Thompson v. Bank of Commerce (In re Thompson)

16 B.R. 431, 6 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 838, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 5066
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 14, 1982
DocketBankruptcy No. 181-11187; Adv. No. 181-0283
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 16 B.R. 431 (Thompson v. Bank of Commerce (In re Thompson)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Bank of Commerce (In re Thompson), 16 B.R. 431, 6 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 838, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 5066 (E.D.N.Y. 1982).

Opinion

MANUEL J. PRICE, Bankruptcy Judge.

This is an action brought by Enid Thompson, the debtor herein, against the Bank of Commerce (The Bank), The Dartmouth Plan, Inc. (Dartmouth), and Glenn Street Builders, Inc. (Glenn) to vacate and set aside a second mortgage dated July 17, 1979, in the sum of $8,000 on her home at 1354 Pinson Street, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, on the ground that her signature and that of her husband, Ralph Thompson, were forged, that it was fraudulently prepared, executed and recorded, and for the rejection of the secured claim filed by the Bank based upon it. The Bank and Dartmouth have each interposed an answer denying the allegations of the complaint. Glenn is out of business and has defaulted.

These are the facts:

The debtor filed a petition for relief pursuant to Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 (The Bankruptcy Code or the Code), 11 U.S.C. § 1301 et seq. on April 9, 1981. She listed the Bank in paragraph 11 of her Chapter 13 Statement as an unsecured creditor for $10,098.47. On May 13, 1981, the Bank filed a proof of claim as a secured creditor in that amount and filed a rejection of the debtor’s plan.

The debtor and her husband are the owners of a two-family house at 1354 Pinson Street, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. They have not been living together since sometime in 1976. On June 13, 1979, one Jeff Cole (Cole), a door-to-door salesman employed by Glenn, a company engaged in the home repair and improvement business, came to her home to solicit business. At that time, she had a “bad roof” (S.M. p. 8,1. 21), so she admitted him because she could see “no harm” in seeing “what they [s/c] [432]*432have to offer” (id. 11. 21-22). She and Cole discussed the work which was to be done on her home and the method of payment. In order to induce her to sign the agreement, he told her that the payments would not start until October (id. 11. 24-25). She then entered into a “Home Improvement Agreement” with Glenn whereby she agreed to pay $8,000 for a new roof and various other improvements provided for therein. She signed her name to the agreement and, at Cole’s direction, she signed her husband’s name thereto (S.M. p. 12, 11. 3-4; Exhibit D-

Although, pursuant to the terms of the agreement, she had three business days to cancel the transaction (June 13, 1979 was a Wednesday so she had until midnight of Monday, June 18, 1979 to cancel) and although the work was not to start until Cole “[got] back” to her with the credit terms, the materials necessary to perform the work were delivered by the end of the week (S.M. p. 12, 1. 22 — p. 13, 1. 3; 1. 18-21).

About a week or a week and a half thereafter, Cole returned and asked her to sign various other documents which she signed in blank after which he left her a copy of the agreement and the completion certificate.

Glenn evidently had a financing arrangement with Dartmouth which, in turn, had such an arrangement with the Bank, for shortly thereafter she received a letter from Dartmouth, dated June 19, 1979, advising her that her “Retail Instalment Obligation to finance [her] property modernization [would] be assigned by The Dartmouth Plan” to the Bank of Commerce and then the “net amount [of] $8,000” was to “be repaid in 120 equal installments of $130.25 per month” (Exhibit 5). Upon receipt of the letter, the debtor called the Bank and told the person with whom she spoke that she had not received any papers in connection with the financing and was told “not to worry, because no monies [would] be paid out until they [sic] receive a copy from the Glenn Street Builders or Jeff Cole, to verify that the job was completed, and they [sic] then [would] pay them” (S.M. p. 52, 1. 18— p. 53, 1. 6). Thereafter she received a coupon payment book from the Bank and she commenced making payments of $130.25 which she continued until she ran into financial difficulty which caused her to file the petition for relief.

The debtor was the only witness called on her behalf. She admitted that she signed her name and her husband’s to the “Home Improvement Agreement” dated June 13, 1979 (Exhibit 1) and she admitted that she signed her name to the “Completion Certificate” dated June 13, 1979 (Exhibit 2). However, she denied that she signed her name or husband’s name to the “Credit Application” (Exhibit 3), the “Retail Instalment Obligation” dated June 13, 1979 (Exhibit 4), the “Mortgage Agreement” dated July 17, 1979 (Exhibit 6), or the “Buyer’s notice of the right to rescind” dated June 13, 1979 (Exhibit A) although she admitted that the signatures looked like her handwriting.

The Bank and Dartmouth called as their principal witness a handwriting expert, Joseph P. McNally, a retired captain of the New York City Police Department. He testified that he had compared the signatures on the documents which the debtor denied signing with the signatures which she conceded were hers, namely, those on Exhibits 1, 2 and B, one through six, which consisted of six of her personal checks and had come to the conclusion that the debtor had signed her name and that of her husband to the questioned documents.

Mr. McNally’s qualifications were impeccable. He testified as to his training and experience at great length and his qualifications were conceded by the attorney for the debtor (S.M. p. 64, 1. 13 — p. 68, 1. 3). He described, in detail, his analysis and the comparison which he made of the genuine signatures with the questioned ones and gave the reasons for his conclusion that the debtor had signed them both. His testimony was clear, unequivocal and convincing and I accept his conclusion that the debtor signed her name and that of her husband to the various questioned documents including the mortgage.

[433]*433It is the defendants’ contention that the only issue to be decided in this case is “was the mortgage duly signed by the plaintiff, and did she also sign Ralph Thompson’s name thereto?”

“If the Court holds that the mortgage was duly signed by plaintiff, the adversary proceeding must be dismissed.” (Defendants’ Post-Trial Memorandum of Law, p. 4)

I disagree. Since the debtor has raised the contention that the mortgage in question was fraudulently prepared, executed and recorded there must be a finding that she knowingly entered into it and that it was not obtained by fraudulent misrepresentations. Triad Distributors, Inc. v. Conde, 56 A.D.2d 648, 391 N.Y.S.2d 897 (App.Div., 2d Dept.), leave to appeal denied, 42 N.Y.2d 803 (1977); Roscoe v. Safford, 61 A.D. 289, 70 N.Y.S. 309 (App.Div., 3d Dept. 1901); Blum v. Hoffkins, 210 A.D. 748, 206 N.Y.S. 587 (App.Div., 2d Dept. 1924), aff’d, 244 N.Y. 531, 155 N.E. 883 (1926).

Let us examine the circumstances under which the mortgage and the other documents were signed. The only witness to the actual events which occurred in connection with the home improvement contract involved in this case who testified herein is the debtor. No attempt was made by the defendants to locate or subpoena Cole, the door-to-door salesman who sold the debtor a job for $8,000, which actually turned out to cost $15,630 (see Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4). Except for the question of the signatures, her testimony is uncontroverted. It is to the effect that she never was told by Cole that she would have to mortgage her home in order to have the work done. Her testimony on that score is perfectly clear:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 B.R. 431, 6 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 838, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 5066, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-bank-of-commerce-in-re-thompson-nyed-1982.