13 Pa. Super. 343 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1900
Opinion by
This was a proceeding by scire facias upon a mortgage, and Patrick White, terre-tenant, defended upon the ground that he had paid to plaintiff the full amount which its duly authorized officers had represented to be owing upon the mortgage at the time he (White) purchased the land, and that upon the faith of the representations of said officers he had settled with his grantor and paid the balance of the purchase money. White produced evidence which can scarcely be said to be contradicted, that at the time he purchased the land of Buss, the mortgagor, the secretary of the building and loan association had furnished him a statement that it would require a payment of $10.00 each month for sixty months to discharge the mortgage, and it is not disputed that White did regularly pay that amount during the period stated. The declarations of the secretary of a building and loan association as to the amounts due upon mortgages held by the association are not binding upon the association in the absence of evidence of authority in the secretary to settle such claims or furnish statements to parties of the amounts owing thereon: Johnston v. Elizabeth, etc., Association, 104 Pa. 394; Erthal v. Glueck, 10 Pa. Superior Ct. 402. No such authority is implied from the nature of the office of secretary, and it was, no doubt, owing to this cause that the court below gave binding instructions in favor of the plaintiff;
The authority of the secretary, however, to act for the association in such matters may be established by any competent evidence, and if there was such evidence in this case the question ought to have gone to the jury. The transaction and management of the affairs of a corporation are with the board of directors, and' they have the power to make such rules and regulations as may be reasonably necessary for carrying on the business of the association. In the absence of limitations upon their authority, contained in the constitution and by-laws, they
Judgment reversed and venire facias de novo awarded.