Court Opinion

ID: 9630227
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:05:49.203183+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:34.425392
License: Public Domain

CAVANAUGH, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent from the result reached by the majority because I do not believe that 7 Pa.S.A. § 606 allows a bank in which funds in an account are held to prefer itself over another claimant to an interest in the account. I would find that Mellon Bank acted improperly in attaching the funds in the Burno’s account since it had actual knowledge of Houghton’s claim to the funds prior to its own attachment.
I differ from the majority’s analysis that cases decided before 1965 may not be applicable to resolution of the instant case since the current Banking Code was only enacted in 1965. The relevant current provisions and the former provisions, as quoted in the majority opinion, do not differ in any material respect from one another. Therefore, caselaw interpreting and applying the predecessor statute of current § 606 is relevant and binding authority upon the case before us.
Upon review of Sherts v. Fulton National Bank, 342 Pa. 337, 339, 21 A.2d 18 (1941); Middle Atlantic Credit Corp. v. First Pennsylvania Banking & Trust Co., 199 Pa.Super. 456, 185 A.2d 818 (1962), and Rodi Boat Co. v. Provident Tradesmens Bank & Trust Co., 236 F.Supp. 935 (E.D.Pa.1964), I would conclude that Mellon Bank is not entitled to the protection provided by § 606 where its own claim to funds held by it was at issue rather than Mellon’s being a mere stakeholder and a disinterested party. I do not agree with the majority that these cases are distinguishable, nor do I see any legal reason to distinguish them since their holdings reflect proper disposition of the banks’ claims to a right to setoff. Although § 606, or its predecessor statute, may not have been explicitly *312mentioned, I would find that § 606 is not applicable where a bank attaches deposits in furtherance of its own claims to the funds, as opposed to protection of itself from competing third-party claimants.
I would reverse the order granting summary judgment and remand the case for further proceedings.