40 Md. 471 | Md. | 1874
delivered the opinion of the Court.
On the first day of January, 1871, a co-partnership in the hardware business was formed under the name of F. B. Loney & Co., consisting of Francis B. Loney, Irwin Neale, Jerome W. Price, Richard B. Gunn, John J. Hoof and B. Gordon .Thomas. In the latter part of the same year the firm became embarrassed and failed. Upon the petition of B. Gordon Thomas, one of the partners, a receiver was appointed to take possession of the effects, and collect the outstanding debts due the firm. Petitioning creditors were then admitted as parties, and a subsequent order was passed, with the assent of the creditors, directing the receiver to convey to the appellant, upon the payment of sixty thousand dollars, all the stock, assets, and property of the firm, as set forth in the receiver’s report.
The cause was remanded for further proceedings, and on the 19th of July, 1873, the Court below passed an order directing the appellant to return all books and property taken possession of under the receiver’s deed, and which did not constitute a part of the assets of the firm of January 1st, 1871.
In the meantime, while the former appeal was pending in this Court, the appellant collected from the debts due the old firm, and to which by the decision of this Court, he ivas not entitled, the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, and against this sum now in his hands due to the appellee, he claims to set-off an alleged indebtedness of the old firm of Loney & Co., to the new firm, and which passed under the receiver’s deed to him.
Courts of equity are governed by the same rules in regard to set-off as Courts of law, and to entitle a party to set-off, the debts must be mutual, and exist between the parties in the same right. A separate debt cannot be set-off against a joint debt, nor a joint debt against a separate debt. In Hall’s Admr. vs. Creswell, 12 G. & J., 51, on
If there were no other objections to the set-off claimed hy the appellant, we think on these grounds, it was properly disallowed, and the orders of July 19th, 1873, and August, 1873, will he affirmed.
Order affirmed.