First Nat. Bank of Red Bud v. Chapman, 76-255

• Decision Date: 02 August 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76-255,76-255
• Citation: 366 N.E.2d 937,51 Ill.App.3d 738,9 Ill.Dec. 426
• Parties: , 9 Ill.Dec. 426 FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF RED BUD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Frances CHAPMAN, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 937

366 N.E.2d 937

51 Ill.App.3d 738, 9 Ill.Dec. 426

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF RED BUD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Frances CHAPMAN, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 76-255.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District.

Aug. 2, 1977.

Nehrt, Sachtleben & Fisher, Charles L. Grotts, Red Bud, for plaintiff-appellant.

Jim D. Keehner, Ltd., Belleville, for defendant-appellee.

JONES, Justice.

Plaintiff bank appeals from a judgment rendered in favor of defendant in a suit upon a written contract of guaranty signed by defendant. The judgment is properly silent as to the court's reason for its decision but a letter from the court in the record indicates that reason to be that the evidence was insufficient to show or prove adequate consideration to support the contract of guaranty. We affirm.

Ray Chapman was a self-employed car dealer whose practice was to pledge automobile titles to the Bank of Red Bud to secure loans, the proceeds of which were to be used in running his business. On August 22, 1964, Chapman executed a note to the bank for $4,200. This note was a renewal of prior obligations and was payable on demand or one year from the date of execution, bearing interest at 6% Annum until maturity and 7% Thereafter. On August 27, 1964, at the request of the bank, Mrs. Chapman, the defendant herein, executed a written guaranty to the bank which recited, in pertinent part:

"For Value Received and in consideration of advances made or to be made, or credit given or to be given, or other financial accommodation from time to time afforded or to be afforded to Ray Chapman * * * by First National Bank of Red Bud, * * * the undersigned hereby guarantees the full and prompt payment to said Bank at maturity and at all times thereafter of any and all indebtedness, obligations and liabilities of every kind and nature of said Debtor to said Bank * * * howsoever evidenced, whether now existing or hereafter created or arising, * * * and howsoever owned, held or acquired, whether through discount, overdraft, purchase, direct loan or as collateral, or otherwise; and the undersigned further agrees to pay all expenses, legal and/or otherwise (including court costs and attorneys' fees), paid or incurred by said Bank in endeavoring to collect such indebtedness, obligations and liabilities, or any part thereof, and in enforcing this guaranty. The right of recovery, however, against the undersigned is limited to Twenty Thousand and no/100 Dollars ($20,000.00), plus interest on all loans and/or advances hereunder and all expenses hereinbefore mentioned.

The guaranty shall be a continuing, absolute and unconditional guaranty, and shall remain in full force and effect until written notice of its discontinuance shall be actually received by said Bank, and also until any and all said indebtedness, obligations and liabilities existing before receipt of such notice shall be fully paid. The death or dissolution of the undersigned shall not terminate this guaranty until notice of any such death or dissolution shall have been actually received by said Bank, nor until all of said indebtedness, obligations and liabilities existing before receipt of such notice shall be fully paid."

On December 21, 1965 Mr. Chapman executed a note to the bank in the principal amount of $10,414 identical in its terms to the $4,200 note of August 22, 1964. Although disputed by plaintiff in its brief, it appears that this note was also a renewal of antecedent debts. The legend "Renewal and consolidation of charge offs" is recited on the face of the note. On March 27, 1967, the bank obtained a judgment against Chapman for the amounts owing on these notes, $5,705.26 and $12,448.71 respectively. Thereafter Chapman made payments of $50 monthly from December 1967 until January 1971. These payments were applied to principal, leaving a balance owing of $12,213.98 when payments ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman were divorced in 1972. On April 16, 1975, the bank filed suit against Mrs. Chapman to recover on the guaranty, demanding principal, interest and attorney's fees in a total amount of $19,025.45.

It can be seen that the guaranty agreement we consider is very broad in its application to all debts and obligations of the principal debtor. When the agreement states that it is executed in consideration of "advances made or to be made, or credit given or to be given, or other financial accommodation from time to time afforded or to be afforded" by the bank to the principal debtor, and that the defendant as its signor "guarantees the full and prompt payment * * * of any and all indebtedness, obligations and liabilities of every kind and nature of said Debtor to said Bank, * * * howsoever evidenced, whether now existing or hereafter created * * * " it is plain that it was intended to apply to past indebtedness which remained outstanding at the time the agreement was signed, as well as to future indebtedness to be incurred, or to any future "financial accommodation."

The keynote rule on the consideration necessary to support an agreement to guarantee the debt of another is well stated by Professor Corbin in 1A Corbin on Contracts, sec. 213, at 286-7:

"In the great field of suretyship, it is beyond question that the debt or obligation of the principal obligor is not a sufficient basis for the enforcement of the promise of the surety or guarantor. If the promises of the principal and the surety are made simultaneously, they may be supported by a single consideration; the loan of money by the creditor to the principal is a sufficient consideration for the promiss of both principal and surety. But for the promise of any surety that is made subsequently to the advancement of the money to the principal, there must be a new consideration. The fact that the loan has been made and the principal is indebted is not a sufficient reason for enforcement of the surety's subsequent promise."

The Illinois cases have followed this rule, holding that where the agreement of guaranty is executed contemporaneously with the original note or obligation, the consideration for the note or obligation furnishes sufficient consideration for the agreement of guaranty (Weger v. Robinson Nash Motor Co., 340 Ill. 81, 172 N.E. 7; Munson v. Adams, 89 Ill. 450), and that where a debt is incurred and thereafter a third party promises to pay or guarantee it, some additional consideration is necessary to support such promise. Klein v. Currier, 14 Ill. 237; ...