Independence Bank v. Heller

• Decision Date: 24 July 1969
• Citation: 79 Cal.Rptr. 868,275 Cal.App.2d 84
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: INDEPENDENCE BANK, a banking corporation, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Paul W. HELLER et al., Defendant and Respondent. Civ. 33228.

Page 868

79 Cal.Rptr. 868

275 Cal.App.2d 84

INDEPENDENCE BANK, a banking corporation, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Paul W. HELLER et al., Defendant and Respondent.

Civ. 33228.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3, California.

July 24, 1969.

Hearing Denied Sept. 17, 1969.

A. J. Weiss, Beverly Hills, for appellant.

Donald E. Leon, Beverly Hills, for respondent.

SHINN, Associate Justice. ^*

Independence Bank recovered a judgment of $80,889.93 against John Heller and Paul W. Heller upon a promissory note for money loaned; execution was issued and levied upon the furniture of Paul W. Heller contained in his apartment. Heller filed a claim of exemption of all the property; upon demand of the bank a hearing was had, evidence was introduced and an order was made and entered; the order provided that certain of the property was subject to execution, that the remainder was exempt from execution and the Marshal was ordered to return the exempt property to Heller; the bank appeals.

Heller claimed the property was exempt as necessary household furniture under section 690.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure which exempts: 'Necessary household, table, and kitchen furniture belonging to the judgment debtor, including one refrigerator, washing machine, sewing machine, stove, stove-pipes and furniture; wearing apparel, beds, bedding and bedsteads, hanging pictures, oil paintings and drawings drawn or painted by any member of the family, and family portraits and their necessary frames, provisions and fuel actually provided for individual or family use, sufficient for three months, and three cows and their suckling calves, four hogs and their suckling pigs, and food for such cows and hogs for one month; also one radio, one television receiver, one piano, one shotgun and one rifle.'

The greater part of the property had been purchased by Heller, some of it was held by him on consignment by dealers and the remainder had come to Heller as a bequest from his mother. The apartment consists of an entry hall, living room, dining room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a hallway; the furniture was available for use by Heller and was occasionally used.

Levy of the execution was supervised by the attorney for the bank, and he directed the Marshal as to what should be taken; under his directions the Marshal left a refrigerator, a chair, a settee, a coffee table, a couch, a rug, a bed, bedding, a television set, kitchen utensils and some trinkets; the property seized was stored, photographed and inventoried. A copy of the inventory and 46 (8 10) color photographs were received in evidence. The inventory covers three and a half pages and lists 109 items. Many of the named items include 4, 8, or 16 articles, such as glasses, plates, dishes, etc. The individual pieces number about four hundred.

The facts, which were undisputed, created a unique problem for the trial court. Among the reported cases in this or other jurisdictions we have found no helpful precedent. We have discovered no case in which a man who was unable to pay his debts was ensconced in a luxuriously furnished home and relying upon exemption laws in resisting the efforts of his creditors to collect their debts. We have not been able to find a case in which execution was levied upon furniture sufficient to furnish a moderately sized house. Most all the cases that considered claims of exemption involved the seizure of no more than very few articles of furniture or wearing apparel.

The court held that 5 statues and 13 pictures (suitable for hanging) were subject to execution and that all other articles were exempt. Included in the exempted articles were pieces of wooden furniture sufficient for all the rooms in the apartment, 2 sets of china, plates, dishes, wine glasses, highball glasses, juice glasses, cordial glasses, beer mugs, water goblets, service plates, salad plates, soup dishes, sauce dishes, cups and saucers, vases, platters, trays, bowls, knives, forks, ash trays and miscellaneous pieces of the same general order. All the wooden pieces were of heavy construction, many of them elaborately carved; most of the tables were marble-topped. All the articles were of good quality; none was of extraordinary value.

It is not questioned by appellant that the property held to be exempt was household and table furniture within the purview of section 690.2. The contentions are that none of the articles taken under the writ was necessary for Heller's use and that errors were committed in the hearing.

The points on appeal are (1) it was error to grant exemption to furniture of the value of $22,449.50 as necessary within the meaning of section 690.2, (2) it was error to receive evidence of the luxurious manner in which Heller had lived for many years, (3) it was error to exclude evidence of the value of certain silverware and china and (4) it was error to grant exemption to certain property held by Heller on consignment. We shall discuss these points but not in the order stated.

In our approach to the problem we presume that Heller intended to pay the judgment of the bank as soon as he was able to pay it; he did not invest his money in the furniture for the purpose of putting it beyond the reach of his creditors and had no intent or purpose to defraud them. We must consider the foregoing as established facts under the presumption in favor of fair and honest dealing and against fraud, in the absence of evidence contradictory of the presumptions. It was not incumbent upon Heller to introduce evidence that he had honest intentions, and he introduced none; the bank introduced no evidence which tended to prove that Heller acted with a fraudulent purpose.

In view of the presumed good faith of Heller and the court's application of the law to the implied findings upon the factual issue and because the exemption laws should be liberally construed we have concluded that the order should be affirmed.

Heller testified he is the son of wealthy parents, was reared and had lived in an atmosphere of affluence and elegance which he has maintained in the furnishing of his apartment. This signifies that he is possessed of a desire to...