Walker v. Jim Austin Motor Company

162 So. 2d 135
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 27, 1964
Docket6089
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 162 So. 2d 135 (Walker v. Jim Austin Motor Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Jim Austin Motor Company, 162 So. 2d 135 (La. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

162 So.2d 135 (1964)

Mrs. Ruby WALKER, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
JIM AUSTIN MOTOR COMPANY, Inc. and Connecticut General Life Ins. Co. of Hartford, Connecticut, and Universal C. I. T. Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 6089.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 2, 1964.
Rehearing Denied April 6, 1964.
Writ Refused May 27, 1964.

*136 Ponder & Ponder, by L. B. Ponder, Jr., Amite, for appellant.

Kantrow, Spaht & Kleinpeter, by John Schwab, George S. Womack, Baton Rouge, for appellees.

Before ELLIS, LOTTINGER, HERGET, LANDRY and REID, JJ.

ELLIS, Judge.

Plaintiff, as the widow and duly qualified administratrix of the succession of her late husband, Melvin Walker, and as natural tutrix of their two minor children, has filed this suit in which she prayed for judgment "* * * reforming the bill of sale to show that Melvin Walker was the purchaser of the Cadillac in question and as such the insured in question and mortgagor to Universal C.I.T. Credit Corporation and that there be judgment in favor of petitioner and against the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company in the full sum of $3415.00 payable to petitioner and Universal C.I.T. Credit Corporation as their interests appear and that petitioner do have the further judgment against Universal C.I.T. Credit Corporation requiring it to return to her for cancellation the mortgage note and that the bill of sale be reformed to show that Melvin Walker was the purchaser, the mortgagor and the insured under the aforesaid described group insurance policy."

The case was duly tried and judgment rendered denying the demands of the plaintiff and dismissing her suit at her cost, and she has accordingly appealed to this court.

*137 There is no conflict as to the facts in this case which are relatively simple. On May 23, 1961 Melvin Walker, husband of plaintiff herein, went to the Jim Austin Motor Company, Inc., an automobile dealer in the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the purpose of purchasing a used Cadillac automobile. He was accompanied by an employee, Nelson White. When they arrived at the motor company Walker selected a 1959 Cadillac which was priced to him at $3400.00, with a down payment to be made of $500.00, leaving an unpaid balance of $2900.00, and which was to be covered by insurance with a premium of $277.80, finance charges of $717.70, and $15.00 for official fees, which totalled a time balance of $3910.50. Included in the insurance coverage was the policy issued by Connecticut General Life Insurance Company in its group life insurance policy No. CM1811, which by its terms, in the event of the death of the purchaser of the mortgaged car, would pay the balance of any indebtedness on the automobile at that time.

After the terms had been agreed upon, the representative of the motor company apparently called the finance company, for in a short time he informed Walker in the presence of White that the company could not get insurance in Walker's name which, as shown was due to some difficulty with regard to the destruction of four trucks by fire which had belonged to Walker and for which he had a law suit pending. The motor company told Walker they could not finance the sale, and either asked him whether he could put it in anybody else's name or he asked them, and he told them he had a sister working in Baton Rouge named Miss Ann M. Walker. The motor company got in touch with Universal C.I.T. Credit Corporation who in turn made a credit check on Ann M. Walker of Baton Rouge, as per "Customer Statement and Investigation Sheet", which was offered in evidence, and agreed to accept a chattel mortgage given by her on the purchase of the automobile. Ann M. Walker then purchased the automobile, gave a chattel mortgage, signed the note and also left a check for $100.00 to complete the cash payment demanded by the motor company as her brother was short in that amount. The motor company held this check, which was later replaced by Melvin Walker, and the check returned to his sister. In connection with the sale of the automobile as per chattel mortgage to Ann M. Walker, the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company issued its group life insurance policy "insuring persons indebted to UNIVERSAL C. I. T. CREDIT CORPORATION OR ITS AFFILIATED CORPORATION" covering the life of Ann Walker.

Immediately after the transaction regarding the purchase of the car by Ann M. Walker was completed, her brother, Melvin Walker, took possession of the Cadillac automobile and brought it back to his home in Tangipahoa, Louisiana, where he retained full possession until the date of his death, June 20, 1961. Ann M. Walker paid on installment of $130.35 after the death of her brother. Subsequent installments became delinquent and suit was filed by the Universal C.I.T. Credit Corporation against Ann M. Walker, being No. 84,332 of the Nineteenth Judicial District Court in and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The present suit was filed on August 25, 1961, which in the main requests a reformation of the sale to Ann Walker and, finally, if successful, payment of the balance due on the note given in connection with the chattel mortgage on the car by Ann Walker under the terms of the group life insurance policy issued by the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut.

There is no doubt from the testimony that Melvin Walker intended to buy this Cadillac, nor that, when he was informed by the motor company that financing and insurance could not be secured by him, he suggested and asked if his sister, Ann M. *138 Walker, could not be the purchaser in his place and stead. Her credit rating and character were investigated by the finance company who no doubt notified the Jim Austin Motor Co. Inc., that she would be acceptable, and, naturally, the latter was glad to sell the car to her. There was no misunderstanding or error with regard to this transaction insofar as the motor company, Melvin Walker, or his sister were concerned. There is no doubt in the court's mind that she was doing this as a favor to her brother. We find nothing in the record showing any previous knowledge on the part of the finance company nor the insurance company which would justify a reformation of their contract.

The law with regard to reformation of contracts is concise and well-settled. In Agurs v. Holt, 232 La. 1026, 95 So.2d 644, the Court stated:

"The law respecting reformation of instruments is well settled here and elsewhere. It is an equitable remedy and lies only to correct mistakes or errors in written instruments when such instruments, as written, do not express the true contract of the parties. See Ober v. Williams, 213 La. 568, 35 So.2d 219, citing 45 Am.Jur. Sec. 45 et seq. It is a personal action, even when applied to real estate (see Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation v. Gandy, 168 La. 37, 121 So. 183), in which the burden is on the one seeking reformation to establish the mutual error and mistake by clear and convincing proof, parol evidence being admissible for this purpose. Waller v. Colvin, 151 La. 765, 92 So. 328; Smith v. Chappel [Chappell], 177 La. 311, 148 So. 242; Fair v. Williams, 187 La. 953, 175 So. 631 and Southwest Gas Producing Co. v. Hattie Brothers, 230 La. 339, 88 So.2d 649. Hence, it follows that the instant case presents for determination mainly a question of fact, bearing in mind that plaintiff carries the burden of proof and that the evidence of mutual error must be strong and convincing."

Also in Reynaud v. Bullock, 195 La. 86, 196 So. 29, the court held:

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Bluebook (online)
162 So. 2d 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-jim-austin-motor-company-lactapp-1964.