Source: http://masscases.com/cases/app/25/25massappct366.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 18:53:54+00:00

Document:
GUINNESS IMPORT COMPANY vs. GUY DESTEFANO, JR.
Present: GRANT, ARMSTRONG, & WARNER, JJ.
CIVIL ACTION commenced in the Superior Court Department on January 9, 1986.
A motion for summary judgment was heard by Ernest S. Hayeck, J., sitting under statutory authority.
Evan T. Lawson (Laura W. Morgan with him) for the defendant.
Michael J. Lacek for the plaintiff.
365 Mass. 824 (1974), unless DeStefano, by proper affidavits or otherwise, "set forth specific facts showing that there [was] a genuine issue for trial." Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(e), 365 Mass. 825 (1974). Community Natl. Bank v. Dawes, 369 Mass. 550, 554 (1976). DeStefano appeals from a judgment against him entered under the rule, claiming that the affidavit he filed in opposition to the motion showed specific facts that would constitute defenses and thus necessitated trial.
Commercial Code Section 2.07, at 2-46 to 2-48 (1984). Attestations of both signatures were signed by another person, the same in each case, on lines for that purpose on the lower left. The note is not under seal. Neither the pleadings nor the affidavits before the judge disclose who drafted the note, the circumstances by which DeStefano was induced to become a signatory, or any present consideration for the note from Guinness, such as an agreement to continue supplying Guinness products to Considine or to forbear from suit.
The portions of DeStefano's affidavit which he claims give rise to material questions of fact are two. First, the affidavit states that, at the time DeStefano signed, he thought he was signing as a witness attesting to Gordon's signature. [Note 1] Second, the affidavit states that, after signing but before delivery to Guinness, DeStefano placed a telephone call to a vice president of Guinness, one Wolfe, to explain that he had not signed the note in his personal capacity but that, if he should decide to purchase Considine, he would be willing to discuss a guarantee of the note. Wolfe "did not disagree with my assessment, and politely said goodbye." A week later DeStefano's lawyer sent a letter to Guinness reiterating DeStefano's position that "he never intended to execute that [n]ote in an individual capacity and does not believe that he is personally liable on the [n]ote." Neither the DeStefano affidavit nor his attorney's letter suggests that Guinness at any time affirmatively indicated agreement with DeStefano's assessment of his legal position after signing the note. On the other hand, Guinness did nothing to warn DeStefano that his assessment might be inaccurate.
material to his liability on the note. The first, more hinted at than argued, is that DeStefano may have affixed his signature as an accommodation to Guinness and, if so, is exempt from liability to Guinness under the principle now codified in G. L. c. 106, Section 3-415(5). See Great Barrington Sav. Bank v. Day, 288 Mass. 181, 184 (1934); Leonard v. Woodward, 305 Mass. 332, 334 (1940). While the status of signatories as accommodation parties is often a question of fact, the record in this case is barren of evidence bearing on the point. DeStefano would have the burden of proving that he signed as an accommodation to Guinness, Community Natl. Bank v. Dawes, 369 Mass. at 558-560, and in the absence of verified allegations that would warrant an inference to that effect, the mere possibility does not preclude the entry of summary judgment for Guinness. Ibid.
DeStefano's most strenuously argued contention is that the telephone call from DeStefano to Wolfe in the Guinness office could be found to have resulted in an understanding, prior to delivery of the note, that DeStefano was not to be held personally liable thereon. Doubtless there are situations in which silence implies assent, see White v. White, 346 Mass. 76, 79 (1963), but DeStefano's affidavit -- the sole source of information about the call -- furnishes no basis for such an inference. DeStefano (according to his affidavit) returned to the Considine office with the executed note and "gave the note to the secretary to be mailed via Federal Express to . . . [Guinness]. I then called [Wolfe] personally, to tell him that the note was on its way to him, and that I had not signed the note personally. During this conversation, I told Wolfe that I understood that I had not signed the note in any personal capacity, since I had no financial interest in Considine at the moment, but if the time arose when I did have such an interest, I would discuss a guarantee of the note. [Wolfe] did not disagree with my assessment . . . ." DeStefano's lawyer, a week later, sent a follow-up letter confirming the conversation. Like the affidavit, the letter, which is in the record, makes no claim that Wolfe had agreed to anything -- only that DeStefano thought he was not personally liable and had communicated that thought to Wolfe in the phone call.
[Note 1] There is also, in the affidavit, a hint that DeStefano may have thought he was signing in a representative capacity for Considine. This possibility is not now pressed, and it would not avail DeStefano in any event. See G. L. c. 106, Section 3-304(2)(b), and First Safety Fund Natl. Bank v. Friel, 23 Mass. App. Ct. at 584-585. Without more, an undisclosed, subjective intention not to assume personal obligation is insufficient to prevent summary judgment. See Commonwealth Bank & Trust Co. v. Plotkin, 371 Mass. 218, 221-222 (1976).
[Note 2] Other jurisdictions have almost unanimously reached the same conclusion. See Chaffin v. Hall, 439 So. 2d 67, 69 (Ala. 1983); General Tire & Rubber Co. v. Solomon, 124 Ga. App. 308, 308-309 (1971); First Natl. Bank v. Achilli, 14 Ill. App. 3d 1, 6 (1973); Stockwell v. Bloomfield State Bank, 174 Ind. App. 307, 311-312 (1977); Newman Grove Creamery Co. v. Deaver, 208 Neb. 178, 180-181 (1981); International Minerals & Chem. Corp. v. Matthews, 71 N.C. App. 209, 210-211 (1984); Musulin v. Woodtek, Inc., 260 Or. 576, 578-580 (1971); A. M. Castle & Co. v. Bagley, 24 Utah 2d. 136, 138-139 (1970); contra, Capital City Bank v. Baker, 59 Tenn. App. 477 (1969).
[Note 3] For purposes of decision we have assumed that evidence of an understanding, at the time of delivery of a note, that one of the makers was not to be held liable thereon would be competent (and that the understanding would be enforceable as between the immediate parties) notwithstanding the parol evidence rule. The assumption is dubious. See Dodge v. Bowen, 265 Mass. 208, 213 (1928); Leonard v. Woodward, 305 Mass. at 335; Sherman v. Kaufman, 348 Mass. 606, 610 (1965); Trustees of Tufts College v. Parlane Sportswear Co., 4 Mass. App. Ct. 783, 783-784 (1976); Santry v. Richman, 6 Mass. App. Ct. 955, 956 (1978); Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Hill, 13 Mass. App. Ct. 514, 517 (1982). Compare cases governed by G. L. c. 106, Section 3-403(2)(b), concerning an understanding by the immediate parties to a note concerning the capacity, representative or personal, in which a maker or endorser is signing. See, in this regard, First Safety Fund Natl. Bank v. Friel, supra.

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