Quinn v. Parke & Lacy Machinery Co.

Citations

• 5 Wash. 276
• 31 P. 866
• 1892 Wash. LEXIS 51

Syllabus

<p>REPLEVIN—VERDICT—CONDITIONAL SALE —WAIVER—EVIDENCE — INSURABLE INTEREST.</p> <p>Under Code Proc., § 374, requiring the jury, in an action for the recovery of specific personal property, to “assess the value of the property if their verdict be in favor of the plaintiff,” a verdict is defective which merely finds for the plaintiff and assesses his damages at fifteen hundred dollars.</p> <p>Where a contract provides that certain chattels shall be leased by one party to another for a definite period, for the use of which the lessee agrees to pay certain sums at stated times, upon the performance of which provision he shall be entitled to purchase the chattels for the sum of one dollar, but in case of his failure promptly to comply with the terms of the contract the same shall be canceled and all money paid shall belong to the lessor as payment for the use of the property, which the lessor shall be entitled to retake into its possession, such contract, although described as a “lease,” is a conditional sale.</p> <p>The fact that the lessor accepted payment of money upon such a contract after maturity, and after the lessee was in default, did not constitute either an express or implied waiver of the terms of the contract; and a mere lapse of time after default of the lessee before the lessor resumed and took possession of said chattels, did not constitute a waiver of the lessor’s title and right to the possession of said property.</p> <p>A charge to the jury that if the lessor insured the chattels in the name of the lessee it is prima facie proof of the lessee’s ownership of the property, is erroneous, as the person in possession of property under a conditional sale has an insurable interest, which is not inconsistent with the title of the actual owner.</p>