Vogan v. Lafayette South Side Bank Trust Company

101 S.W.2d 457, 193 Ark. 608, 1937 Ark. LEXIS 43
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 8, 1937
Docket4-4516
StatusPublished

This text of 101 S.W.2d 457 (Vogan v. Lafayette South Side Bank Trust Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vogan v. Lafayette South Side Bank Trust Company, 101 S.W.2d 457, 193 Ark. 608, 1937 Ark. LEXIS 43 (Ark. 1937).

Opinion

Baker, J.

Henry Quellmalz was thé'owner of a considerable amount of real estate in the western district of Clay county, Arkansas.' In addition, he was president and manager of the Henry Quellmalz Lumber & Manufacturing1 Company. This company was the owner of a considerable amount of real property. After Henry Quellmalz’s death the children, who with him, were the owners of all the capital stock of the corporation, transferred their respective shares to their' mother, Anna Quellmalz, who became president of the corporation: Henry A. Quellmalz, a married son, who is now deceased, became secretary of the corporation and manager of its affairs. Some time during the year of 1923 Henry A. Quellmalz entered into negotiations with the Lafayette South Side Bank & Trust Company to refinánce this corporation, and arrangements were made to borrow $100,-000. This money was to be used first to pay off all indebtedness, including a large amount already owing to the bank and other sums of money borrowed upon lands. Some of the lands had been mortgaged by the elder Henry Quellmalz and some, as we understand, hy the corporation. The financing scheme was completed and money was placed to the account of the Henry Quellmalz Lumber & Manufacturing Company with ■ an agreement that checks or drafts were to be countersigned by some member of the banking organization for the payment of debts. Numerous mortgages were paid off, some to insurance companies and loan companies, until all of the original debts were then represented by the one debt owing to the appellee bank. As time went on there was finally paid upon this indebtedness approximately $40,-000. The lumber company, however, had become delinquent in its payments, and also in payment of taxes and special assessments upon the lands. After a failure to refinance- the obligations of the corporation, suit was filed in the United States court to foreclose the mortgage or deed of trust. We are not favored with a. complete record of that proceeding, but there is an indication there was an effort on the part of some members of the family to assert individual interests in the lands, but this proceeding was abandoned, and not until later, the exact time is not material, a suit was filed by the heirs of Henry Quellmalz against the appellee, asserting that they are the owners by inheritance of aill the lands of which Henry Quellmalz died seized. They made no claim to any of the lands or any interest therein that had been owned by the Henry Quellmalz Lumber & Manufacturing Company. A decree was rendered in this suit in 1934.

The effect of this decree was to declare that appellant, Marie Quellmalz Yogan, and her sister, Thefela Quellmalz Mitchell, are the only ones having any interest in the lands which their father had owned as an individual, the finding being to the effect that the widow, of Henry Quellmalz and the other two children as officers of the Henry Quellmalz Lumber & Manufacturing Company, joined in the mortgage or deed of trust, as parties or officers of the corporation, conveying the land by the .mortgage or deed of trust to the appellee, as the property of the corporation, and that these parties were therefore estopped to set up any claim or interest in said property thereafter. No question is raised here by either of the parties as to the propriety or correctness of the decree, and no appeal was taken therefrom, and it was not thereafter changed or modified in any particular. There was a provision in that decree, however, to the effect that the two daughters who received an interest in the real property took the said lands, subject to certain rights of the appellee bank. The bank had furnished money, the $100,000, a great part of which was borrowed and used to pay off indebtedness upon these lands secured by mortgages and the effect, as we understand, of these proceedings, was to subrogate the bank, the appellee herein, to the rights of the original mortgagees, and at the time of the rendition of this decree the court appointed Mr. T. W. Ratcliffe, as special master to state an account, determining liow much indebtedness should be charged to the one-half interest in these lands recovered by the appellants, and also to determine what other indebtedness as taxes, special assessments or otherwise were properly chargeable against the property, and also to determine the rents and profits that had been derived or gained by the appellee from the use and occupancy of this property from and after the time it had acquired and taken possession thereof after the foreclosure in the United States district court.

Mr. Ratclifi’e, as master, was given access to the proof already taken, and was directed to take other proof as it might become necessary to determine the facts and state the account. He took some proof, filed his report, showing an indebtedness found and charged by him against this property after all credits and rents and profits had been given, amounting to approximately $38,000. Exceptions were filed by the appellants to certain parts of the master’s report and upon a hearing on these exceptions the court overruled all of them, confirmed the master’s report and ordered this property sold in satisfaction of the indebtedness. It is from this order and decree, confirming the master’s report, and also from a confirmation of the sale of the lands that this appeal is taken.

The exceptions filed cover the folloAving items: That the master' erred in finding and charging any of the expenses incurred by the defendant for a Avatchman, and, second, that the master erred in charging- any alleged losses of the defendant against the lands, and third, that the master erred in charging the amounts paid on a mortgage to the International Haiwester Company (meaning, as Ave suppose, International Insurance Company), and to the Deming Investment Company, and that he did not take into consideration or credit these amounts Avith payments that had been paid by the Henry Quellmalz Manufacturing Company on the original mortgage, asserting that the defendants were paid in cash such amounts of money before they paid debts to the International Harvester Company and Deming Investment Company. The fourth alleged error is in effect the same as the third relating to the payments of -the same mortgages. The fifth is to the effect the master erred in charging a part of the money alleged to have been advanced by the defendants in July, 1930, and to pay taxes, etc., upon the property, the allegation being that the advancement as made was made to pay taxes, and the taxes paid upon plaintiffs’ lands were duly charged in other items, and that these advancements were made to secure a new mortgage and security, and not for any consideration of value in regard to the lands of these plaintiffs; that the master erred in charging any part of the $170.67 for alleged repairs against appellants’- lands.

Let it be said in the beginning that since the appellants have not seen fit to abstract evidence as to these several items, 'but have contented themselves -with statements, so whatever discussion we offer will be based upon such statements, together with such other facts as we have been able to find from the report and other information as set forth in the briefs of appellants and appellees.

No objection is made as-to the proportional part of the many items which it is admitted were properly chargeable against the lands. The master states .-

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Bluebook (online)
101 S.W.2d 457, 193 Ark. 608, 1937 Ark. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vogan-v-lafayette-south-side-bank-trust-company-ark-1937.