Calhoun v. Russ

Citations

• 81 Fla. 773
• 89 So. 134

Syllabus

<p>1. In a suit to foreclose a chattel mortgage to secure a store account, where the defendant in a petition sets out and shows the Court that the discovery and production of the books and accounts and papers of the complainant is necessary to' enable- the defendant to make' a correct and definite answer Jo the bill, and asks that the complainant deposit them with the clerk of the Court a sufficient length of time for the defendant to examine them and prepare an answer to the bill, it is error for the court to refuse to make an appropriate order to permit the defendant to avail himself of the data contained in such books of accounts and papers.</p> <p>2. Where a series of notes secured by chattel mortgages are given from year to year, the new one for the balance due on the old, with additional amounts charged to the mortgagor between the date of executing the old and new mortgage, in a suit to foreclose the last mortgage, the defendant has a right to set up in his answer and prove, everything in relation to all transactions between the complainant and the defendant from the date of the first transaction for which first the note and chattel mortgage was given.</p> <p>3. The giving of a note and chattel mortgage to secure a store account covering a period of a year is not conclusive that the amount stated in the notes and mortgages is correct, and is not an acknowledgment of the amount of the indebtedness, and where the answer denies that the amount stated in the note is the amount of the indebtedness of the mortgagor, he has the right to show that the amount stated in the mortgage is not correct, and for this purpose he may require the production of the books of account of .complainant.</p>