Agricultural Trust Co. v. Brubaker

Citations

• 73 Pa. Super. 468
• 1920 Pa. Super. LEXIS 42

Syllabus

<p>Judgment — Judgment notes — Entry of judgment — Maher—Endorser — Separate judgments — Act of 1806.</p> <p>A judgment by confession can only be sustained by a warrant authorizing it at the time and in the manner and form in which it was entered. The prothonotary entering the.judgment does not act as an officer of the court; his hand is not that of the court entering upon record a judgment duly pronounced by the law. He derives his authority solely from the Act of 1806. To exercise the power conferred by that statute he must obey its mandatory directions, otherwise he remains a mere volunteer and his action is without legal effect.</p> <p>A joint judgment cannot be entered against an endorser and maker on two separate judgments.</p> <p>Where a judgment note has been endorsed and the endorser has executed a warrant of attorney to confess judgment on the back of the note, the endorser is not liable for the same unless the note is unpaid by the maker at maturity, and it was error for the prothonotary to enter a joint judgment against a maker and endorser on the authority of the note, and in so doing he did not execute the warrant of attorney to confess judgment given by the endorser. The proper procedure, under such circumstances, was to enter a judgment against the maker, and if the note remained unpaid at maturity to enter a separate judgment against the endorser on the warrant contained in his endorsement.</p>