Hide & Leather National Bank v. Rehm

Citations

• 126 Ill. 461
• 18 N.E. 788

Syllabus

<p>1. Insolvent debtors—preference among creditors—in anticipation •of making an assignment. After a debtor has determined to make an assignment of his property for the benefit of his creditors, all conveyances, transfers and other dispositions of his property or assets, made in view of his intended general assignment, whereby a preference is .given, will be held to be within the prohibition of the statute, and void.</p> <p>2. In this case, a debtor whose liabilities exceeded his assets about $50,000, who was, on January 13, 1887, indebted to a bank in the sum of $12,000, by three promissory notes, and to a leather company in the sum of $2876, evidenced by two notes, none of which notes were due, and was also indebted $1562 on another note maturing on that day, gave the holders of such notes judgment notes in lieu thereof, with warrants of attorney, authorizing the entry of judgment on such new notes. On the next morning, the debtor made a general, assignment of all his property for the benefit of his creditors, but after the entry of judgments on the notes, and the issue of executions thereon, which were levied upon all the debtor’s property. The evidence showed that at the time of the giving of the judgment notes, the debtor knew that he was insolvent, and intended making a general assignment: Held, that ns the judgments were confessed for the purpose of preferring the plaintiffs therein, they were void, and that the holders of the judgments acquired no lien in preference of the creditors, generally.</p>