Case Name: GLASER'S ELEVATOR & LUMBER COMPANY v. PERRY
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1973-09-26
Citations: 49 Mich. App. 604
Docket Number: Docket No. 13485
Parties: GLASER’S ELEVATOR & LUMBER COMPANY v PERRY
Judges: Before: Fitzgerald, P. J., and J. H. Gillis and Adams, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 49
Pages: 604–610

Head Matter:
GLASER’S ELEVATOR & LUMBER COMPANY v PERRY
Opinion op the Court
1. Corporations — Annual Report — Corporate Debts — Liability op Corporate Officers — Statutes.
The failure of a corporation to file an annual report results in suspension of its corporate powers and any officer of the corporation so in default who has neglected or refused to join in making the report is liable for all debts of the corporation contracted during the period of neglect or refusal (MCLA 450.87).
2. Corporations — Corporate Debts — Liability of Corporate Officers — Annual Report — Statutes—Court Rules.
A defendant who was revealed to be an officer in a corporation by the pretrial discovery failed to state a valid defense to a claim of debt asserted against him when he alleged that any obligation due to plaintiff was that of the corporate entity and that he was not liable individually where the corporation had not filed its annual report for the year in which the debts were incurred (MCLA 450.87; GCR 1963, 117.2[2]).
Dissent by Adams, J.
3. Corporations — Corporate Debts — Liability of Corporate Officers — Question for Jury.
An issue as to whether a defendant was acting in an individual capacity or as an agent for a corporation was contested in an action to enforce a debt where the defendant had stated that a corporate bank account was opened and that all stationery, checks, letterheads, and advertising of the business carried the corporate name, all payments were made by checks of the corporation, and ail labor and supplies were ordered in the corporate name; therefore, the issue of corporate versus individ ual activity should have been resolved upon trial and not by a motion for summary judgment on the ground that there was no genuine issue as to any material fact (GCR1963,117.2[3j).
References for Points in Headnotes
[1, 2] 18 Am Jur 2d, Corporations § 174.
19 Am Jur 2d, Corporations §§ 1369, 1613, 1614, 1622, 1624.
[3-5] 19 Am Jur 2d, Corporations §§ 1354, 1365-1369, 1372, 1374.
4. Corporations — Annual Report — Corporate Debts — Liability of Corporate Officers — Filing Date — Statutes.
A defendant corporate officer would not be personally liable for corporate debts because of the failure of the corporation to Me an annual report where the debts arose from the purchase of materials by the corporation from a plaintiff during a period in which the corporation was in good standing and prior to the date upon which the annual report was required to be Sled ■ (MCLA 460.82, 450.87).
5. Corporations — Annual Report — Corporate Debts — Liability of Corporate Officers — Limitation of Actions — Statutes.
The possible personal liability of a corporate officer for corporate debts because of a failure by the corporation to Sle an annual report is limited by the relevant statute of limitations to a period of two years (MCLA 450.87, 450.90)
Appeal from Genesee, Thomas C. Yeotis, J.
Submitted Division 2 April 9, 1973, at Lansing.
(Docket No. 13485.)
Decided September 26, 1973.
Complaint by Glaser’s Elevator & Lumber Company against Kenneth Perry for money due under a contract. Summary judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals.
Affirmed.
Pelavin & Pelavin, P. C. (by Edward H Powers% for plaintiff.
Robert M. Crites, for defendant.
Before: Fitzgerald, P. J., and J. H. Gillis and Adams, JJ.
Former Supreme Court Justice, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment pursuant to Const 1963, art 6, § 23 as amended in 1968.

Opinion:
J. H. Gillis, J.
Plaintiff, Glaser's Elevator & Lumber Company, during several months in 1967, supplied defendant, Kenneth Perry, a residential building contractor, with construction materials. Although defendant had been paid for completion of the building projects, plaintiff was not paid. Plaintiff brought suit, alleging the funds defendant had received were impressed with a trust pursuant to MCLA 570.151 et seq.; MSA 26.331 et seq.
Defendant alleged in his first responsive pleading that any obligation to plaintiff belonged to Ken Perry Builder, Inc., which was alleged to be a duly licensed Michigan corporation, and that he was not liable individually.
Pretrial discovery revealed defendant, during the time the debts were incurred, had filed an assumed name certificate to the effect he was doing business as "Ken Perry Builder". Also, during the time the debts were incurred, defendant was secretary, treasurer, and principal shareholder of Ken Perry Builder, Inc.
Further discovery revealed the corporation had not filed its annual report for 1967 pursuant to MCLA 450.82; MSA 21.82. Depositions and interrogatories narrowed the issues to a question of who owed the debt, not whether it was owed.
Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment was granted before trial. Defendant appeals.
We hold defendant had failed to state a valid defense to the claim asserted against him. See GCR 1963, 117.2(2). The interposition of the corporate entity as the principal debtor did not relieve defendant of personal liability on the claim. MCLA 450.87; MSA 21.87, provides that the failure of the corporation to file an annual report results in suspension of its corporate powers and that:
"Any officer of such corporation so in default who has neglected or refused to join in making of such report shall be liable for all debts of such corpora tion contracted during the period of such neglect or refusal."
Thus, whether the debt was incurred by defendant personally, or the corporate entity he sought to interpose, his personal liability was clear. Summary judgment was properly granted.
Affirmed. Costs to appellee.
Fitzgerald, P. J., concurred.