Forsyth Storage & Transfer, Inc. v. William E. Cramer Co., 78

• Decision Date: 17 December 1957
• Docket Number: No. 78,78
• Citation: 215 Md. 93,136 A.2d 905
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals
• Parties: FORSYTH STORAGE & TRANSFER, Inc., v. WILLIAM E. CRAMER CO. and H. Brayden Stine.

Page 93

215 Md. 93

136 A.2d 905

FORSYTH STORAGE & TRANSFER, Inc., v. WILLIAM E. CRAMER CO. and H. Brayden Stine.

No. 78.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Dec. 17, 1957.

James S. McAuliffe, Jr., Bethesda (James H. Pugh, Rockville, on the brief), for appellant.

Howard Larcombe, Silver Spring, for appellees.

Before BRUNE, C. J., and HENDERSON, HAMMOND, PRESCOTT, and HORNEY, JJ.

HENDERSON, Judge.

Forsyth Storage & Transfer, Inc., brought an action of replevin against the appellees to recover possession of a Gardner-Denver air compressor weighing about four tons, and damages for its detention. The case was heard by the court without a jury and resulted in a verdict for the appellees. The appeal is from a judgment for costs entered on the verdict.

There is little dispute as to the facts. It was shown that the Forsyth corporation is in the business of storing, repairing and transporting heavy machinery in Washington County, as well as heavy hauling and general contracting. Stine was a road contractor who had done business with Forsyth for many years, the latter storing, servicing and transporting his heavy equipment from job to job. Evidently Stine suffered financial reverses, for on February 23, 1955, he agreed to turn over to the corporation the Gardner-Denver air compressor in question, which he owned, in exchange for the release of a smaller Leroy air compressor of his, on which there was a repairman's lien of some $200, and in settlement of a net balance of some $1,800 owed by him to the Forsyth corporation on various accounts stated. Stine did not execute a bill of sale, but delivered the compressor in question to the Forsyth shop. About a month later Stine went out of the contracting business and obtained work as a crane operator with the William E. Cramer Company of Washington, D. C.

There was a chattel mortgage, covering the compressor in question and other equipment, which had been executed by Stine in 1953 to the Farmers and Merchants Bank and duly recorded in Washington County. This mortgage was assigned, to the extent of some $3,600, to Mr. Martin Bostetter in October, 1955. Mr. Richard Forsyth testified he had agreed with the bank to pay it $1,000 for the release of its lien on the air compressor, and that in November, 1955, he agreed to pay that sum to Mr. Bostetter, $500 down and $500 in thirty days. He sent a check for $500 to Mr. Bostetter, but the latter did not cash it, probably because he changed his mind about releasing the security. In any event no further payment was made. Mr. Forsyth also testified that the agreement to pay the bank was a part of his agreement with Stine when the machine was delivered in February. In March, 1955, Forsyth rented the air compressor to the North American Cement Corporation and delivered it to its plant about two miles from Hagerstown. The terms of the rental agreement were that payment should be at the rate of $422 a month, when the machine was in use but not otherwise. Under this arrangement about $1,500 was received in the year following delivery, the machine remaining at the plant of the Cement Corporation. No part of this rent was ever paid to Stine nor did he make any claim thereto.

Early in February, 1956, Stine called at the Forsyth office and informed Mr. Forsyth he was working for the Cramer corporation, without disclosing the nature of his employment. He stated that he wanted to rent an air compressor for that company. Mr. Forsyth told him he had rented the Gardner-Denver compressor in question to the Cement Corporation. However, upon inquiry, it appeared that the Cement Corporation had no use for the machine at that time and was willing to release it. Accordingly, it was returned to the Forsyth shop and loaded on one of its trucks for delivery to a job site in Montgomery County where the Cramer corporation was working. Stine rode with the Forsyth driver, George Renner, on the way to Montgomery County. Although Renner had been instructed to obtain a receipt, or purchase order, showing the rental terms, before making the delivery, he did not do so. He testified that Mr. Cramer was not at the job site, and that Stine told him he would see that the order was forwarded from the Washington office. He admitted, however, that Stine told him when he got out of the truck: 'I guess you know I own that air compressor.' He testified: 'I didn't give him any answer, I didn't know anything about it.' This occurred on February 6, 1956.

Mr. Cramer testified that Stine had approached him some time before and asked if he was interested in buying an air compressor Stine owned. He replied that he would be, if it was in good working order. He knew that Stine had been in the contracting business, but made no inquiry as to recorded liens, if any. When the machine was delivered and proved to be in working order, he paid Stine $2,800 for it. Stine executed a bill of sale for it on February 10, 1956. On February 8, 1956, Mr. Forsyth had phoned Stine in regard to a purchase order covering the new rental, but Stine made no claim of ownership at that time. As the order was not forthcoming, he got in touch with Mr. Cramer and learned the real situation. The replevin suit followed on February 17, 1956. It was brought out that Stine worked for Cramer several months after the replevin suit was filed, but then left its employ. He did not testify at the trial.

The trial court took the view that as between two innocent parties, each of whom was...