Swallow v. First State Bank

161 N.W. 207, 35 N.D. 608, 1917 N.D. LEXIS 6
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 16, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 161 N.W. 207 (Swallow v. First State Bank) 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
Swallow v. First State Bank, 161 N.W. 207, 35 N.D. 608, 1917 N.D. LEXIS 6 (N.D. 1917).

Opinion

Christianson, J.

This is an action to recover the penalties allowed under the statute for, and the actual damages which plaintiff- asserts that he has sustained by, defendant’s refusal and neglect to satisfy two [613]*613certain, mortgages upon chattels and real estate. TJpon the demand of the defendant, the case was submitted to a jury for a special verdict. Judgment was ordered and entered against defendant upon such special verdict, and this appeal is from such judgment.

Plaintiff’s complaint originally set forth five different causes of action, — two causes of action for the statutory penalties and the actual damages alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff on account of defendant’s failure and refusal to satisfy a chattel and a real estate mortgage; and three causes of action for damages alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff by reason of defendant’s failure to make a certain real estate loan to the plaintiff. At the close of plaintiff’s case in chief, the trial court, upon defendant’s motion, directed a verdict in defendant’s favor upon the latter three causes, and the only matters submitted to the jury were the causes of action based upon defendant’s alleged failure to satisfy the chattel and real estate mortgages. These causes involved two elements: (1) The statutory penalty prescribed by § 6J49; and (2) the actual damages alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff by defendant’s wrongful act in refusing to satisfy such mortgages.

Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that plaintiff, on March 23, 1912, tendered to the defendant the full amount of the principal and interest due on the indebtedness secured by the two mortgages involved herein; that such tender was refused, and that thereupon plaintiff immediately deposited the amount so tendered in the name of the defendant in a bank of good repute within this state, and served notice of such tender and deposit upon the defendant; that thereafter plaintiff presented to the defendant releases of such mortgages for execution, and offered to pay the notarial fees for the proper acknowledgment thereof, but that defendant refused to execute such releases, or in any manner release such mortgages.

The defendant, in its answer, admits that it held the two mortgages against the defendant, but asserts that the mortgages provided for the payment of a statutory attorney’s fee in case of foreclosure, and that, prior to the time of the tender by the plaintiff, the defendant had delivered such mortgages to its attorneys with instructions to foreclose the same, and that consequently an attorney fee of $25, stipulated for in the [614]*614mortgages had become due and payable as a part of the amount secured thereby.

The uncontroverted evidence shows that on March 28, 1912, plaintiff’s attorney (Murray), called Orr, the cashier of the defendant bank, on the telephone three different times regarding the Swallow notes and mortgages. And while Murray and Orr differ somewhat as to the time of the day when these telephone conversations took place and the exact language used, they both agree that the conversations related to, and that Murray sought to ascertain, the amount due on these mortgages. They also agree that in the first conversation Orr stated that he was busy right then, but would answer later; that in the second conversation, Orr stated that he was still busy, and wanted some more time; and that in the third and last conversation, Orr told Murray to go and see his attorneys, Crane & Stone, as he had placed the mortgages with them for foreclosure. The uncontroverted evidence further shows that shortly after the conclusion of the third telephone conversation, Murray tendered to the defendant bank $845.80, the full amount then due for principal and interest upon the mortgages; that such tender was refused, and that thereupon Murray, as Swallow’s attorney, deposited such moneys to the credit of the defendant, in the First National Bank of Mott, and forthwith caused written notice of such deposit to be served upon the defendant. Orr claimed he had delivered the mortgage against Swallow to attorneys Crane & Stone for foreclosure, before the tender was made, and before any of the telephone conversations were had, and that consequently the attorney’s fees allowed by law for foreclosure had accrued, and the amount tendered was insufficient. Tie further claimed that the tender was not unconditional, but that Murray requested not only satisfaction of the two mortgages, but also the execution of a quitclaim deed for the purpose of releasing a certain loan application which had been recorded against the land. The testimony of Murray, and one Little, who was present at the time the tender was made, is, however, to the effect that the tender was absolute and unconditional. Little says that Murray made the tender in these words: “I hand you this money to pay the Bay Swallow real estate and chattel mortgages.”

'Appellant’s first assignment of error is predicated upon a ruling and certain remarks made by the court during the cross-examination of plaintiff’s witness Murray.

[615]*615The record on which this assignment is based is as follows:—

Q. How long, Mr. Murray, were yon over there in the bank ?
A, About five or ten minutes, about five minutes.
The Court: The court don’t hardly see the purpose.
Mr. Crane: Well, it is a question of good faith.
The Court: A tender is a tender whether it is good faith or bad faith.
Mr. Murray: At this time the plaintiff objects to any further testimony as to the hour of making the tender, as same is incompetent and immaterial, not within the issues.
The Court: I think they have a right to set the hour, but to go into all these details the court don’t think it cuts any figure. Objection sustained.

No complaint is made on the ground that the court erred in its statement of the law, but the specific objection urged in appellant’s brief is that the remarks of the court were prejudicial, “because the jury might infer that the good faith to which Mr. Crane referred had reference to the tender, as the remark suggests.” It is difficult to understand how any person could possibly construe Mr. Crane’s remarks in any other manner than they were construed by the court. If the court misunderstood him, or rather if Mr. Crane did not intend to say what his language clearly indicated that he intended to say, it was certainly his duty to correct the erroneous impression which his remark had created. In this case the jury was required to make findings upon certain specific questions of fact, and we are wholly unable to see wherein the remarks could have influenced the jury in arriving at such findings. ‘

Among others, the court submitted the following question to the jury: “Did the plaintiff make a full and unconditional tender to the defendant of the amount due on the note secured by the mortgages described in the complaint ?” It is asserted that this question is improper in this that it calls for a conclusion of law, and not of fact. By a special verdict a jury should find only the ultimate facts in controversy. The findings should contain only the conclusions of fact, and not the evidence to prove them. Russell v. Meyer, 7 N. D. 339, 47 L.R.A. 637, 75 N. W. 262. No objection was made to this form of the question. The court fully instructed the jury with respect to the matter referred to in this qucs

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
161 N.W. 207, 35 N.D. 608, 1917 N.D. LEXIS 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swallow-v-first-state-bank-nd-1917.