G. W. Parsons Co. v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.

Citations

• 225 F. 252
• 1915 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1245

Syllabus

<p>1. Sams @=>450—Conditional Sales—Validity.</p> <p>A provision in a contract of sale of personal property reserving titlo thereto until full payment has been made of the purchase price is valid and enforceable between the parties.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Sales, Cent. Dig. § 1321; Dec. Dig. @=>450.]</p> <p>2. Sjales @=>473—Conditional Sales—Bona Fide Purchasers. •</p> <p>Defendant executed a surety bond for a contractor, and to indemnify it the contractor assigned and conveyed to it all tools, etc., then or thereafter upon the work, with authority to take possession thereof in case the contractor failed or was unable to complete the work, or in the event of any default on its part. The contractor subsequently purchased a trenching machine from plaintiff by a contract which expressly reserved title ■until full payment of the purchase price. The contract was not recorded. Defendant, upon the contractor’s default, took charge of the work and took possession of all tools and machinery, including such trenching machine, and after completion of the work sold such machine. 11 eld, that defendant was in no sense a purchaser in good faith of the machine, as, the contractor not having purchased the machine until after the contract . of indemnity was made, defendant was in no way induced to execute the bond by the'contractor’s supposed ownership of the machine.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Sales, Cent. Dig. §§ 1377-1390; Dee. Dig. @=>473.]</p> <p>3. Chattel Mortgages @=>138—Conditional Sales—Rights or Mortgagees.</p> <p>The contention of defendant that its rights were superior to those of plaintiff, on the theory that it became a mortgagee in good faith, without notice of plaintiff’s reserved title, and that by taking possession it acquired the legal title and cut off plaintiff’s undisclosed interest, was unsound, as, though a chattel mortgage passes the legal title subject to defeasance by payment of the secured debt, the contractor never owned the l