Guckenheimer & Bros. v. Kann

Citations

• 243 Pa. 75
• 89 A. 807
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 578

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Guaranty—Suretyship—Payment of whole debt by one cosurety — Compulsory payments — Contribution—Equity—Parties.</p> <p>1. Where one of several parties who is liable upon a common obligation, discharges that obligation for the benefit of all, the one who makes the payment is entitled to recover from each of his co-sureties his proportionate share of the common buiden.</p> <p>2. A payment is compulsory where there is a clear legal duty to pay which may be enforced by judgment and execution.</p> <p>3. A payment is not necessarily voluntary because made before the maturity of the debt. The surety is not bound to subject himself to the risk of an action by waiting until the creditor has a cause of action. He may consult his own safety and resort to any measure calculated to assure him of it, which does not involve a wanton sacrifice of the interest of his principal.</p> <p>4. In a suit in equity to compel contribution by defendant, for his share of amounts which it was alleged plaintiff as cosurety with defendant had been compelled to pay, it appeared that a glass company had borrowed $750,000 from a bank upon its note for that amount, and $600,000 of bonds of the glass company were given as collateral security. An agreement signed by the plaintiff’s predecessors and the defendant Stockholders of the glass company, was made with the bank, providing that if the glass company should default in the payment of its note, they would pay the same as if they had endorsed the note. The parties further delivered to the bank stock of the glass company having a par value of $200,00 and agreed to buy back such stock within three years for $100,000. A separate agreement between the stockholders stipulated they would be liable on their contract with the bank in proportion to the amount of their holdings in the glass company, but did not fix the liablitiy of each of the signers for the redemption of stock. The glass company defaulted and plaintiff’s predecessors paid the a