Tower Underwriters, Inc. v. Culley

53 So. 2d 94, 211 Miss. 788, 1951 Miss. LEXIS 407
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMay 28, 1951
DocketNo. 37995
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 53 So. 2d 94 (Tower Underwriters, Inc. v. Culley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tower Underwriters, Inc. v. Culley, 53 So. 2d 94, 211 Miss. 788, 1951 Miss. LEXIS 407 (Mich. 1951).

Opinion

Hall, J.

Appellee brought this suit in chancery seeking an accounting from appellant and seeking to be declared the owner of the business operated in the City of Greenville under the name of Tower Loan Brokers and also seeking possession of said business. This appeal is from a decree granting the relief sought and awarding appellee a money judgment against appellant in the amount of $4,698.73 with interest at the rate of 6% per annum from March 15, 1950.

Appellant is engaged in the loan brokerage business with numerous offices in Mississippi which are operated under the name of Tower Loan Brokers. Some of these offices are owned by appellant and some have been by it sold to individuals under a franchise contract whereby the individual is authorized to continue operations under the same name, in the manner prescribed by the franchise, receiving a percentage of the brokerage fees, and being a general guarantor on all loans made by him. Appellee was operating one of these offices for appellant and on November 23, 1945, appellant entered into one of these franchise contracts with appellee whereby appellant sold its loan office at Greenville to appellee, and gave him the right to continue the use of the name of Tower Loan Brokers and obligated him to “broker” all loans through appellant. The consideration for this sale was $5,942.40 of which $1,742.40 was then paid in cash and the balance of $4,200 was to be liquidated at the rate of $100 per month beginning January 1, 1946.

[794]*794Paragraphs VI and YII of the contract are as follows:

“VI. Party of the second part reserves the right to cancel this contract if party of the first part fails to live up to its provisions, and likewise party of the first part may cancel the contract and reclaim the ownership of the franchise if party of the second part fails to live up to the conditions of this contract. Notice of cancellation by either party must be in writing and will not be effective until the expiration of ninety days from its date.
“VII. Party of the second part agrees that if party of the first part cancels this contract for any breach thereof by party of the second part all payments made by party of the second part are to be held until the loss liability, if any, of party of the second part can be determined, but said funds in any event shall be held for a period of not less than one year. Upon ascertainment of the loss liability of party of the second part, party of the first part agrees to return to party of the second part any portion of the original cash payment made under this contract for the franchise not needed to pay off losses. ’ ’

On July 31, 1947, appellant’s president, Wyatt Robinson, made an audit of appellee’s office and found that collections by him in the amount of $2,321.67 had not been remitted to Louisiana Discount Corporation which was the lending agency actually making the loans and to which both appellant and appellee were liable as guarantors. Thereupon it was agreed between Culley and Robinson that appellant would immediately take over the operation of the franchise and business and that all brokerage fees, above actual expense, would be used toward paying losses and shortages until fully covered and that the payment of all sums due or to become due to appellant would be deferred until the Louisiana Discount Corporation was paid off in full, and Robinson [795]*795gave Cully a written memorandum or letter to that effect, dated July 31, 1947.

Appellant accordingly took over the business and placed J. M. Menger in charge of its operation. For the period from August 1 through December 31, 1947, the appellant’s books showed a net profit of $1,122.69 after having charged to appellee a number of items for which he was not liable. Appellant contends that it became the owner of the business on the last mentioned date by virtue of a notice of cancellation given to Culley on September 22, 1947, as follows:

“Notice of Cancellation of Franchise.’
“At the time of discovery of the serious shortage I thought there still may be a chance to overcome the mismanagement in your office but the more I dig in the more I find that it is impossible.
“With this in mind, and with much regret, we find it necessary to cancel your franchise, and this is notice that under Section 6, of franchise dated November 23rd, 1945, you are hereby notified that franchise is terminated as of December 31st 1947.
“Your attention is also directed to Section 8 of the franchise wherein you become liable to us for losses which we shall be forced to pay off to the lender in your behalf, and this will be a rather stiff sum as you already well know.
“Notwithstanding the unfortunate outcome of the franchise, it is my sincere hope that you may become readjusted and find yourself and bring about a clearance of all your troubles.
“I remain,
“Your friend,
“(s) Wyatt Bobinson, President.”

It will be observed that this notice of cancellation is based upon Culley’s shortage which was fully known to appellant on July 31, 1947. Unquestionably appellant had a clear right to cancel the franchise contract when it discovered this shortage on July 31, 1947, [796]*796but after sucb discovery it waived its right to cancellation by its agreement with and letter to Culley on that date whereby it agreed to take over the business and operate it for Culley’s benefit. When appellant assumed this obligation the business began making a net profit of approximately $225 per month according to its own admissions, and yet in less than two months appellant sought to exercise the right to cancel as originally granted in paragraph VI of the franchise contract, which had been amended or modified by the subsequent agreement of July 31. We do not hold that appellant could never thereafter cancel the contract, but we are of the opinion that appellee was at least entitled to a fair chance and a reasonable time under the new working agreement with appellant in which to have the question determined whether the business could within a reasonable time pay off the obligations which the new agreement contemplated should be discharged. In 17 C. J. S., Contracts, Section 409, pp. 897-898, it is said: “Provisions for forfeiture may be waived by the person entitled to enforce them, either expressly or by implication, and the courts as a rule are quick to take advantage of circumstances indicating such an intention, although a waiver cannot be inferred from mere silence. Any inconsistent acts or dealings will be regarded as a waiver, but it has been held also that the intent to waive the forfeiture must be clear and unequivocal. Knowledge of the ground for forfeiture is of course essential to the waiver. A waiver once made cannot be recalled. Hence, after a party has acquiesced in a breach of the contract, he cannot thereafter urge a forfeiture because of such breach, unless he has given reasonable notice of an intention thereafter to enforce the contract according’ to its terms. A statement of a specific ground for forfeiture waives other breaches. ’ ’

Appellant contended at the trial that there were other good causes for cancellation which did not come to its notice until after July 31, but there was a [797]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
53 So. 2d 94, 211 Miss. 788, 1951 Miss. LEXIS 407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tower-underwriters-inc-v-culley-miss-1951.