HAROLD VERNON, APPELLANT,
v.
G. D. YANKS, APPELLEE
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Harold Vernon executed two promissory notes in the name of Trans Plains General Insurance Agency. G. D. Yanks obtained the notes, had them discounted at a bank, and sued Vernon as the alleged maker after the notes were dishonored. The trial court found Yanks was a holder in due course and entered judgment for $3,500 plus interest; Vernon appeals, challenging whether Yanks took the notes for value as required by law.
The trial court's factual determination that Yanks was a holder in due course is affirmed. The court will not disturb the trial judge's fact-finding on appeal regarding whether a holder qualifies as a holder in due course when the issue is clearly put in issue.
[1] A holder in due course is a question of fact for the trier of fact when clearly put in issue.
[2] A holder who takes a negotiable instrument for value, in good faith, and without notice of any defense against it is a holder in due course.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The question of whether a holder of a note is a holder in due course becomes one of fact to be determined by the trier of the facts if clearly put in issue.”
Establishes that holder in due course status is a factual question within the trial court's province.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceVernon executed two promissory notes dated August 5, 1969, each for $1,750, signed over the name of Trans Plains General Insurance Agency. Joel Lee ob…
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PER CURIAM.
Defendant-appellant seeks review of an adverse final judgment for $3,500 plus in terest entered in favor of the plaintiff-ap-pellee.
Defendant-appellant, Harold Vernon, executed two promissory notes by personally signing on the signature line thereof over the name of “Trans Plains General Insur-anee Agency”. Each note, dated August 5, 1969, was in the sum of $1,750 and payable to the order of Harold Vernon at Lubbock National Bank, Lubbock, Texas, in four, months after the date thereof. Sometime thereafter, plaintiff-appellee Yanks received a telephone call from one Joel Lee who had possession of these two notes. At Lee’s request, Yanks consented to get the two notes, which were endorsed by defendant Vernon, discounted at his (Yanks’) bank. Lee had the notes delivered to Yanks who took them to the Riverside Bank. At the bank’s instruction, Yanks endorsed the notes and in exchange therefor the bank gave Yanks $3,400 which plaintiff Yanks then sent directly to Joel Lee. The Riverside Bank presented the notes for payment upon their maturity.
However, the notes were dishonored. Thereupon, the bank sued Yanks and recovered. Thereafter, Yanks, contending he (Yanks) was a holder in due course, filed a complaint against the defendant Harold Vernon who Yanks alleged was the maker of the two notes. Yanks then filed an amended complaint alleging Trans Plains Insurance Agency to be the maker of the subject notes and predicating defendant Vernon’s liability on the fact that defendant was the endorser thereof. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to this amended complaint was granted thereby precluding Yanks from recovering on the endorser theory.
Nevertheless, Yanks was granted leave to amend his complaint. Plaintiff Yanks then filed a second amended complaint and alleged therein that defendant Vernon was the maker of the subject notes and that he (Yanks) was the holder in due course (as plaintiff had alleged in his first complaint). The cause proceeded to a non-jury trial at the conclusion of which the trial judge entered judgment in favor of plaintiff-appellee Yanks for $3,500 plus interest. Defendant Vernon appeals therefrom.
On appeal, defendant-appellant basically argues that plaintiff Yanks cannot be considered a holder in due course because he did not take the subject notes for value as required by § 673.3-302, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. and therefore at most plaintiff Yanks is a holder and is subject to all valid claims and defenses.1
The question of whether a holder of a note is a holder in due course becomes one of fact to be determined by the trier of the facts if clearly put in issue. Sample v. Wilson, 101 Fla. 818, 134 So. 549 (1931). The trial judge, sitting as the trier of the facts in the case sub judice, determined that plaintiff was a holder in due course and we will not disturb this determination upon appeal.
Accordingly, the judgment herein appealed is affirmed.
Affirmed.
. Defendant Vernon at the trial presented testimony that he intended to purchase with the subject notes free trading stock and conveyed this intent to the seller. However, the only type of stock he (Vernon) received was restricted and accordingly there was a failure of consideration in this transaction giving defendant Vernon as against the seller a valid claim which plaintiff Yanks, if he was a mere holder, would take subject thereto and thereby would be barred from recovery.
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Seinfeld v. Commercial Bank & Tr. Co., 405 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)…h Miami Beach, 369 So. 2d 443 (Fla.3d DCA 1979); Travelco of Florida, Inc. v. Burnett, 338 So. 2d 50 (Fla.3d DCA 1976), cert. denied. 345 So. 2d 421 (Fla.1977); A. B. G. Investment, Inc. v. Selden, 336 So. 2d 444 (Fla.4th DCA 1976); Vernon v. Yanks, 303 So. 2d 375 (Fla.3d DCA 1974). It is therefore reversed and the cause remanded for further consistent proceedings. Reversed. . It is clear that fraud in the inducement is a personal defense of the maker which is not available against a holder in due course. S…
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A. B. G. Inv., Inc. v. Selden, 336 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976)…judgment as a matter of law. Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40 (Fla.1966). The question of whether the holder of a note is a holder in due course becomes one of fact to be determined by the trier of the facts if clearly put in issue. Vernon v. Yanks, 303 So. 2d 375 (Fla.App. 3, 1974). In this case, the pleadings and the depositions of appellee Selden clearly put in issue whether Selden was in fact a holder in due course. Accordingly, the judgment for appellee Selden is reversed and this cause is remanded for f…
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Gildred v. Alverde, 500 So. 2d 307 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…from the record that there are two material issues of fact. First, there is a question of agency as to one Stuart Gildred who was listed as a payee on this note. A.B.G. Investment, Inc. v. Selden, 336 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976); Vernon v. Yanks, 303 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Courtesy Financial Services, Inc. v. Hughes, 424 So. 2d 1172 (La.Ct.App.1982); Dobbs-Maynard Company, Inc. v. Jumper, 388 So. 2d 879 (Miss.1980); cf. Alarcan v. Ferrari, 490 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). Second, there is an iss…
Authorities Cited
- Sample v. Wilson, 134 So. 549 (Fla. 1931)