Vaughn v. Commissary Realty, Inc.

174 N.E.2d 567, 30 Ill. App. 2d 296, 1961 Ill. App. LEXIS 416
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 16, 1961
DocketGen. No. 10,340
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 174 N.E.2d 567 (Vaughn v. Commissary Realty, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vaughn v. Commissary Realty, Inc., 174 N.E.2d 567, 30 Ill. App. 2d 296, 1961 Ill. App. LEXIS 416 (Ill. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

CARROLL, PRESIDING JUSTICE.

This is an action on a written guaranty agreement executed by defendant, Commissary Realty, Inc., a corporation.

The complaint alleges in substance that on or about February 11, 1957, the plaintiffs and defendant entered into a written lease whereby plaintiffs leased to defendant certain real estate in Champaign, Illinois, for ten years, at an annual rental of $2,900, payable in monthly installments of $362.50 for the months of April through November of each year; that certain assignments of said lease dated April 9, 1957, and April 25, 1957, were made by defendant; that prior to such assignments and on or about February 20, 1957, defendant made and delivered to the plaintiffs, a written agreement designated as a guaranty; that said guaranty reads as follows:

“Guarantee of a Land and Building Lease made by and between Commissary Realty, Inc., an Ohio Corporation of Wooster, Ohio, and Cyrus W. Vaughn and Maxine Vaughn, husband & wife of Champaign, Illinois dated the 11th day of February 1957, covering the premises situated at Lot Two (2) of Industrial addition to the City of Champaign, situated in' the City of Champaign, and State of Illinois,
which said premises are more particularly described in said Lease.

Whereas, Commissary Eealty, Inc., under the terms of the lease above referred to, is not liable for any default in rental payments by an assignee of said lease, and

Whereas, Commissary Eealty, Inc., is willing in this instance to enter into a Guaranty Agreement.

Now, Therefore, Commissary Eealty, Inc., does hereby agree and warrant for a period of four (4) years from this date, that should any assignee default for more than thirty (30) days in the payment of rent to Lessor, Commissary Eealty, Inc. will either exercise the re-assignment provisions as set forth in Article 17, of the Lease and thus cause the rental to be paid to Lessor, or will terminate and cancel the said Lease by paying Lessor in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) Upon paying Lessor the sum of Eight Thousand Dollars ($8,000.00) if cancellation occurs within one year from the date hereof.
(b) Upon paying the Lessor the sum of Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00) if cancellation occurs in the period commencing one year and expiring two years from the date hereof.
(c) Upon paying Lessor the sum of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00) if cancellation occurs in the period commencing two years and expiring three years from the date hereof.
(d) Upon paying Lessor the sum of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) if cancellation occurs in the period commencing three years and expiring four years from the date hereof.
In Witness Whereof, Commissary Realty, Inc. has hereto set its hand and seal this 20th day of February, 1957.
Witnesseth:
s/ Joan Y. Arndt
s/ H. C. Arndt
Accepted and Agreed to:
s/ Cyrus W. Vaughn, Jr. Commissary Realty, Inc.
Lessor
s/ Maxine Vaughn
Lessor
BY:
s/ Robert Critchfield
President.”;

that default in payment of the rent reserved under the lease has been made; that the rent in default exceeds $2,000.00; that in accordance with the said lease, plaintiffs on April 30, 1959, gave defendant notice of such default; that defendant nor any of the assignees have paid the rent in default, and that defendant has failed and refused to pay plaintiffs the sum of $4,000.-00 as provided in its guaranty agreement. Judgment in the amount of $4,000.00 was prayed. Copies of the lease, assignments and the guaranty are attached to the complaint. The lease is on defendant’s printed form and Paragraph 16 thereof reads as follows:

“16. This lease shall be an assignable lease, assignable to Commissary Corporation and by it only to the Franchised dealers of Dairy Isle stores (except as provided in Article 20, herein), and upon such assignments and the delivery of a copy of the assignment and assumption agreement by such Dairy Isle dealer of all the terms, conditions, agreements and covenants on the part of the assignee to be performed, the Lessee herein and Commissary Corporation shall be free and released from any and all further obligations. . .

that as a part of the printed lease there is an executed agreement form which reads as follows:

“For a valuable consideration, COMMISSARY REALTY, INC. does hereby assign, transfer and convey to COMMISSARY CORPORATION all of its right, title and interest in and to the foregoing lease subject to the terms, covenants and conditions therein contained.
COMMISSARY REALTY, INC.
C. S. SHANK
Vice President”

This agreement is undated and apparently was executed by the defendant at the time its officer signed the lease.

Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it fails to allege the giving of immediate notice to defendant of default in payment of rent and that, therefore, defendant was released from its obligation. The motion to dismiss was denied and thereupon defendant filed an answer alleging as affirmative defenses that defendant, Commissary Realty, Inc. was a separate corporation from Commissary Corporation; that the latter had made successive assignments of the lease; that on January 29, 1957, the defendant had assigned all of its interest in the lease to Commissary Corporation, which then became the lessee; that the guaranty agreement was executed without consideration and therefore void and that notice of default in the terms of the lease was..not given. These affirmative defenses were, denied by plaintiffs. The issues thus joined were submitted to the Court for determination and resulted in judgment in favor of plaintiffs for $4,000.00 and costs of suit. Defendant filed a motion for a re-hearing and modification of judgment and upon denial thereof it perfected this appeal.

As grounds for reversal defendant contends there was no consideration for the guaranty agreement, and that failure of plaintiffs to give defendant notice of the tenant’s default within the time specified in the guaranty was a complete defense to plaintiffs’ suit.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
174 N.E.2d 567, 30 Ill. App. 2d 296, 1961 Ill. App. LEXIS 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaughn-v-commissary-realty-inc-illappct-1961.