Roy v. Goings

Citations

• 96 Ill. 361
• 1880 Ill. LEXIS 40

Syllabus

<p>1. Chattel mortgage—right of mortgagee to take possession under insecurity clause. Under a clause in a chattel mortgage, that if the mortgagee shall, at any time before the debt becomes due, “ feel himself unsafe or insecure,” he shall have the right to take possession of the mortgaged property, the mortgagee has the right to judge of the crisis for himself, subject only to the limitation that his judgment of insecurity must be exercised in good faith, upon reasonable grounds or probable' cause.</p> <p>2. This rule does not require that there should be actual danger, or that the proof should furnish the court, at the time of the trial, with reasonable ground to decide that there was actual danger, but it will be sufficient if, at the trial, it appears that at the time of the taking of possession there was apparent danger, such that a reasonable man might, in good faith, act upon, or, in other words, there should be reasonable grounds to believe there was danger, or that the mortgagee did not act without probable cause.</p> <p>3. The feeling of insecurity mentioned in a chattel mortgage, as giving the mortgagee the right to take possession of the mortgaged property before the maturity of the debt., has reference to such feeling as is produced by some subsequent cause, or some cause not in being when the mortgage was executed. It is not sufficient that it arises from a question of law as to the validity of the mortgage as against third persons.</p>