Court Opinion

ID: 9587244
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:19:53.283257+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:32.265789
License: Public Domain

Felton, Justice,
dissenting. The majority opinion does not contain the entire quotation from the provisions of the note involved *829with reference to the provisions for the creditor’s acceleration of the maturity of the instalments not due. The provision omitted is as follows: "It is further agreed that failure of the holder to excerise this right of accelerating the maturity of the debt, or indulgence granted from time to time, shall in no event be considered as a waiver of such right of acceleration or estop the holder from exercising such right.” (Emphasis supplied.) The fact that the payee of the note did not immediately, upon default in the payment of the first instalment due, accelerate the maturity of the remaining instalments, did not prevent or estop him from later accelerating such maturity. He later did exercise his option of acceleration by so notifying the debtors in writing, twice. Since the holder of the note was clothed with the right to accelerate the maturity, and committed no act not authorized by the note, and committed no fraud or other act which exceeded the bounds of the written contract, this court cannot interfere with the enforcement of the contract according to its terms. Under the circumstances, the holder was never bound to accept a tender of the first instalment after it was past due, even if it had been in legal tender. Since the holder had the right to accelerate the maturity of instalments not due at any time, the debtors could not foreclose that right by making a tender of any kind after default beyond five days. That is what this court has ruled and insofar as I know, such a ruling is beyond the terms of any ruling I have ever seen under the provisions of such a contract as is here involved. As to the case of Pearson v. George, 209 Ga. 938, cited by the majority, in that case there was no provision in the contract providing against a waiver of the breach of the contract, as in this case. As to Division 3 of the opinion, there is no evidence that the check was received as payment or why it should have been so considered. As to Division 4 of the opinion, the holder of the note.was not obliged to accept legal tender in payment of the first instalment. He had not, before the tender, exercised his right to accelerate and the attempted tender could not prevent its later exercise under the terms of the note. Since the maturities of the instalments were accelerated before the second tender by check, the second tender was ineffective since all of the debt was then due and the holder had the right to refuse it even though he may not have given the right reason. The majority *830misconstrue the meaning of the McEachern v. Industrial Life & Health Ins. Co. case, supra. This and similar rulings apply to cases such as where a tender is made before default and where it could have still been made properly if the objection as to medium of payment had been made.