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Calvert versus Good

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania1880-06-14
95 Pa. 65

Summary

Holding. The judgment is reversed and a new trial is awarded because the trial judge committed manifest error by submitting to the jury a factual question regarding whether Good reserved collection rights against both debtors when no evidence in the record supported that factual proposition.

Calvert served as a surety on a joint and several promissory note with Harinton in favor of George Good. Calvert claimed he was discharged from his surety obligation because Good extended the payment deadline with Harinton without Calvert's knowledge or consent. The parties had arranged for Harinton to pay interest at ten percent annually, called for at Good's discretion, with all interest due before the note matured or the extended date arrived. The trial judge instructed the jury that if they found Good and Harinton entered into an agreement to extend payment time without Calvert's consent, Calvert would be discharged as surety. The judge also instructed on related issues concerning usurious interest and partial payments.

However, the defendant requested an additional instruction: that if the agreement between Good and Harinton reserved Good's right to collect from both Harinton and Calvert upon notification by Calvert, such a reservation would not discharge the surety even with a valid consideration. The trial judge affirmed this legal principle but submitted the factual question to the jury, stating he doubted whether evidence of such a reservation existed. The appellate court found no evidence in the record supporting submission of this fact question to the jury.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether extension of payment time without a surety's consent discharges the surety from liability
  • Whether a creditor's reservation of collection rights against a surety prevents the surety's discharge despite an extension agreement
  • Whether a fact question may be submitted to a jury without evidentiary support

Procedural posture

Calvert, as plaintiff in error, appealed from a judgment against him in an action on a promissory note where he claimed discharge from his surety obligation.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Chief Justice Sharswood

delivered the opinion of the court,

This judgment must be reversed on the third assignment. The plaintiff in error was surety for one Harinton on a joint and several note in favor of George Good, and his defence was that the time of payment had been extended by a binding agreement between Good and Harinton without his consent, and he had thereby been discharged. It appears that there was some arrangement between the parties, by which Harinton agreed to pay interest at the rate of ten per centum per annum, whenever Good should call on him, from time to time, the whole interest to be paid before the maturity of the note or the time to which it was extended. When this agreement was made, whether before or after the maturity of the note, was a question of fact contested. The jury were distinctly instructed by the learned judge in affirmance of a point presented by the plaintiff in error “ that if they believe from the evidence that at or about the time when the note in suit fell due, George Good, the plaintiff’s testator, entered into an agreement with Harinton to the effect that the time of payment would be extended for one year, in consideration of the paymont of the interest in advance as the same should be called for by Mr. Good, and that this extension of time was made without the consent of Calvert thereto, such an agreement will discharge Calvert, the surety, and no recovery can be had by the plaintiff.” This was the only point presented by the plaintiff in error, and it was affirmed in the most unqualified manner. There was, indeed, evidence in the case of the actual payment of interest in advance, but no point was put to the learned judge as to what would be the effect of such payment without an agreement, whether it would be a partial payment on account, whether usurious or otherwise, or would necessarily imply an agreement to extend the time. The learned judge therefore cannot be convicted of error in not charging on that. As to the other questions, the case of Hartman v. Danner, 24 P. F. Smith 36, was followed, and the jury instructed that a mere agreement to give time in consideration of the payment of usury after the maturity of the note would not be a valid consideration — such payment would be no more than what the principal was already bound to pay, namely, the whole principal and interest — and that for the excess paid as usury he would be entitled to a credit as a partial payment on account of principal.

The plaintiff below, however, asked the court to charge “that if the jury believe by the arrangement spoken of by Mr. Harinton, Mr. Good reserved the right to proceed to collect the note from Harinton and Calvert, if notified so to do by Mr. Calvert, it would not be such an agreement as would in law discharge the surety, even if the payment in advance were a valid consideration.” There can be no doubt that the law as presented in this point is correctly stated: Hagey v. Hill, 25 P. F. Smith 108. It was there held by this court that an extension of time by the creditor of the principal debtor will not discharge the surety if there be an agreement between the creditor and the principal that the surety shall not be thereby discharged. The learned judge below affirmed the point, but evidently doubted whether there was such a fact in the case. He left it to the jury to say whether there was any evidence of it. No evidence is to be found on this record. None has been pointed out by the counsel of the defendant in error. To leave a fact to the jury without any evidence is manifest error.

Judgment reversed, and venire facias de novo awarded.