Stackhouse Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Petry

231 N.E.2d 71, 12 Ohio App. 2d 68, 41 Ohio Op. 2d 122, 1967 Ohio App. LEXIS 380
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 31, 1967
Docket4679
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 231 N.E.2d 71 (Stackhouse Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Petry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stackhouse Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Petry, 231 N.E.2d 71, 12 Ohio App. 2d 68, 41 Ohio Op. 2d 122, 1967 Ohio App. LEXIS 380 (Ohio Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

*69 Lynch, J.

This is an appeal on questions of law by defendants, appellants herein, from the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas in favor of plaintiff, appellee herein.

Plaintiff sold a 1957 Cadillac coupe to defendant Eugene W. Petry in April 1960 for $2,787.82. Due to an error in the office of the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, which financed the sale of this automobile, the chattel mortgage listed the price of this automobile as being $2,074.82 instead of $2,787.82, and the amount received by plaintiff from the finance company for defendant Eugene W. Petry was short $713.00.

When the officers of plaintiff discovered this, they called it to the attention of defendant Petry, but Petry did not pay the balance.

One of plaintiff’s employees noticed an ad in the Youngstown Vindicator on Saturday, July 9, 1960, in which Petry was offering the 1957 Cadillac coupe for sale for $2,200.

On Monday, July 11, 1960, plaintiff filed a petition against Petry for the unpaid balance on this 1957 Cadillac coupe. At the same time plaintiff filed an attachment on the 1957 Cadillac coupe on the basis that Petry was about to convert this property into money for the purpose of placing it beyond the reach of his creditors.

In the meantime, defendant Donald P. Howell, who lives in Alliance, Ohio, saw the ad in the paper. On Sunday, July 10, 1960, he contacted Petry and agreed to buy the Cadillac automobile.

Howell and Petry met on Monday, July 11, 1960, about 10 a. m. at the Union Bank, Youngstown, Ohio, where Howell paid Petry $2,200, of which part was used to pay a chattel mortgage which was held by the Union Bank. Petry executed the assignment which is on the back of the certificate of title of the 1957 Cadillac coupe to Donald P. Howell in the presence of a notary public who was an employee of the Union Bank. Mr. Petry gave the certificate of title and the keys to the 1957 Cadillac automobile to Mr. Howell.

The 1957 Cadillac automobile was in Mr. Petry’s garage. Mr. Howell drove to Mr. Petry’s residence and was removing Mr. Petry’s license plate from the 1957 Cadillac automobile and was putting his own license plates on the automobile in the *70 driveway of Mr. Petry’s residence when the deputy sheriff arrived and attached the 1957 Cadillac automobile pursuant to the court order under plaintiff’s attachment.

Mr. Howell obtained a certificate of title for the 1957 Cadillac coupe in his name on the following day from Stark County.

On July 14,1960, the 1957 Cadillac coupe was released from the attachment upon the filing of a redelivery bond executed by defendants Petry and Howell and a Mr. Ben Hilson.

Prior to the trial of this case, defendant Petry filed a petition in bankruptcy in which he listed the claim of the plaintiff as one of his debts, and he was given a discharge in bankruptcy by the federal court on April 11, 1962.

Upon trial, the trial court found that defendant Petry owed plaintiff the sum of $713. The trial court further found that the title to the automobile, at the time of the attachment, was in the defendant Eugene W. Petry. The trial court rendered a “qualified judgment” against defendant Petry in the amount of $969.-68, representing principal and interest, and permanently restrained the plaintiff from seeking to collect the judgment from defendant Petry personally, and stated that plaintiff’s remedy was against the sureties, Donald P. Howell and Ben Hilson, on their bond. Motion for new trial was overruled, and this appeal was filed.

Plaintiff filed this attachment on this Cadillac automobile as a creditor of Petry and claims the right of possession of this automobile under this attachment, because the title of this automobile was still in the name of Eugene W. Petry at the time the automobile was attached. The answer of defendant Petry disputes plaintiff’s position and contends that at the time of the attachment the Cadillac automobile was owned by Donald P. Howell instead of Petry.

Thus, the title, right to ownership, and right to possession are issues in this case, and the burden of proof was upon plaintiff to show that he was entitled to possession of this automobile as a creditor of Petry.

The rights of plaintiff in this 1957 Cadillac automobile arise as a creditor of Eugene W. Petry, and the lien of plaintiff by reason of the attachment of this automobile is upon the interest of Petry in this automobile. Smyth v. Anderson, 31 Ohio St. 144; *71 Straus v. Wessel, 30 Ohio St. 211; Armstrong v. McAlpin, 18 Ohio St. 184; and 5 Ohio Jurisprudence 2d 654, Attachment, Section 304.

The only evidence that plaintiff introduced as to the title to this 1957 Cadillac coupe at the time of the attachment was the testimony of John Hanlon, an employee of plaintiff, who was present with the deputy sheriff when this automobile was attached. Mr. Hanlon testified that Mr. Howell produced a certificate of title to this automobile, which was issued in the name of Eugene Petry.

Defendants introduced as evidence defendants’ exhibit 3, which is a copy of the certificate of title to the 1957 Cadillac coupe. This exhibit reveals that the certificate of title was issued to Eugene W. Petry. On the back of the certificate of title appears an assignment of this title to Donald P. Howell signed by Eugene W. Petry on July 11,1960, before a notary public.

Section 4505.03 of the Eevised Code provides in part as follows:

“No person, * * * shall sell or otherwise dispose of a motor vehicle without delivering to the purchaser or transferee thereof a certificate of title with such assignment thereon as is necessary to show title in the purchaser; nor shall any person purchase or otherwise acquire a motor vehicle without obtaining a certificate of title for it in his name in accordance with Sections 4505.01 to 4505.19, inclusive, of the Eevised Code.”

Section 4505.04 of the Eevised Code provides in part as follows:

“No person acquiring a motor vehicle from the owner thereof, whether such owner is a manufacturer, importer, dealer, or otherwise, shall acquire any right, title, claim, or interest in or to said motor vehicle until such person has had issued to him a certificate of title to said motor vehicle, or delivered to him a manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate for it; nor shall any waiver or estoppel operate in favor of such person against a person having possession of such certificate of title, or manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate for said motor vehicle, for a valuable consideration.
“No court in any case at law or in equity shall recognize the right, title, claim, or interest of any person in or to any mo *72 tor vehicle sold or disposed of, or mortgaged or encumbered, unless evidenced:
“(A) By a certificate of title or a manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate issued in accordance with Sections 4505.01 to 4505.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
231 N.E.2d 71, 12 Ohio App. 2d 68, 41 Ohio Op. 2d 122, 1967 Ohio App. LEXIS 380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stackhouse-oldsmobile-inc-v-petry-ohioctapp-1967.