227 Pa. 354 | Pa. | 1910
Opinion by
March 7, 1910:
On January 27, 1905, the Tenth National Bank of Phila
The Fourth Street National Bank of Philadelphia is the holder of receiver’s certificates issued by the said William R. Richards under and by virtue of an order of the court below, and on July 16, 1909, it presented its petition to said court, averring the foregoing state of facts, and, in addition, that the receiver had requested payment to him by the Farmers’ National Bank of York of the sum on deposit with it to his credit, and that payment was refused, and, further, that he had made a similar demand upon the Security Title and Trust Company of York for payment of the amount deposited with it to his credit, but that payment thereof had also been refused. Upon the presentation of this petition the court below granted a rule upon William R. Richards, receiver, the Security Title and Trust Company of York and the Farmers’ National Bank of York, Pa., to show cause why the moneys on deposit to the credit of the said receiver, or to which he might be entitled, should not forthwith be paid to him and why the said Security Title and Trust Company and the Farmers’ National Bank of York should not be enjoined and restrained from paying said moneys to any person or persons except under and by direction of the court. Service of this rule was made in York county upon the Security Title and Trust Company and the Farmers’ National Bank of York, but no answer was made by either of them, and on October 20, 1909, the court below made an order that they forthwith pay to William R. Richards, receiver, the sums on deposit with them to his credit, with interest to the date of
When court of common pleas No. 5 of the county of Philadelphia appointed Richards receiver he became the receiver of every asset of the Smith Construction Company, wherever situated within the state. From the moment he was appointed, and before he may have taken actual possession of all of the assets of the company within the state, the court acquired plenary jurisdiction and dominion over those assets, and the receiver appointed by it was its officer to administer them, in whatever counties of the state they might happen to be. If there be an adjudicated case which authorized the court of common pleas of York county to interfere with the jurisdiction and dominion of the court below over the assets of the construction company which were in York county on January 27, 1905, by appointing an ancillary receiver four days later, it has never fallen under our notice. On the contrary, under all the authorities, the York county court was wholly without jurisdiction to make the appointment. “As between courts of the same State when a receiver has been appointed by one court and has obtained possession of the property or fund over which he was appointed, he cannot be in any manner interfered with by a receiver subsequently appointed, or by any proceeding whatever in any other action brought in any other court. The court which first appoints a receiver has the sole disposition of the fund or property received by him as such, and is bound in the exercise of its judicial powers to make administration of it:” Beach on Receivers, sec. 15. In Peale v. Phipps, 14 Howard, 368, an attempt was made in one of the federal circuit courts to exercise jurisdiction over a trustee who had been duly appointed by one of the courts of the state of Mississippi, and, in setting aside the circuit court’s interference, it was said by the Supreme Court of the United States, through Taney, C. J.: “The property, in legal contemplation, was in the custody of the court of which he was the officer, and had been placed there by the laws of Mississippi.
Authorities need not be multiplied in support of the rule that a court has no power to appoint a receiver where one has already been appointed by another court of equal jurisdiction. The rule is essential to the orderly administration of justice, for without it there would be unseemly conflicts between courts undertaking to exercise jurisdiction over the same subjects and persons. If the York county court could interfere with the administration by the court below, through its officer, of the estate of the construction company, so might the courts of the counties of Chester and Mifflin and of as many other counties as might happen to have assets of the company within their borders. Instead of one account by a receiver, to be passed upon by one court, there would be an account in each county by the receiver appointed by its court, and on every question raised on the accounts of receivers so appointed there might be as many minds as there were judges who made the appointments. To avoid such confusion, if for no other reason, when an appointment is once made by a court of competent jurisdiction, that appointment ought not to be interfered with by any other court within the same state. The controlling reason of the rule that
It is contended by counsel for appellants that, even if the appointment of the ancillary receiver by the court of common pleas of York county is void, it is not to be attacked in this collateral proceeding. This overlooks the fact that the court of common pleas of York county never had jurisdiction of the subject-matter — the assets of the Smith Construction Company. Exclusive jurisdiction over those had attached on January 27, 1905, in the court of common pleas No. 5 of the county of Philadelphia, as affirmatively appeared in the bill presented to the York county court. As that court was without jurisdiction, its appointment of the ancillary receiver was void and is to be so regarded in this proceeding. The appellee is not required to formally'move for its vacation by the court that undertook to make it.
The deposits with the two appellants are assets belonging to the receiver appointed by the court below and are free from any interference or control by the York county court, whose connection with the moneys due by the city of York for the sewer ended when it ordered the same to be paid to the receiver. What he should do with the funds after payments were made to him was solely for the court below. But while this is true, no authority exists for the action of the court below in ordering the appellants to pay the receiver. This order followed a rule upon them issued in a proceeding to which they were not legally made parties. They had never been within the court’s jurisdiction, and the rule taken upon them was ineffectual to bring them in. The order made upon them was void for want of jurisdiction: Allegheny Bank’s Appeal, 48 Pa. 328. They are not, however, to be permitted to retain the moneys due the receiver, and, if they do not pay him upon demand, will be compelled to pay in a proper proceeding. On the petition presented by the appellee the court ought to have ordered the receiver to demand
The decree below is reversed, the costs to be paid out of funds belonging to the receiver, and leave is granted to the appellee to apply to the court below for the order which we have suggested ought to have been made.