State ex rel. Langer v. Packard

168 N.W. 673, 40 N.D. 182, 1918 N.D. LEXIS 81
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 19, 1918
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 168 N.W. 673 (State ex rel. Langer v. Packard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Langer v. Packard, 168 N.W. 673, 40 N.D. 182, 1918 N.D. LEXIS 81 (N.D. 1918).

Opinions

Christianson, J.

This is an original proceeding in this court against the members of the state tax commission, the county commissioners, and county auditor of Cass county and the assessor of the city of Fargo, to prevent them from assessing and listing for taxation certain real estate mortgage securities belonging to the relators.

[191]*191The jurisdiction of the court has not been challenged. On the contrary, the attorney general of the state (who appears as one of the relators) and the members of the state tax commission (who appears as respondents) join in the request that this court assume jurisdiction.

The relator Wheeler, who is a resident of the state of Minnesota, avers “that he is engaged in the real estate and loaning business and in the purchase and sale of mortgages, bonds, credits, and other securities held and owned by him until collection thereof; that at times in the furtherance of his lawful occupation and business he advances and loans to citizens of the state of North Dakota moneys, and takes therefor notes, bonds, obligations, and other evidences of debt secured by mortgages upon real and personal property, and at times purchases the same, and for that purpose employs an agent in the state of North Dakota to take applications for loans, cause to be executed notes and mortgages, and forward the same to petitioner*, who forwards to the agent the moneys for said loans, which is by said agent delivered to the borrower within the state of North Dakota, which said promissory notes, mortgages, and credits, however, are not held in the state of North Dakota, but in the actual possession of the petitioner in the state of Minnesota; in some cases, however, after the time of assessment and levy, are at short periods in the possession of said agent in the state of North Dakota for collection purposes only, and never except for a few days, and that not until after all properly in said state, is listed for taxation for that year. That said bonds, notes, negotiable instruments, and mortgages are in different and various counties of the state of North Dakota, and are of different and varying values and are of different degrees, namely, first, second, and third mortgages; and that the equity in the property securing said evidences of indebtedness vary greatly in degree and time, and that the interest of this affiant therein is not subject to arbitrary classification, but depends wholly upon the circumstances surrounding the particular piece of property involved and the particular evidence of indebtedness and security involved; that the properties securing said evidences of debt are located in various taxing* districts of the state of North Dakota, and subject to the particular jurisdiction where levies are and have been made for the purpose of providing revenue for said particular taxing district and to meet the current expenses of [192]*192said taxing district; and said properties securing said indebtedness are also listed as against the owner thereof, and taxes paid thereon in the various taxing districts of the said state and the various counties and other governmental subdivisions.” He further avers that the moneys, credits, notes, and obligations so sought to be taxed by the respondents in the state of North Dakota are and have been taxed, in the state of Minnesota, the residence and domicil of the petitioner.

The corporation relators are all Minnesota corporations, and they allege that a part of their business has been to loan money on promissory notes, secured by mortgages on real estate in North Dakota, and that each of them has heretofore loaned large sums of money on promissory notes secured by mortgages on farm lands in North Dakota, and are now the owners and holders of such notes and mortgages, some of which are secured on lands situated in the county of Cass. It is averred that “persons or corporations living in the state of North Dakota or engaged in the banking, loan, or real estate business there, having applications for loans made to them by owners of farm and other lands in the state of North Dakota, submit such applications to the Capital Trust & Savings Bank, the applications for such loans being in writing, and are sent by mail to the office of the Capital Trust & Savings Bank at St. Paul, Minnesota, for its consideration. In some eases, said petitioner accepts such applications, and in other cases the applications are rejected. If the petitioner decides to make the loan applied for, the notes and mortgages are executed by the borrower, who is generally a resident of the state of North Dakota. The loan broker in North Dakota, through whom such application is made, attends to the execution and recording of all papers, and when the notes, mortgages, and other papers are complete, they are sent by mail to the petitioner at St. Paul, Minnesota, for its examination and approval. The said petitioner examines the papers at St. Paul; the abstracts of title are examined for it at St. Paul, and, if the papers are approved, the money loaned is transmitted by said petitioner, at St. Paul, to the loan broker through whom the application is received, the funds being transmitted by draft or cashier’s check drawn on funds in the state of Minnesota. The said petitioner has no agent acting for it in such matters in the state of North Dakota, and* the business is transacted through loan brokers in the state of North Dakota, who have no authority to [193]*193act for said petitioner or accept loans for it or bind it in any way. The loan brokers in North Dakota through whom such applications are received receive their commissions or compensation from the borrower, and act as the borrower’s agent. The mortgages and notes are usually signed within the state of North Dakota, but are passed on by the said petitioner at its office at the city of St. Paul. After the loan is made, the notes, mortgages, and other papers in connection with the loan are kept by said petitioner at its office in the city of St. Paul so long as it owns the same. The said petitioner does not and has not heretofore kept any funds within the state of North Dakota for investment. The notes secured by such mortgages are in all cases made payable at the office of said petitioner in the city of St. Paul. In some cases the said petitioner purchases mortgages from banks or persons engaged in the mortgage loan business in the state of North Dakota, and in all such-cases the papers relating to such mortgage loan are sent to the said petitioner at its office at St. Paul for examination and approval; and if the petitioner determines to purchase such loan, the purchase price is transmitted from the city of St. Paul by draft or cashier’s check or other like method, in the same- manner as where the loan is made by the petitioner in the first instance.” It is further averred that all the corporation relators pursued the methods just outlined in.obtaining the securities sought to be taxed.

It is asserted by and on behalf of all of the relators that the state tax commission has requested and demanded that each relator file a return, listing for taxation as credits or as personal property the notes' owned by them, secured as aforesaid by mortgages on lands in the state of North Dakota. And it is further asserted -that the respondents and each of them, claiming authority to do so by virtue of chapter 229, Laws 1917, have threatened to, and will, unless enjoined by this court from so doing, assess and list for taxation within the respective counties in the state of North Dakota the notes and mortgages so owned by the-several relators and held by them in the state of Minnesota.

These allegations are not denied.

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Related

Ness v. St. Aloisius Hospital
313 N.W.2d 781 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1981)
State ex rel. Lofthus v. Langer
177 N.W. 408 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1920)
Farwell, Ozmun, Kirk, & Co v. Wallace
177 N.W. 103 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1920)
Capital Trust & Savings Bank v. Wallace
177 N.W. 440 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1920)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
168 N.W. 673, 40 N.D. 182, 1918 N.D. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-langer-v-packard-nd-1918.