was as follows: “I hold myself responsible to W. A. & W. W. Padgett, of Baltimore, Md., to the amount of $2,000, for any drafts they have accepted, or may hereafter accept, for John Latouche, now of Alexandria, Va.;” and it was held that, to bind a party upon a collateral promise to answer for the debt or default of another, it was necessary, under the statute of frauds of that state, that the consideration, as well as the promise, should appear from the writing; that it was sufficient if it might be collected or implied from the instrument itself; and that it was to be implied from the guaranty in that case that the consideration was that the plaintiff would accept the drafts for Latouche. In Gates v. McKee, 13 N. Y. 232, the guaranty was as follows: “I will be responsible for what stock M. E.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Drake v. . Seaman
97 N.Y. 230 (New York Court of Appeals, 1884)
Brewster v. . Silence
8 N.Y. 207 (New York Court of Appeals, 1853)
Union Bank v. . Coster's Executors
3 N.Y. 203 (New York Court of Appeals, 1850)
Miller v. . Cook
23 N.Y. 495 (New York Court of Appeals, 1861)
Fargis v. . Walton
14 N.E. 303 (New York Court of Appeals, 1887)
Church v. . Brown
21 N.Y. 315 (New York Court of Appeals, 1860)
Barney v. . Forbes
23 N.E. 890 (New York Court of Appeals, 1890)
Gates v. . McKee
13 N.Y. 232 (New York Court of Appeals, 1855)
Evansville National Bank v. Kaufmann
93 N.Y. 273 (New York Court of Appeals, 1883)
Mosher v. Hotchkiss
3 Abb. Ct. App. 326 (New York Court of Appeals, 1866)
Childs v. Barnum
11 Barb. 14 (New York Supreme Court, 1851)
Cooper & Peabody v. Dedrick
22 Barb. 516 (New York Supreme Court, 1856)
Leonard v. Vredenburgh
8 Johns. 29 (New York Supreme Court, 1811)
Rogers v. Kneeland
10 Wend. 218 (New York Supreme Court, 1833)
Watson's Executors v. McLaren
19 Wend. 557 (New York Supreme Court, 1838)
Douglass v. Howland
24 Wend. 35 (New York Supreme Court, 1840)
Newcomb v. Clark
1 Denio 226 (Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors, 1845)
Hutton v. Padgett
26 Md. 228 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1867)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 N.Y.S. 851, 87 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 65, 61 N.Y. St. Rep. 602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-northrup-nysupct-1894.