Josiah Coder v. William Arts

• Decision Date: 05 April 1909
• Docket Number: No. 93,93
• Citation: 213 U.S. 223,29 S.Ct. 436,53 L.Ed. 772,16 Ann. Cas. 1008
• Parties: JOSIAH CODER, Trustee of the Estate of Alexander Armstrong, Bankrupt, Appt., v. WILLIAM ARTS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

213 U.S. 223

29 S.Ct. 436

53 L.Ed. 772

JOSIAH CODER, Trustee of the Estate of Alexander Armstrong, Bankrupt, Appt.,

v WILLIAM ARTS.

No. 93.

Argued January 26, 1909.

Decided April 5, 1909.

Mr. Myron L. Learned for appellant.

[Argument of Counsel from page 224 intentionally omitted] Messrs. George S. Wright and Robert E. O'Hanly for appellee.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 225-227 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:

Alexander Armstrong, upon a petition in voluntary bankruptcy, was adjudicated a bankrupt by the United States district court for the southern district of Iowa on August 6, 1904. Josiah Coder, appellant, was duly elected and qualified as trustee. On August 26, 1904, William Arts, appellee, filed a claim for $104,880.46 against the bankrupt estate on certain promissory notes, to wit, one in the sum of $2,700, dated May 19, 1900, due May 19, 1901; one in the sum of $18,453, dated December 26, 1903, due March 26, 1904; one in the sum of $20,000, dated January 29, 1904, due on demand; one in the sum of $58,826.50, dated January 29, 1904, due January 30, 1905; and one in the sum of $5,512.40, dated June 17, 1904, due on demand.

It was alleged in the claim filed that the first four notes were secured by a realestate mortgage, dated May 2, 1904, covering 2,280 acres of land in Carroll county, Iowa, and the last note by a real-estate mortgage of June 17, 1904, covering 615 1/2 acres of land in Monona county, Iowa. The claimant asked for the allowance of his notes against the estate, reserving all rights to his securities in every portion thereof. The trustee filed an answer and objections to the claim of Arts, attacking both the notes and the mortgage, alleging, in substance, that the bankrupt was not indebted to the claimant in the amount named; that two of the notes were really obligations of the sons of Armstrong, signed by Arts as surety; that the mortgage was given to secure a pre-existing indebtedness within four months of the adjudication in bankruptcy; that, at the time of the giving of the mortgage, the property of the bankrupt was not, at a fair valuation, sufficient to pay his debts, and that he was insolvent; that the claimant or his agents knew the bankrupt's condition, or had knowledge of such facts as would put them on inquiry; that the mortgage was given with the intent and purpose to prefer claimant; that claimant or his agents had reason to believe a preference was intended; and that the mortgage was made and given within four months of the adjudication in bankruptcy with the intent and purpose to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors.

Testimony was taken before the referee, and upon exceptions to his findings the case went before the district judge, who set aside the findings of the referee, made findings of fact, and entered the following order:

'It is therefore hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said claim of William Arts, on account of the four notes referred to in the fourth finding of facts herein, and secured by the said mortgage of May 2, 1904, be and the same are established against the trustee and estate of Alexander Armstrong, bankrupt, and the said notes and the mortgage securing the same are hereby declared to have been a good, valid, and [enforceable] lien on the property described in said mortgage from the time of the giving and recording of said mortgage down to the time when said property was sold by the trustee in bankruptcy herein, under order of this court, discharged and free and clear of all liens, and are now a good, valid, and [enforceable] lien on the proceeds of the sale of said land in the hands of the trustee. To which said order, adjudication, and decree, and each part thereof, the trustee excepts.

'It is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said claims of the said William Arts on account of said four notes, aggregating, principal and interest, the sum of $97,497.40, as found in the fifth finding of fact, herein to be paid in full to the said William Arts, claimant, by the trustee out of the funds and moneys in his hands by him received on account of the sale of the lands covered by said mortgage, and hereinbefore described, after the payments of all prior liens and claims thereon as determined by this court. To which said order, adjudication, and decree, and each part thereof, the trustee excepts.

'It is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the note and claim of $5,512.40, referred to in the fourteenth finding of fact herein, be, and the same is hereby, established as against the trustee and the estate, and that, as to said claim, the said William Arts will participate in said estate as a general creditor. To which said order, adjudication, and decree, and each part thereof, the trustee excepts.

