Wilcox & Company v. Deines
| Decision Date | 02 May 1930 |
| Docket Number | 27150 |
| Parties | WILCOX & COMPANY, APPELLEE, v. HENRY DEINES, APPELLANT: BANK OF BAYARD, INTERVENER, ET AL., APPELLEES |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the district court for Morrill county: EDWARD F. CARTER JUDGE. Affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
Syllabus by the Court.
Evidence examined and held to establish the true relation between the defendant Deines and the Bank of Bayard as that of landlord and tenant, and that the provision of the oral lease reserving the title of crops thereafter to be grown as security for an existing indebtedness was in the nature of a chattel mortgage and, under the facts in this case, void as to attaching creditors.
Whether property in the hands of a garnishee is exempt or not is to be determined as of the date of the service of the garnishee summons.
Additional Syllabus by Editorial Staff.
" Tenant" is one renting land and paying for it either in money or part of crop or equivalent.
" Cropper" farms land and is paid for his labor or work in part of crops.
Appeal from District Court, Morrill County; Carter, Judge.
Action in equity by Wilcox & Co. against Henry Deines, impleaded with E. R. Vanatta, and another, wherein the Bank of Bayard intervened. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant first named appeals and intervener cross-appeals.
Affirmed.
T. F. Neighbors, for appellant.
Morrow & Morrow, contra.
Heard before GOSS, C. J., ROSE, DEAN, GOOD, THOMPSON, EBERLY and DAY, JJ.
Plaintiff brought this suit in equity to reach certain funds held by the clerk of the district court for Morrill county as the property of Henry Deines for the Bank of Bayard "as their interests might appear, and to have said funds paid by the clerk of said court to the plaintiff to apply on a judgment which plaintiff had obtained against the defendant Deines." There was a trial to the court, judgment for the plaintiff Wilcox & Company, and from which an appeal is prosecuted by the defendant Deines and the intervener, Bank of Bayard.
The parties in their briefs unite in stating the question presented to the court by the record as: "There is really only one question to be determined by this court Whether the contract between E. R. Vanatta, in behalf of the bank, on the one hand, and Henry Deines, on the other, was in fact or in law a chattel mortgage, void as to creditors unless filed in the office of the county clerk of Morrill county." It appears that the following facts are agreed upon by all parties to the suit: That Henry Deines during the crop season of 1927 farmed the northeast quarter of section 26, township 21 north, range 51 west of the sixth P. M., in Morrill county, Nebraska, and planted 85 acres of the said land to sugar beets; that about March 1, 1927, the defendant Henry Deines was indebted to the Bank of Bayard in the sum of approximately $ 12,000; that the defendant E. R. Vanatta, who was the cashier of the Bank of Bayard, for and on behalf of said bank, personally entered into an oral contract with said Henry Deines, whereby it was verbally agreed that said Henry Deines would farm said described land owned by said Bank of Bayard during the crop season of 1927 and plant thereon 85 acres of beets, and that said Deines was to care for, cultivate and harvest said beets; that said Bank of Bayard at the time of entering into said contract was the owner of said premises and should retain the ownership of said beets grown on said land, and that E. R. Vanatta would officially enter into a contract with the Great Western Sugar Company for the growing and sale of said beets, and that said bank should advance sufficient money to cover the cost and expense of growing and cultivating said beets; that said bank should receive one-fifth of the growth of said crop, and that the balance of said crop was to be applied, first, on advancements made by the bank to said Henry Deines in the growing and harvesting of said crops, and that the balance remaining from the proceeds of the crop, after deducting the expense and one-fifth of said beets, should be applied on the indebtedness of said Deines to said bank; and that E. R. Vanatta, for and on behalf of said bank, entered into a contract with the Great Western Sugar Company for the sale of all beets grown on said premises, and also entered into a labor contract for hand labor required to properly care for said beets while growing on said premises, and advanced the necessary expense for cultivating and harvesting said crop; that this was done, the advancements totaling $ 7,245.60; that the total proceeds from the sale of the beets grown on the farm for 1927 amounted in all to $ 10,163.12; payments were made by said Great Western Sugar Company each month for the beets delivered during the preceding month, and when said payments were received by the Bank of Bayard it placed to its credit one-fifth of said amount and credited the balance on the amount advanced to Deines for the growing of said crop and the balance remaining, if any, upon his indebtedness to said bank; that on or about the 8th day of November, 1927, an action was begun in the district court for Morrill county, Nebraska, by Diers Brothers & Company against Henry Deines, E. R. Vanatta, Great Western Sugar Company, et al., to reach the proceeds of the sale of said beets in satisfaction of a judgment which said Diers Brothers & Company had obtained against said Henry Deines in said case. Pursuant to a stipulation of the parties to that action the court released all sums of money then owing by said sugar company for beets delivered under this contract, except the sum of $ 2,000, and the excess over $ 2,000 was paid...
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