Streight v. First Trust Co.

275 N.W. 278, 133 Neb. 340, 1937 Neb. LEXIS 58
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 1, 1937
DocketNo. 30033
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 275 N.W. 278 (Streight v. First Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Streight v. First Trust Co., 275 N.W. 278, 133 Neb. 340, 1937 Neb. LEXIS 58 (Neb. 1937).

Opinion

Rine, District Judge.

This is an action brought by the appellant, Clara Alice Streight, who will hereinafter be referred to as plaintiff, against the appellees First Trust Company of Omaha and the National Company of Omaha, who will be hereinafter referred to respectively as Trust Company and National Company, for damages claimed to have been sustained by plaintiff through the alleged wrongful conduct of the defendant Trust Company while acting in a trust capacity. The defendant National Company succeeded to all the rights and assumed all the liabilities of the defendant Trust Company and cause of action against it is based upon that fact.

At the close of plaintiff’s case defendants moved the court for a directed verdict in their favor. This motion was sustained and the case was dismissed. From that action plaintiff has appealed.

On April 20, 1923, one Laura I. Troth obtained a loan of $75,000 from defendant Trust Company. This loan was evidenced by 85 separate bonds or notes, 65 of which were for $1,000 each, and 20 of which were for $500 each. An-[342]*342examination of these bonds or notes clearly indicates that it was contemplated that they should be sold and that when held by third persons the Trust Company should act as trustee for such persons in handling the loan. For convenience they will be referred to as bonds. These bonds were drawn payable to the order of First Trust Company of Omaha, drew interest at the rate of 5V& per cent, per annum, payable semiannually; the interest payments were represented by coupon notes which were made payable to First Trust Company of Omaha or bearer; both the bonds and coupon notes were made payable at the office of the Trust Company, Omaha, Nebraska.

The bonds that are the subject of this controversy were indorsed as follows: “For value received, the within note and attached coupons are hereby assigned without recourse. First Trust Company of Omaha, By Will T. Graham, Vice President.”

This Troth loan was secured by a first mortgage upon real estate located in Dixon county, Nebraska, consisting of several tracts of land aggregating somewhere between 860 and 880 acres. In addition to this first mortgage, the mortgagor therein at the same time gave a second mortgage for $3,750, which was payable in five annual instalments on May 1, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1928. These instalment payments were evidenced by five promissory notes for $750 each, payable to the order of the Trust Company, and represented the commission for making the loan.

Part of these bonds which the first mortgage was given to secure were sold by the Trust Company to investors; the remainder were retained by the Trust Company and were held by defendant National Company, the Trust Company’s successor, at the time of the trial of this case.

This first mortgage, among other things, provided that the mortgagor should procure and maintain policies of insurance on the buildings located upon the mortgaged premises in the amount of $8,000, loss, if any, to be payable to the mortgagee, the Trust Company, and that the mortgagee should have the right .to collect and receive all moneys [343]*343which might become payable from such insurance, and apply the same, when received, to the payment of the bonds and all amounts due thereunder; that the mortgagor should pay the taxes, assessments and public charges levied against the mortgaged premises, or any part thereof, before the same became delinquent, and all insurance premiums for the amount of insurance provided for in the mortgage, and that, if any thereof were not paid, the mortgagee might elect to pay such taxes, assessments; public charges and insurance premiums, and the amount so paid should be a lien upon the mortgaged premises, and be secured by the mortgage, with interest thereon at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum; that if the mortgagor should fail to pay the bonds secured or any interest on any of such bonds according to the tenor and effect of the bonds and coupons when the same became due, or if the mortgagor should fail to pay any tax, assessment or public charge or any insurance premium, or should fail in any particular to conform or comply with any of the conditions or agreements of the mortgage, then all of the bonds and interest thereon, secured by the mortgage, should at the option and upon the declaration of the mortgagee, without notice, at once mature and become payable; that in case the bonds and coupons secured by the mortgage, or any of them, were held by another party or other parties than the mortgagee, and by lapse of time matured and were not paid, or in case of default in any particular, either in the bonds or coupons, or in the provisions or conditions of the mortgage, and by reason thereof the bonds and indebtedness should be declared matured and payable, then, in either case, the Trust Company, as a trustee, for the like use and benefit of the holders of the bonds and the obligations secured by the.mortgage, might proceed to collect all of the bonds, interest thereon, and indebtedness however evidenced, by action or actions at law, and to foreclose the mortgage; that each and all of the bonds matured on May 1, 1933, and were without preference or priority or distinction as to lien or otherwise of any one bond over any [344]*344other bond by reason of priority in issue or negotiation thereof or for any reason whatsoever. These were the only provisions of the mortgage relevant here.

The first mortgage bonds contained, among other things, statements and provisions as follows: That the bonds were secured by a mortgage made by Laura I. Troth, widow, conveying to the Trust Company real property in Dixon county, Nebraska, and that it had been agreed that, in case default was made in the payment of any interest coupon or in the performance of any covenant contained in the mortgage, the bond and all interest coupons should forthwith mature and become due and payable, at the option of the Trust Company as trustee for the holder of the bond, without demand or notice; that the bonds should bear interest after maturity whether maturity resulted through the lapse of time or default, at the annual rate of 10 per cent., payable annually until paid; that each bond was one of a series of 85 bonds aggregating $75,000 secured by the Troth first mortgage, and that each and all matured on the same date and were without preference or priority or distinction as to lien or otherwise of any one bond over any other bond by reason of priority in the issue or negotiation thereof or for any reason whatsoever, and that if any default occurred in the bond or any of the bonds, or in the mortgage, then the Trust Company might, as trustee for the holders of the bond and of all the bonds, without notice to or hindrance from any one, declare the bond and all of the bonds matured, due and payable.

On March 14, 1924, plaintiff purchased from the defendant Trust Company seven of these first mortgage bonds for $6,000, their par value.

The record shows that subsequent to the purchase of these bonds by plaintiff the mortgagor failed to pay the interest coupons promptly as they became due. The mortgagee advanced the $2,062.50 necessary to pay the interest coupons falling due on May 1, 1924. This advancement was repaid by the mortgagor as follows: May 3, 1924, $1,325; May 22, 1924, $737.50. Money to pay the November 1, [345]*3451924, interest coupons in the amount of $2,062.50 was advanced by the mortgagee, and it was repaid by the mortgagor as follows: November 3, 1924, $1,670.01; December 6, 1924, $269.47; December 31, 1924, $123.02.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
275 N.W. 278, 133 Neb. 340, 1937 Neb. LEXIS 58, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/streight-v-first-trust-co-neb-1937.