Smith v. National Bank

Citations

• 59 Pa. Super. 272
• 1915 Pa. Super. LEXIS 62

Syllabus

<p>Promissory note — Contract—Parol evidence — Voluntary payment— Guaranty.</p> <p>1. In an action against a bank to recover a sum of money paid by the plaintiffs to the defendant on account of a promissory note signed by the plaintiffs, where it appears that at the time the note was made, another paper was executed, and attached to the note, and that this paper constituted with the note the whole contract, and it was also shown that such paper had been lost, parol evidence is admissible to establish its contents, and such evidence with the note itself must be submitted to the jury under proper instructions to determine what the real contract was.</p> <p>2. If in such a case the evidence tends to show that the plaintiffs were not the real makers of the note, although they had signed it, and that they had paid the note under a clear mistake of fact resulting from misrepresentations made by the real maker and the cashier of the defendant bank, the case is for the jury, and a verdict for the plaintiff will be sustained.</p> <p>3. In such a case where it appears that the bank knew that one of its depositors was the real debtor, it was the bank’s duty to charge up the note to the account of such depositor as soon as the state of his account warranted it; and if the bank failed to make such charge when such depositor had in fact a sufficient balance in his account to pay the note, and the plaintiffs were induced to pay it by misrepresentations of the cashier that there were no such funds to meet the note, the bank will be liable.</p>