CENTRAL BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, A FLORIDA BANKING CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
J. H. SHIPMAN AND NORMAN BONNETT, AS PARTNERS DOING BUSINESS AS B & W WHOLESALERS, APPELLEES
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.
Central Bank appealed a judgment holding it liable for misapplying funds deposited for collection that equitably belonged to the plaintiffs. The court affirmed, holding that while banks ordinarily cannot be charged with knowledge that deposited funds belong to anyone other than the depositor, special circumstances can create liability when a bank has actual knowledge the funds belong to a third party.
A bank cannot ordinarily be charged with knowledge that deposited funds belong to anyone other than the depositor, but under special circumstances with actual knowledge of true ownership, a bank may be liable for misapplication. Where no proceeds had been charged to the depositor's account when the bank obtained such knowledge, the bank is liable for the full amount without requiring an accounting.
“a bank cannot be charged with knowledge that funds deposited for collection as a general deposit in a checking account of a depositor are the property of any specific claimant other than the depositor”
Establishes the general rule that banks have no duty to inquire into third-party ownership claims regarding ordinary deposits
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe plaintiffs, partners doing business as B & W Wholesalers, deposited drafts with Central Bank for collection. The bank had actual knowledge that th…
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 Declaratory Decree cases and more on FLexlaw
The defendant, Central Bank and Trust Company, appeals from a final decree for the plaintiffs, J. H. Shipman and Norman Bonnett, as partners, doing business as B & W Wholesalers. The action was for declaratory decree and other relief. In the complaint it was alleged that the defendant bank knew that certain proceeds from drafts deposited with the bank for collection equitably belonged to the plaintiffs, and that the bank received such funds in trust for the use and benefit of the plaintiffs. The chancellor, as is evidenced by the challenged final decree found that the appellant bank had or was chargeable with knowledge that the funds of the depositor belonged to the plaintiffs and accordingly entered judgment against the bank for the amount of the proceeds from the drafts.
The bank’s first point claims error in that the court applied the wrong rule of law. It urged that a bank cannot be charged with knowledge that funds deposited for collection as a general deposit in a checking account of a depositor are the property of any specific claimant other than the depositor. It is readily apparent that this contention is valid under the circumstances surrounding an ordinary banking transaction. See Vassar v. Smith, 134 Fla. 346, 183 So. 705, 706; McCrory Stores Corporation v. Tunnicliffe, 104 Fla. 683, 140 So. 806, 807; Bryan v. Coconut Grove Bank & Trust Co., 101 Fla. 947, 132 So. 481, 484, 134 So. 229.
Upon the other hand there are numerous instances in which the courts have found *707that under special circumstances a bank may be charged with the misapplication of funds which were deposited with it for collection and of which it had special knowledge that the funds in equity belonged to a person other than the depositor. Union Stock Yards National Bank v. Gillespie, 137 U.S. 411, 11 S.Ct. 118, 34 L.Ed. 724. See also cases cited at Annotation, 13 A.L. R. 324.
There was evidence in this case which, if believed by the chancellor, afforded a sufficient basis for his finding that the bank had actual knowledge that the funds to be collected belonged to the plaintiffs and therefore could not legally be applied by the bank to an indebtedness of the depositor to the bank.
The only other point presented by the appellant for our consideration is as follows:
“If the answer to the foregoing question is affirmative, may the court hold the bank liable to the customer for the full amount due the customer from the depositor without an accounting to determine what portion, if any, of the proceeds of the drafts, or of advances made on the drafts, was received by the bank?”
This point and the assignments of error argued thereunder require an examination of the record to determine if there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the amount of the judgment. The record revealed testimony that at the time the bank obtained actual knowledge of the true ownership of the funds, none of the proceeds of the drafts in question had become liable for any charge issued in the ordinary course of business. We therefore hold that there was sufficient evidence from which the chancellor could determine that all of said funds were equitably due to the plaintiff.
Affirmed.
HORTON, C. J., and PEARSON and CARROLL, CHAS., JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Bank OF W. Orange v. Assocs. Disc. Corp., 197 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967)…f the money as for a breach of trust. Bryan v. Coconut Grove Bank & Trust Co., 1931, 101 Fla. 947, 132 So. 481, 134 So. 229; Northern Sugar Corp. v. Thompson, 8 C.A. 1926, 13 F. 2d 829, at p. 832; Central Bank and Trust Co. v. Shipman, Fla.App.1961, 127 So. 2d 706. Under such circumstances title to the deposit remains in the depositor, and the relation of debtor and creditor does not exist. See cases collected in 86 A.L.R. 375. The various factors in the case before the court here establish that the bank •de…
-
SUN Bank OF Miami v. E. C. Ernst, Inc., 395 So. 2d 282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)…967); and (c) the knowl-. edge of appellant that the disputed funds were deposited by appellee rather than appellant’s debtor, 4715 Realty Corp. v. Central Bank and Trust Co., 301 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Central Bank and Trust Co. v. Shipman, 127 So. 2d 706 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961). Affirmed.…
Authorities Cited
- Union Stock Yards Bank v. Gillespie, 137 U.S. 411 (U.S. 1890)
- Bryan, 132 So. 481 (Fla. 1931)
- McCrory Stores Corp. v. Tunnicliffe, 104 Fla. 683 (Fla. 1932)
- Vassar v. Smith, 134 Fla. 346 (Fla. 1938)