Watts v. Southern Surety Co.

248 N.W. 347, 216 Iowa 150
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 9, 1933
DocketNo. 41633.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 248 N.W. 347 (Watts v. Southern Surety Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Watts v. Southern Surety Co., 248 N.W. 347, 216 Iowa 150 (iowa 1933).

Opinion

*151 Kintzinger, J.

In 1928 the Southern Surety Company of Iowa sold to plaintiff certain Oklahoma improvement bonds, with a repurchasing agreement. In 1929 the Southern Surety Company of Iowa was taken over by the defendant, the Southern Surety Company of New York, which, in lieu of the repurchasing agreement of the Iowa corporation, executed a similar agreement to repurchase the bonds at their face value on October 15, 1931. It failed to carry out its agreement and this action was brought to recover $2,700 thereon on February 18, 1932. Under the writ of attachment issued on the same date plaintiff duly served notice of garnishment upon the Iowa Des Moines National Bank & Trust Company, the Central National Bank & Trust Company of Des Moines, and others.

The garnishees answered admitting an aggregate indebtedness of about $3,000 due the defendant herein; but both asserted they had been previously garnished in another action on a claim of $1,000.

E. W. Clark, intervener, was on the 23d day of March, 1932, appointed receiver of the defendant company in this state, in an action commenced by the Attorney-general of Iowa. The intervener filed a petition in intervention herein on April 30, 1932, alleging that on March 22, 1932, a decree was entered in the New York courts appointing a receiver, and ordering a forfeiture of the corporation charter and a dissolution of the corporation. He further alleges that any judgment entered against the defendant respecting any indebtedness due it from the garnishees would be in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of United States, and void under the full faith and credit clause thereof (article 4, section 1). Intervener therefore asks that this action be abated and the garnishment dissolved. The intervener admitted the allegations contained in plaintiff’s petition.

Plaintiff demurred to intervener’s petition of intervention because the facts therein stated did not entitle him to the relief demanded, because the receiver’s possession of defendant’s property in this state is subject to liens acquired before his right or title became vested, and because plaintiff’s rights were acquired by attachment and garnishment prior to the receivership proceedings.

I. Intervener claims that the decree of dissolution against the defendant corporation in the courts of New York completely abates the action pending in this state without any right of survival *152 for the purpose of winding up its affairs or for any other; that all rights of the plaintiff under the garnishment proceedings were terminated by the decree of the New York court dissolving the corporation and appointing a receiver. Counsel cite some federal cases supporting their contention. Pendleton v. Russell, 144 U. S. 640, 12 S. Ct. 743, 36 L. Ed. 574; Oklahoma Gas Co. v. Oklahoma, 273 U. S. 257, 47 S. Ct. 391, 71 L. Ed. 634.

An examination of these cases will show that the judgments therein were obtained after the dissolution of the corporation and without any appearance by the receiver of the corporation.

The case of State v. Fidelity L. & T. Co., 113 Iowa 439, 85 N. W. 638, cited by counsel as supporting their contention, simply holds that where the court has decreed (1) a dissolution of a corporation, and (2) the appointment of a receiver, and the corporation appeals from that portion of the decree appointing the receiver, but not from that ordering its dissolution, its acquiescence in the decree of dissolution terminates its existence so that it has no capacity to prosecute an appeal from the other division of the decree.

That case has no bearing upon the question involved in this case. Counsel also cite Tetzloff v. May, 172 Iowa 617, loc. cit. 623, 154 N. W. 905, 907, as supporting its contention because we there said:

“At common law death of a defendant abated an action, and as the action was abated, an attachment of necessity fell with it and was dissolved.”

That case, however, does not support intervener’s contention. The paragraph from which'the foregoing quotation is taken is as follows:

“So much depends upon the terms of the statutes in the several slates that a mere count of the cases does not show the preponderant weight of authority. At common law death of a defendant abated an action, and as the action was abated, an attachment of necessity fell with it and was dissolved. Our statutes, however, provide that all causes of action shall survive and may be brought, notwithstanding the death of the person liable (Code section 3443).”

In the case of Tetzloff v. May, 172 Iowa 617, loc. cit. 622, 154 N. W. 905, 907, we said:

*153 “We have heretofore held that an attachment on personal property in an action properly commenced is not dissolved by the death of the attachment defendant. Lord v. Allen, 34 Iowa 281. The reason given for this holding was that the attachment created a specific lien upon the property which was not dissolved by the death of the attachment defendant, following the case of Hannahs v. Felt, 15 Iowa 141, 144. * * It is true that many courts, in construing local statutes, have held that the death of an attachment defendant dissolves an attachment, whether it be upon real or personal property. [Cite a number of cases.] ® * * A contrary doctrine is announced in Moore v. Thayer, 6 How. Prac. (N. Y.) 47 [and a number of other cases cited].”

And then the court proceeded to say:

“So much depends upon the terms of the statutes in the several states that a mere count of the cases does not show the preponderant weight of authority.”

The Iowa statute, however, provides for a survival of actions. Code section 10957. And for the prosecution of actions already brought. Code section 10959, which provides:

“Any action contemplated in sections 10957 and 10958 may be brought, or the court, on motion, may allow the action to be continued, by or against the legal representatives or successors in interest of the deceased.”

The rule in this state is that the claim of a receiver of a foreign corporation, to its property in this state, will not be recognized by the courts of this state as against the valid claims of resident attaching creditor. Ayres v. Siebel, 82 Iowa 347, 47 N. W. 989; Parker v. Lamb, 99 Iowa 265. 68 N. W. 686, 34 L. R. A. 704; State Bank of Ottumwa v. McElroy, 106 Iowa 258, 76 N. W. 715;. Neb. Ins. Co. v. Eaton, 107 N. W. 214; Rickman v. Rickman, 180 Mich. 224, 146 N. W. 609, Ann. Cas. 1915C, 1237; Shloss v. Surety Co., 149 Iowa 382, 128 N. W. 384; Miller v. American Co-op. Assn., 110 Neb. 773, 195 N. W. 167.

In the case of the Shloss v. Surety Co., 149 Iowa, 387, 128 N. W. 384, 385, we said:

“The contention that plaintiff, on account of the receivership proceeding and decree of dissolution therein instituted and entered *154

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248 N.W. 347, 216 Iowa 150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watts-v-southern-surety-co-iowa-1933.