Court Opinion

ID: 9760982
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:27:31.852093+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:19.431651
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Montgomery, J.:
Appellant’s judgment against appellee was opened by the lower court on the basis that the facts alleged in the petition to open and supported by the testimony taken in the depositions showed that appellee had a good defense against plaintiff’s claim. I fail to see *592the presence of such a defense. Appellee’s petition to open appears to be based entirely upon the proposition that appellee was deprived of a certificate of title to the motor vehicle involved because C. D. Wesley, presumably the owner of the Wesley Auto Company, Inc., removed from the mail an envelope containing his application for his certificate as well as his check to cover the fee for same. Although the petition alleges further that the Wesley Auto Company, Inc., never delivered possession of the automobile to him or ever intended to do so, this allegation is contrary to the facts established by the depositions, which show that possession of the automobile was delivered to appellee and that he used the car for several months. Therefore, the only question in the case is that which relates to the procurement of the certificate of title.
The alleged facts appear as follows: Appellee, an employee (sales manager) of Wesley Auto Company, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Wesley), bought a new Mercury station wagon from his employer and in payment thereof executed an installment purchase agreement with a judgment note attached, both of which were dated January 28, 1958; on January 30, 1958, they were assigned to appellant (hereinafter referred to as Millville) which advanced the purchase money and paid same to Wesley; appellee took possession of the automobile immediately and used it for several months, returning it to Wesley in April, 1958, for the purpose of having it repaired; while it was in Wesley’s hands for that purpose, it was seized by Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes-Barre on May 8, 1958, under a floor-plan financing arrangement that had existed at the time that appellee had made his purchase; the appellee did not sign an application for a certificate of title at the time he purchased the automobile but did so about one month later, on February 21, 1958; the *593application was made on Department of Revenue Form No. RVT-1 and showed the encumbrance in favor of Millville; however, for some reason, this application was never mailed, although it had been placed in a sealed envelope addressed to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles; it was found by a representative of the Wyoming Bank in another automobile seized from Wesley by the bank at the same time that appellee’s automobile was seized by it; appellee had operated his vehicle on the dealer plates of Wesley until he returned it in April for repairs; he made no payments on account of the purchase agreement or the note; and he made no inquiry about his title; however, after the vehicle had been seized and after the judgment on the note had been entered against him, which occurred on May 29, 1958, he tendered on July 14, 1958, a money order to Millville for the full amount of the judgment and demanded the return of his certificate of title free of its encumbrance, but Millville, not having received the certificate of title, could not return it to him and consequently appellee withdrew his tender of payment; appellee has made no demand on Wesley at any time for the return of his vehicle which it had left with it for repairs.
The one responsible for the situation which confronts us is the Wesley Auto Company, Inc., which failed to remit to Wyoming the amount of its claim on the floor-plan financing arrangement on the vehicle sold to appellee. However, regardless of his knowledge of Wyoming’s claim, if appellee were a bona fide purchaser who bought this motor vehicle from inventory in the regular course of business, his title to same would be good and free of any claim of Wyoming. Section 9-307 of the Uniform Commercial Code of 1953, April 6, P. L. 3 (12A P.S. §9-307) which section was fully discussed by this Court in Weisel v. McBride, 191 *594Pa. Superior Ct. 411, 156 A. 2d 613. It is not contended that Wyoming’s lien reattached to the vehicle after its return to Wesley for repairs and I see no way that such a contention could be sustained. At the time appellee returned his car for repairs, he had good title thereto and, since it was not returned for resale or inventory purposes or to reestablish it under Wyoming’s floor-plan arrangement, appellee’s good title would be unaffected by his return of the vehicle for the purposes of repairs, and Wyoming’s seizure of it was unlawful. This is not a situation, as between Wyoming and appellee, whereby one who permits another to retain possession of personal property with the appearance of ownership is held responsible as against an innocent party who deals wih the possessor as though he were owner. All dealings which Wyoming had in connection with this car were prior to the return of same to Wesley for repairs. Wyoming was not prejudiced or misled in any fashion by the return of the car to Wesley.
Good title to a motor vehicle may be had without the certificate issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Speck Cadillac-Olds, Inc. v. Goodman, 373 Pa. 83, 95 A. 2d 191; Automobile Banking Corporation v. Draper, 129 Pa. Superior Ct. 501, 195 A. 441; Weigelt v. Factors Credit Corp., 174 Pa. Superior Ct. 400, 101 A. 2d 404. And one cannot be deprived of his title to personal property by the illegal act of another. The mere loss of possession of the vehicle, whether legally or illegally, would not be a good defense to appellant’s judgment. The loss of possession was something that occurred after the assignment of the installment agreement and note to appellant; and, regardless of whether it holds the instruments subject to equities existing between the parties at the time of the assignment of same (which question need not be answered), it would not *595be subject to equities arising between them after notice of the assignment was had by the maker. Philips v. Bank of Lewistown, 18 Pa. 394; Ertel v. McCloskey, 167 Pa. Superior Ct. 120, 74 A. 2d 652. Appellee in this case had immediate notice of the assignment, since he participated in the arrangements.
