Court Opinion

ID: 7946179
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-08 23:20:40.991809+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:33:56.157274
License: Public Domain

Hooker, J.
I concur with the Chief Justice. Without questioning the general rule that a contract, the making of which is prohibited by law, is void, and cannot be made valid by subsequent legislation merely, I am of the opinion that the rule does not apply to contracts made in violation of the provisions of Act No. 34, Pub. Acts 1903, for the reason that a proper construction of that act justifies the inference that the legislature intended that such contracts should not be void, but only that a right to enforce the same should be suspended, so far as the offending corporation is concerned. This question was discussed, and so held, in Hastings Industrial Co. v. Moran, 143 Mich. 679 (107 N. W. 706). It will be noticed that, under this construction, there is no impediment to an action against a corporation, on such a contract, by the other party, which there would be if such contract were to be held null and void. Such a holding would not only be inconsistent with such a recovery, but it would render the provision against maintaining an action until articles *407should be filed and the fee paid, etc., superfluous. We must assume that it was intended to give a corporation a right to maintain an action upon such a contract after compliance with the law, and we are convinced that the design was not to embarrass parties who should deal with such corporations in ignorance of their failure to comply with the law, in relation to their right to do business in this State. Any other rule would make it necessary for all persons to ascertain about this, before contracting.
The argument may be made that Act No. 34 prescribed the only condition upon which a corporation may be allowed to recover. This might be true were we to hold the contract void. Under the construction herein adopted, this is not the case. The contract is always valid, and one party is in no way denied relief upon it at any time; the other is until compliance with the conditions imposed. By the amendment (Act No. 310, Pub. Acts 1903) the restriction contained in Act No. 34 was removed; the provision under discussion being omitted from the amended section. There is now no impediment to an action, as the provisions of Act No. 310 cannot apply to pre-existing contracts.
The judgment should be affirmed.
Brooke, J., concurred with Hooker, J.