214 F. 73 | 8th Cir. | 1914
In an action in replevin by the seller of a chattel under a contract of conditional sale by which he reserved title and the right to possession if the purchase price was not fully paid, the purchaser who had not paid in full set up in defense a breach of implied warranty, a rescission of the contract of sale, and a claim of equitable lien on the chattel or right to retain it until reimbursed for his partial payment and some expenses.
Judgment for the seller was entered on the pleadings.
In cases of, enforcement of contracts of conditional sale, circumstances not infrequently appear which make the result seem inequitable, but as was said in Bierce v. Hutchins, 205 U. S. 340, 347, 27 Sup. Ct. 524, 525 (51 L. Ed. 828):
“Such sales sometimes are regulated by statute and put more pr less on tbe footing of mortgages. Witb tbe development of its effects there has been some reaction against tbe Benthamite doctrine of absolute freedom of contract. But courts are not Legislatures, and are not at liberty to invent and apply specific regulations according to tbeir notions of convenience. In tbe absence of a statute, tbeir only duty is to discover tbe meaning of tbe contract and to enforce it, without a leaning in either direction, when, as in the present case, tbe parties stood on an equal footing and were free to do wbat they chose.”
“There is nothing to indicate that the defendant had a special interest in or lien upon those goods. He had a right to purchase them by making payment according to the contract. If, as seems to be claimed, he had a right to treat -the contract as rescinded, he would certainly have no interest in the property, and at most might have a personal claim against the plaintiff for the amount paid.”
See, also, Fairbanks v. Malloy, 16 Ill. App. 277.
The judgment is affirmed.