181 Iowa 679 | Iowa | 1917
“I simply buy my automobiles at wholesale and sell them at retail. The cars are shipped with draft attached to bill of lading, and, in order to get possession of these cars, we have to pay the draft: we have to pay the draft in order to get the bill of lading before we unload them or even inspect them. The bill of lading is sent to the bank. * * I never have any cars in my possession belonging to the National Motor Vehicle Company. I never get possession of any cars before I pay full price for them. * * * I have received some cars from this concern after this garnishment was made. I received and paid for on February 6th two Nationals, two on February 8th, two on March 26th, and two on March 28th. In round numbers, I have paid $9,600 since the garnishment was served. They were delivered to the railroad company and not released to us until we paid the draft attached to the bill of lading at the bank. I paid the draft before I got the bill of lading, and could not get the cars into my possession without paying for them. * * ‘ At the time this notice was served, I did not have any cars which were not paid for.”
Upon the showing thus made, the trial court found for the plaintiff and entered judgment against the garnishee for $500, with interest and costs, and in addition thereto “ordered, adjudged and decreed that the garnishee
Beversing the order of counsel’s argument, we first take up the question whether, assuming for the purposes of this case the entire validity of the judgment recovered by the plaintiff against the National Motor Vehicle Company, he has shown himself entitled to recover' from the garnishee.
For two or three very sufficient reasons, this question must be answered in the negative. Garnishment, as the word is used in this state, is a proceeding by which an attachment or execution plaintiff seeks to subject to his writ the property, rights and credits of his debtor by calling into court and requiring answer of some third person who has either property, credits or effects of the debtor in his possession, or who is himself indebted to such defendant. It is not the purpose or intent of the law to require more of the garnishee than that he turn over to the officer or to the court any property or effects of the debtor in his possession or control, and pay to the officer or into court any debt he may owe to the plaintiff’s debtor. In this state, also, it is doubtless true that, if the garnishee’s answer discloses that, at the time of the garnishment, he owed the defendant a debt which was not and is not yet due and payable, the court, may continue the hearing for the maturity of such debt, or possibly may enter judgment therefor payable when it falls due. But nothing is better settled than that the garnishee will not be held to any other or greater obligation for the benefit of the plaintiff than he was already under to the debtor. The court cannot do any more than put the plaintiff in the shoes of the debtor, so far as relates to the claim against the garnishee. The notice to the garnishee
It is not material that there was a contract for future sales not yet in fact made or consummated at the time of the garnishment; the seller might yet refuse to make the sales or the buyer to make the purchases, or they might mutually agree to waive further performance of their agreement. They were under no obligation to proceed any further unless they chose to do so, and quite certainly the execution creditor could not compel them to proceed for his benefit.
There was an entire absence of evidence to show any indebtedness of the garnishee to the judgment defendant when the notice was served or at any other time, and the proceedings should have been dismissed. This conclusion renders it unnecessary for us to consider or decide the question of the validity of the original judgment.
The judgment of the district court is — Reversed.