J. T. DICKERSON, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
A. S. CAMPBELL AND ISAAC M. LANIER, DEFENDANTS IN ERROR

Fla. | 1904-01-01
47 Fla. 147 Florida Supreme Court (1904) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

In a scire facias action to revive a judgment, the Florida Supreme Court held that when a judgment debtor secretly furnishes money to a third party to purchase a judgment from the creditor at a steep discount, without the creditor's knowledge of the arrangement, the transaction constitutes only a partial payment on the debt rather than a valid assignment that extinguishes the judgment debtor's liability.


Holding

The court held that such a transaction constitutes only a partial payment pro tanto on the judgment debt. A judgment debtor cannot use an agent with his own funds to secretly purchase a liquidated judgment from the creditor at a discount and thereby avoid liability, as this amounts to a partial payment that does not satisfy the whole debt even if received by the creditor.


Key Quotes

“The agent of the judgment debtor, with money supplied by the latter, secured an assignment from the judgment creditor without knowledge of such agency, and for a sum far below the face value of the judgment. No new or other consideration sufficient in law is set up for the surrender of this large balance of the liquidated judgment debt and the transaction must therefore be treated as a partial payment by the debtor on account of said judgment.”

Establishes the core holding that a secret debtor-funded purchase of a judgment constitutes partial payment, not a valid assignment

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Facts & Procedural History

The Receiver of the First National Bank of Orlando obtained a joint judgment for $830.34 against defendants Campbell and Lanier. The judgment was assi…

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Opinion of the Court
Cockrell, J.

Cockrell, J.

— To a scire facias to revive a joint judgment for $830.34 obtained by the Receiver of the First National Bank of Orlando against the defendants in error and assigned to the plaintiff in scire facias, Isaac M. Lanier pleaded that the said judgment had been assigned under seal to one John M. Lee for the sum of $211.65, and that said Lee’s assignment was recorded in Osceola county, and since the beginning of the scire facias proceedings the judgment had been marked satisfied of record in Orange county by the said Lee; that at the time of said assignment Lanier was a judgment debtor to a large amount and “employed and appointed said Lee as his agent to negotiate for the purchase and assignment in his name, but as agent of said defendant, of all said judgments; that thereupon said Lee purchased all of said judgments, including judgment claimed by plaintiff in this case, with money furnished by the defendant and as his agent; that, at the time of the assignment of said judgment to the plaintiff Dickerson, the bank or its receiver had no title therein, having previously sold the same to defendant’s agent Lee; that Dickerson had no title to said judgment for the reason that at the time of selling the same to said plaintiff, the First National Bank by its Receiver expressly stated that he did not make any warranty to the title to said judgment, but only sold his right, title and interest; wherefore he denies that said Dickerson was entitled to the issuing of execution, and prays to be dismissed with his costs.” A demurrer to said plea was overruled and the petition dismissed at plaintiff’s costs, whereupon he prosecutes this writ of error. The debt here was liquidated, had passed into a judgment from which no appeal was taken nor contemplated at the time of the alleged assignment so far as herein appears. The agent of the judgment debtor, with money supplied by the latter, secured an assignment from the judgment creditor without knowledge of such agency, and for a sum far below the face value of the judgment. No new or other consideration sufficient in law is set up for the surrender of this large balance of the liquidated judgment debt and the transaction must therefore be treated as a partial payment by the debtor on account of said judgment. This doctrine, while not actually decided by this court, has been recognized as the law in at least two cases. See Spann v. Baltzell, 1 Fla. 301, text 315, and Sanford v. Abrams, 24 Fla. 181, 2 South. Rep.

373. Where exceptions to the rule were made because the original demands were unliquidated or some other consideration existed. A case very similar in its facts to the one before us is that of Shaw v. Clark, 6 Vt. 507, S. C. 27 Am. Dec.

578. It was there decided that where a judgment debtor furnishes money to a third person to buy up the judgment, and he does so, the creditor not knowing the facts, it amounts to a part payment only and that part payment of a debt by a debtor does not satisfy the whole, even if so received by the creditor. The plea should have been treated as a plea of payment pro tanto only. See 1 Cyc. p. 319 and cases cited.

This disposition of the case renders it unnecessary to consider the other questions sought to be raised here. The judgment will be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings' in accordance with law and this opinion.

Carter, P. J., and Maxwell, J., concur. Taylor,' C. J., and Shackleford and Hocker, JJ., concur in the opinion.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Jordy v. Maxwell, 62 Fla. 236 (Fla. 1911)
    …be some fact or circumstance, some gain to the creditor or inconvenience to the debtor, to create a consideration for the release. See Spann v. Baltzell, 1 Fla. 301, text 315; Sanford v. Abrams, 24 Fla. 181, 2 South. Rep. 373; Dickerson v. Campbell, 47 Fla. 147, 35 South. Rep. 986. There is nothing in the fact that the partial payment was made through the form of a cashier’s check. This is but one of the numerous agencies through which most of our payments between persons living in different localities ar…
  • The CASA Marina Hotel Co. v. Barnes, 105 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958)
    …t or circumstance, some gain to the creditor or inconvenience to the debtor, to create a consideration for the release. See Spann v. Baltzell, 1 Fla. 301, text 315, 46 Am.Dec. 346; Sanford v. Abrams, 24 Fla. 181, 2 South. 373; Dickerson v. Campbell, 47 Fla. 147, 35 South. 986, 110 Am.St. Rep. 116.” (Emphasis supplied.) It affirmatively appears that the acceleration in time of maturity was not bargained for by the defendant but was merely for the plaintiff’s own convenience. See 6 Corbin, Contracts, § 1282…

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