76 W. Va. 203 | W. Va. | 1915
Plaintiffs, receivers of the Washington National Building & Loan Association, have appealed from a decree of the circuit court of Taylor county, rendered dn their favor on the 28th of October, 1913, on the ground that the amount of money decreed them is less than they are entitled to. The-suit was brought in 1907 by the..aforesaid building and loan association to enforce the lien of a trust deed executed by Linnie Jarrett and Absalom Jarrett, her husband, to Josiah C. Stoddard and Addison G. DuBois, trustees, dated March 1, 1898, upon certain real estate in the city of Grafton, in trust
Mrs. Jarrett subscribed for twenty shares of stock in 1893, and on the 1st of March, 1898, was granted the aforesaid loan. She paid the monthly interest, premiums and dues on the stock until October, 1900, when she defaulted.
The cause was referred to a commissioner to ascertain and report the balance due plaintiff. He completed his report on the 35th, and filed it on the 27th of April, 1908, showing a balance due the said building and loan association on that
The cause was finally heard on the 28th of October, 1913, on the commissioner’s report and exceptions thereto, and the
court re-stated the account as follows, viz.:
“Amoiint of Loan. $2000.00
‘ ‘ Credits
“Amount of Dues Paid. $1008.00'
“Interest on dues at 6 per cent for three and one-half years (average time between Nov.
1st, 1893 and Oet. 31st, 1900). ' 214.20
“Amount of Premiums Paid. 320.00'
“Interest on permiums at 6 per from Feb. 1st,
1898 to Oct. 31st, 1900. 28.05
$1570.25
“Balance due as of Oct. 31st, 1900. $ 429.75
“Interest on same at 6 per cent from Oct.'31st,
1900, to October 27th, 1913. 335.20'
“Balance due plaintiffs from defendants, October 27, 1913 . $ 764.95”,
and decreed accordingly.
It thus appears that the court not only gave Mrs. Jarrett full credit for all monthly dues she had paid on stock subscription, from the time she became a subscriber until she defaulted, but also allowed her interest on the same, and on the premiums paid, at six per cent per annum. The transactions was treated as one between ordinary debtor and creditor, and Mrs. Jarrett given credit for the monthly dues and premiums paid, as if .they were partial payments, apparently
The ultimate success of a building and loan association depends upon each stockholder paying his dues; and a member who' has secured an advancement from the association' upon his stock will not be permitted to gain an advantage over the others by defaulting in his payments. The court stated the account on an improper basis, which gives Mrs. Jarrett an advantage over other stockholders who continued to pay their monthly dues to the association. Her exceptions to the commissioner’s report should have been overruled, and, none having been taken thereto by plaintiff, the report should have been confirmed, and a decree rendered in favor of plaintiffs for the amount therein found, including interest to the date of the decree. Plaintiffs’' debt was the first lien. A second lien was decreed upon the property in favor of Melville Peck, as to which there is no complaint.
It was not error to permit defendants to file their answer, although the ease had been pending for four years. They could file their answer any time before final decree. Sec. 53, Ch. 125, Code. Nor was it an abuse of discretion to permit exceptions to be taken to the commissioner’s report, after many terms of court had intervened between its filing and the date of the exceptions. The statute authorizes the grant- - ing of such permission, at any time after the report is filed, and before it is acted on. Sec. 7, Ch. 129, Code.
Reversed and remanded.