Doughty v. Moors

HAVEN, J.

Plaintiff is the trustee in bankruptcy of the Electric and Garage Company, a corporation. As such trustee he brought this suit to recover from the defendant an alleged balance of the purchase price of certain real property, improvements thereon and equipment of a garage business, agreed to be purchased by the defendant from said corporation within four months prior to its adjudication! in bankruptcy. The judgment was for the defendant, from which plaintiff appeals. It is alleged in the complaint that

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the defendant agreed to buy the real and personal property above referred to for the sum of $9,192.93, of which the sum of five thousand five hundred dollars had not been paid, and for which latter sum. plaintiff prayed judgment. The court found that, with the exception of the formal denials, of the corporate character and bankruptcy of the corporation, and the appointment of plaintiff as trustee, all the allegations of defendant’s answer were true, and all denials therein contained were true denials. Among these are allegations that the consideration for the agreement of purchase, referred to in plaintiff’s complaint, was not the payment of $9,192.93 in cash, as alleged by plaintiff,. but was an assumption by the defendant of an indebtedness against the real property purchased in the sum of three thousand six hundred dollars, an agreement by the defendant to pay two thousand dollars in cash, a further agreement by defendant to release one Armstrong from an obligation to said defendant in the sum of two thousand dollars, and a still further agreement by the defendant whereby he guaranteed payment of a promissory note in the sum of oné thousand five hundred dollars, which had theretofore been executed by C. W. Crouch and J. R. Clark. The said C. W. Crouch was the president and general manager of the corporation whose property was purchased by the defendant, and was also the owner of all its capital stock, with the exception of one share. The dealings of the defendant were all had with said Crouch as such president and general manager. The answer further alleges that the defendant paid to the corporation all sums of money agreed by him to be paid and fully performed all of the undertakings which he agreed to perform in consideration of the transfer by said corporation to him. The finding of the trial court that these allegations are true is supported by sufficient evidence.