Lange v. Nissen
| Decision Date | 13 December 1927 |
| Docket Number | 38084 |
| Citation | 216 N.W. 697,204 Iowa 1080 |
| Parties | JOHN LANGE, Appellee, v. RASMUS NISSEN, Appellant |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from Shelby District Court.--EARL PETERS, Judge.
Suit on a promissory note, resulting in a verdict in favor of the defendant. A motion for a new trial was sustained, and the defendant appeals.
Affirmed.
Ernest M. Miller, for appellant.
Bennett Cullison and Thomas H. Smith, for appellee.
ALBERT J. EVANS, C. J., and DE GRAFF, MORLING, and WAGNER, JJ concur.
The record in this case is very hazy and indefinite as to some matters connected herewith, but the following facts gathered from the record summarize the situation out of which this litigation grew.
In the year 1918, one John A. Peterson executed a contract of exchange with one M. P. Conway, by which Peterson was to have conveyed to him about 280 acres of land in Adams County, Iowa, subject to three mortgages, aggregating $ 23,600; and in return, Peterson conveyed certain property in Elkhorn, Iowa, and paid Conway $ 5,000, and executed another mortgage on said property for $ 12,000. Peterson borrowed this $ 5,000 from the Farmers State Bank of Elkhorn, on March 1, 1919, and John Lange and his brother Chris signed the note as sureties to the Farmers Savings Bank. This note was to be due in one year, with 7 per cent interest. When the note became due, Peterson was unable to pay it, and the same was renewed for another year, with the consent of the sureties. Although a new note was given, and Chris Lange was the only surety, there seems to have been an agreement between Chris and his brother John that they should be equally liable on this note, even though John did not sign the same. When this renewal note became due, Peterson was not able to pay it, and the Lange brothers were not inclined to have the note further extended. The defendant, Rasmus Nissen, was in some way interested in this land transaction, his interest or in what way it arose not being clearly shown in the record; but he was interested to the extent that he wished the interest on the various mortgages, the taxes, etc., to be paid; and on the 21st of February, 1921, to induce the Lange brothers to continue as sureties on the $ 5,000 note, a written contract was entered into between the Lange brothers and Nissen, the substance of which is that, if the Lange brothers would sign a new note for $ 5,000, and would pay the taxes and the interest on the mortgages, the rental should be applied thereon, and Nissen would hold them free from loss for so doing. This written contract was by its terms to cover a period of two years. The Lange brothers paid the interest and taxes, as per their agreement; and in December, 1923, there was a settlement made between them and Nissen, in which it was agreed that Nissen was indebted to them in the sum of $ 4,600, and in pursuance thereof, two promissory notes of $ 2,300 each were executed, one to John Lange and one to Chris Lange. The Chris Lange note was assigned to John Lange, and he brings this action to recover on said...
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