FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF KEY WEST, A NATIONAL BANK ORGANIZED AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
THE BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION FOR THE COUNTY OF DADE, STATE OF FLORIDA, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision to sustain a demurrer, holding that a bona fide third-party holder of promissory notes issued by a school board could not enforce them if the original issuance was unauthorized. The court emphasized that purchasers of commercial paper from public bodies must verify the authority of the issuing officers.
No, a bona fide third-party holder for value of promissory notes executed by a county board of public instruction does not have a greater right to enforce them than the original payee if the original issuance was unauthorized. The protection afforded to commercial paper does not extend to validating the original authority for its issuance.
“The rule on this subject is that the protection that commercial usage throws around commercial paper cannot be used to establish the authority by which it was originally issued.”
Establishes the core legal principle that protections for commercial paper do not validate the original authority of issuance.
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe First National Bank of Key West, as a holder in due course, sued the Board of Public Instruction for Dade County to enforce promissory notes. Thes…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Enforcement Of Promissory Note cases and more on FLexlaw
The judgment of the Court below entered upon sustaining defendant’s demurrer to plaintiff’s declaration in a suit brought to enforce promissory notes executed by the Board of Public Instruction of Dade County, in consideration of the purchase price of lands *526for a school site, should be affirmed on the authority of Babcock v. Board of Public Instruction of Dade County, 104 Fla. 693, 140 Sou. Rep. 644, decided at the last term, unless the fact that plaintiff, being a bona fide third person holder of the notes for value, has a greater right to enforce same than did the original payee.
The rule on this subject is that the protection that commercial usage throws around commercial paper cannot be used to establish the authority by which it was originally issued.
A purchaser of commercial paper executed by the Board of Public Instruction of a county must at his peril see that the officers executing same had competent legal authority to bind the public corporate board for which they undertook to act. See Pierce v. United States, 7 Wall. 666, 19 L. Ed. 169; School Directors v. Sippy, 54 Ill. 287; School Directors v. Taylor, 54 Ill. 289; Turk v. County Board of Education, 222 Ala. 177, 131 Sou. Rep. 436.
Affirmed.
Whitfield, P.J., and Terrell and Davis, J.J., concur.
Brown, J., concurs in the opinion and judgment.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
First Nat'l Bank of Key W. v. Filer, 107 Fla. 526 (Fla. 1933)…of the notes here sued on were invalid and unenforceable at law, against the Board of Public Instruction, has been decided by this Court. See First National Bank of Key West vs. The Board of Public Instruction of Dade County, (decided at this term) 145 So. 203. See also Babcock vs. Board of Public Instruction of Dade County, 104 Fla. 693, 140 Sou. Rep. 644. Disposing of the asserted liability in assumpsit first, we find that the names of none of the individual defendants appear on the notes sued on. The…
-
State v. Ryan, 151 So. 416 (Fla. 1933)…y of Lakeland, 61 Fla. 508, 54 So. 716; Munroe v. Reeves, 71 Fla. 612, 71 So. 922; Weinberger v. Board of Public Instruction, 93 Fla. 470, 112 So. 253; Jones v. McMahon (Fla.) 151 So. 712; First Natl. Bank of Key West v. Board of Public Instruction, 107 Fla. 525, 145 So. 203; O’Brien v. Wheelock, 184 U. S. 450, 22 S. Ct. 354, 46 L. Ed. 636; Sutliff v. Lake County Comm’rs, 147 U. S. 230, 13 S. Ct. 318, 37 L. Ed. 145. Essential requirements of a statute authorizing the issue of bonds must be complied with, or…
-
Olds v. Alvord, 139 Fla. 745 (Fla. 1939)…a. 508, 54 So. 716; Munroe v. Reeves, 71 Fla. 612, 71 So. 922; Weinberger v. Board of Public Instruction, 93 Fla. 470, 112 So. 253; State v. Hillsborough County, 113 Fla. 345, 151 So. 712; First Natl. Bank of Key West v. Board of Public Instruction, 107 Fla. 525, 145 So. 203; O’Brien v. Wheelock, 184 U. S. 450, 22 S. Ct. 345, 46 L. Ed. 636; Sutliff v. Lake County Comm’rs., 147 U. S. 230, 13 S. Ct. 318, 37 L. Ed. 145.’ See Barnett v. Bennison, 145 U. S. 135, 12 S. Ct. 819. “ ‘Where there is adequate legal a…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- The Floyd Acceptances, 7 Wall. 666 (U.S. 1868)
- George Babcock Inc. v. The Bd. of Pub. Instruction for the Cnty. of Dade & State of Fla., 104 Fla. 693 (Fla. 1932)