Since the matter of title and possession are not available to appellee as defenses in this matter, we must return to the original question of whether or not the alleged act of Wesley Auto Company, Inc., or C. D. Wesley in removing the application for title from the mail is sufficient reason for depriving appellant of the judgment which it now holds against appellee. At the outset, it must be noted that this application for certificate of title was not made until one month after the installment contract and the note had been assigned to Millville. Therefore, if there was any fraud or illegal act on the part of Wesley and its representatives, it was something that occurred after the assignment and Millville would not be held responsible for it. Further, in asserting this defense, appellee relies on section 30 of the Motor Vehicle Sales Finance Act of June 28, 1947, P. L. 1110 (69 P.S. §630) which requires the return of, inter alia, the certificate of title, showing satisfaction of the encumbrance upon full payment of same. He asserts that on July 14, 1958, he tendered a money order to Millville, for the full payment of the judgment and demanded the return of the certificate of title and other papers relating to the financing of the automobile and that their return was refused. This was a futile gesture and an insufficient reason for opening the judgment. In the first place, appellee knew that no certificate of title had ever been issued and that his application had never been mailed. He was advised of this at about the time Wyoming took possession of his vehicle, on or about May 8, 1958, by *596Mr. Duffy, a representative of Wyoming, who showed him the envelope containing the RVT-1 form he had signed. Nevertheless, appellee did nothing, either by securing and mailing that form which he had previously signed or by preparing a new RVT-1 form for transmittal to the Bureau. Although it may not have been within his power to secure possession of the original from Mr. Duffy, it certainly was within his power to secure a new RVT-1 form and complete the registration of his motor vehicle. In addition to this, he knew for at least one month after he had purchased the vehicle that he had not applied for a title and that he had at all times operated on the Wesley dealer’s plates. It is now too late to complain about Millville’s failure to return the title when it was through his neglect or inaction that it was not procured. I think it unnecessary to discuss the matter of responsibility for mailing, because whether it was Wesley’s duty to mail it or whether appellee delegated Wesley as his agent to mail it is immaterial. As previously stated, this all happened after the rights of Millville arose and therefore it should not bear the responsibility for any neglect or misdeed in connection therewith.
However, there is another good reason why appellee’s demand for the return of the certificate of title is not a good reason for the opening of this judgment. Although he claims to have been unaware that his payments to Millville were in default, he is bound by his agreement and note, which provided for monthly payments commencing February 28, 1958. The judgment was not entered until May 29, 1958, when his payments were four months delinquent. If he was unaware that he was to make the payments and thought they were to be made by Wesley, then he is a major participant in the fraud that was perpetrated on Millville or on Wyoming. However, regardless, the defense he as*597serts was not present wlien the judgment was entered. At that time no payment had been made or tendered and his default justified the entry of the judgment.
Although appellee seeks to have the judgment opened, the defense that he asserts is really one of tender of payment. Payment or satisfaction of a judgment is not sufficient reason for opening it. The procedure to follow when payment is tendered and refused is to petition the court to pay the money to the Prothonotary of the court and have the judgment satisfied or have an issue awarded to determine how much if anything is still due. Anderson v. Best, 176 Pa. 498, 35 A. 194; Olekszyk v. Walelko, 92 Pa. Superior Ct. 565; Brader v. Alinikoff, 85 Pa. Superior Ct. 285.
The situation here presented does not call for the opening of the judgment under any circumstances but at most for the awarding of an issue as aforesaid. On this point it may be further stated that by tendering payment appellee has recognized the validity of the judgment both as to the legality of its entry and as to the correctness of its amount when entered.
The foregoing discussion has been based on the premise that appellee was a regular purchaser from inventory in the regular course of business and in good faith. If he was not and was in collusion with Wesley to double-finance this car to the detriment of either Wyoming or Millville, then the judgment should not be opened for that further reason. When a person is party to fraud, the law requires that he be left where found. A court of equity will not lend its aid to relieve a party from the consequences of his own fraud. Kunkle’s Appeals, 107 Pa. 368; Brady v. Laskowsky, 90 Pa. Superior Ct. 370.
For the foregoing reasons, I dissent from the majority opinion in this case and would reverse the lower court’s order opening the judgment.