'It is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said mortgage of June 17, 1904, given to secure said claim of $5,512.40, be not enforced, but is hereby set aside, canceled, and held for naught, and treated as though never given, and the claimant Arts take nothing under the mortgage.'

The case is reported in the district court in 145 Fed. 202.

The trustee took the case to the circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit upon petition for a review and by appeal. That court dismissed the petition for review, and, after considering the appeal, sustained the findings of the district court and affirmed its judgment, except upon the matter of interest on the notes secured by the mortgage, wherein it differed from the district court, and held that Arts was entitled to interest on the notes, to be paid out of the fund. 15 L.R.A.(N.S.) 372, 82 C. C. A. 91, 152 Fed. 943. This correction of interest was made upon the petition of Arts for review. An appeal was then taken to this court upon a petition for allowance of appeal, stating the allowance of the claim and the establishment of the lien thereof. The ground of appeal alleged was that the amount in controversy exceeded the sum of $2,000, and that it was a proper case to appeal from the court of appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States. The appeal was allowed within thirty days of the entry of the decree, and afterwards, within thirty days, an order was made which recited that the court had made certain findings of fact and conclusions of law, and the same was entered nunc pro tunc as of the date of the judgment, as follows:

'1. Alexander Armstrong filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy on July 27, 1904, in the district court of the United States for the southern district of Iowa, and was adjudged a bankrupt thereon on August 6, 1904.

'2. For many years prior to May 2, 1904, he had been engaged principally in farming in Carroll county, Iowa, and on that day he owned a tract of 80 acres of land and a tract of 2,360 acres of land in that county, 616 1/2 acres of land in Monona county, a residence and business lot in Glidden, Iowa, 200 or 300 head of cattle, 30 horses, a large number of hogs, and some farm machinery. Mortgages which amounted to about $18,000 had been recorded against a part of the land in Carroll county, and the land in Monona county had been traded for in April, 1904, and taken subject to one half of a mortgage for $40,000. All of the other property was free from encumbrance. But the residence in Glidden was his homestead and exempt from execution.

'3. William Arts was the sole owner of a state bank in Carroll, Iowa, which he opened in 1898, and his son, W. A. Arts, was the cashier. In June, 1898, the bank commenced loaning money to Armstrong, and continued to loan moneys to him in amounts varying from $20,000 to a few hundred dollars at a time, and to renew old loans, until, on May 2, 1904, Armstrong owed Arts $98,503.32, evidenced by notes, and $2,000, evidenced by an overdrawn account in the bank. This indebtedness had been increasing steadily from June, 1898, by reason of the new loans and the accrual of interest. Armstrong first opened an account in Arts's bank in April, 1900. Prior to that time he had kept an account in another bank in Carroll, in which Arts had owned a large interest up to the time he opened his own bank, in 1898.

'4. Armstrong had the reputation of being one of the wealthiest men in Carroll county and no security had been required of or given by him to Arts until May 2, 1904, when he gave a mortgage on 2,360 acres of his land in Carroll county to secure the payment of $98,503.32, evidenced by his notes, and this mortgage was recorded on May 3, 1904. It was executed at the request of the cashier of the bank, or at the request of his brother, who had been called home by reason of the serious illnes of their father, William Arts.

'5. Armstrong was insolvent on May 2, 1904, when he gave the mortgage to Arts, and he then knew that he was insolvent.

'6. Neither Arts nor any of his agents acting therein knew or had reasonable cause to believe that Armstrong was insolvent when he gave the mortgage of May 2, 1904, nor did Arts or any of his agents acting therein then have reasonable cause to believe that it was intended thereby to give him a preference over other creditors by the execution of that mortgage.

'7. Armstrong did not make the mortgage of May 2, 1904, with any intent or purpose on his part to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors or any of them.

'8. There is due to the appellee on the notes secured by the mortgage of May 2; 1904, with interest to March 1, 1906, the sum of $109,107.56, and this amount should be paid to appellee by the appellant out of the funds and moneys in his hands which he received on account of the sale of the lands covered by that mortgage.

Conclusions of Law.

'1. The mortgage of May 2, 1904, is not voidable by the trustee under sections 60a and 60b of the bankruptcy law, because neither Arts nor his agents acting therein had reasonable cause to believe that it was intended thereby to give a preference.

'2. The mortgage of May 2, 1904, is not...