Merchants Exchange National Bank v. Commercial Warehouse Co.
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal from a judgment of the General Term of the Superior Court of the city of ¡New York, affirming a judgment of the Special Term in favor of the defendant, sustaining its demurrer to the complaint. The action was brought to recover for the conversion of a quantity of tobacco, the warehouse receipts for which had been pledged with the defendant, by one Cornelius Oakley, as security for loans made to him by the defendant, which the complaint alleged to be usurious.
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Appeal from a judgment of the General Term of the Superior Court of the city of ¡New York, affirming a judgment of the Special Term in favor of the defendant, sustaining its demurrer to the complaint. The action was brought to recover for the conversion of a quantity of tobacco, the warehouse receipts for which had been pledged with the defendant, by one Cornelius Oakley, as security for loans made to him by the defendant, which the complaint alleged to be usurious. The plaintiffs claimed the tobacco as purchasers from Oakley. The substance of the allegations of the complaint appears in the…
1Opinion of the CourtFolger, J.
The plaintiff was a privy in estate to Cornelius Oakley, the first owner of the property. If the contract between him and the defendant was usurious, he could have recovered the property pledged under it; and, as a general rule, the privies in estate to him could do the same. (Mason v. Lord, 40 N. Y., 476.)
The defendant advances some arguments why the plaintiff cannot, in this action, do that. First, it is claimed that the complaint does not state facts which make a case of a usurious contract. It is to be conceded that, in pleading usury, it is to be done with certainty. If the facts stated…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Curtis and Others v. . LeavittNew York Court of Appeals · 1857
- Mason v. . LordNew York Court of Appeals · 1869
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- Parker v. Bethel Hotel Co.Tennessee Supreme Court · 1896
- Halsey v. WinantNew York Court of Appeals · 1932
- Bennett v. . BatesNew York Court of Appeals · 1884
- Knickerbocker Life Ins. Co. v. . NelsonNew York Court of Appeals · 1879
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