Harkness v. Russell

Citations

• 118 U.S. 663
• 7 S. Ct. 51
• 30 L. Ed. 285
• 1886 U.S. LEXIS 1959

Syllabus

<p>In the absence of fraud, an agreement for a conditional sale of personal property accompanied by delivery is good and valid, as well against third persons as against the parties to the transaction.</p> <p>'A bailee of personal property, who receives it under an agreement that he may purchase it on the performance of conditions on his part-, cannot convey title to it or subject it to execution for his own debts, until performance of the conditions on which the agreement to sell is made.</p> <p>A, having agreed to sell certain personal property to B on the performance of conditions on his part, delivered it to him, and took from him a promissory note stating the following as the condition of the sale : “ The express condition of this transaction is such that the title, ownership, or possession of said property does not pass from the said A until this note and interest shall have been paid in full, and the said A has full power to declare this note due and take possession of said engine and saw-mill when he may deem himself insecure, even before the maturity of this note. In case said property shall be taken back, A may sell the same at public or private sale without notice, or he may without sale endorse the true value of the property on this note, and I agree to pay on the note any balance due thereon after such endorsement, as damages and rental for said machinery.” B entered into possession, and, without performing the conditions of sale, sold the property to 0, who knew that it had not been paid for, and that A claimed title to it. At the time of the sale - to 0, the value of the property was less than the amount due on the note. In an action against 0 to recover the value of the property, Held: That this transaction was not a mortgage, but was an executory conditional sale; and, being free from fraud, that it was valid.</p>