Case Name: PAYNE-FARRIS COMPANY v. MRS. L. A. KUESTER and MISS L. E. KUESTER
Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina
Jurisdiction: North Carolina
Decision Date: 1937-11-24
Citations: 212 N.C. 545
Docket Number: 
Parties: PAYNE-FARRIS COMPANY v. MRS. L. A. KUESTER and MISS L. E. KUESTER.
Judges: 
Reporter: North Carolina Reports
Volume: 212
Pages: 545–546

Head Matter:
PAYNE-FARRIS COMPANY v. MRS. L. A. KUESTER and MISS L. E. KUESTER.
(Filed 24 November, 1937.)
Principal and Agent § 12 — Acceptance and use of goods and signing re-plevy bond beld to ratify agent’s execution of conditional sales contract.
Where a conditional sales contract is signed by a person in the name of another, and the person for whom the goods were bought receives and uses same, and files a replevy bond to resist recovery by the seller in claim and delivery, she ratifies the signing of the conditional sales coh-tract in her name, and may not deny the authority of the agent to sign same.
Appeal by defendant Mrs. L. A. Kuester from Harding, J., at February Term, 1937, of MeckleNbuiig. No error.
Jahe F. Newell for plaintiff, appellee.
John Newitt for defendant, appellant.

Opinion:
PeR Cubiam.
This is an action in claim and delivery of certain furniture sold and delivered on a title retained contract. Appropriate issues were submitted and answered in favor of the plaintiff, and from judgment in accord therewith defendant Mrs. L. A. Kuester appealed.
The principal assignment of error urged in the brief of the appellant is the court's failure to sustain her objection to the admission in evidence of the title retained contract signed in her name by Miss L. E. Kuester, her daughter, without the plaintiff having first established the authority of the daughter to sign the name of her mother thereto. Without passing upon the question of whether the daughter was originally authorized to sign the contract, the evidence is that the mother, the appellant, received tbe furniture in ber borne, enjoyed tbe use and benefits thereof, resisted its recovery by giving replevy bond, and thereby ratified tbe action of ber daughter in signing ber name and procuring tbe furniture. "Tbe relation of principal and agent is created by ratification when one person adopts an act done by another person, assuming to act on bis behalf, but without authority or in excess of authority, with tbe same force and effect as if tbe relation bad been created by appointment." Trollinger v. Fleer, 157 N. C., 81. Tbe ratification of tbe action of ber daughter by tbe appellant rendered tbe instrument competent evidence.
Tbe motion for judgment as in case of nonsuit made and renewed pursuant to C. S., 567, cannot be sustained, since tbe evidence was sufficient to carry tbe case to tbe jury.
We have examined tbe other exceptive assignments of error and find no prejudicial error.
No error.