SALES - TRANSFER OF POSSESSION - INTENTION OF PARTIES

Authors

Abstract

Manlove brought an action against Maggart to recover possession of furniture which Manlove asserted belonged to him. He based this claim of ownership upon a written instrument entitled "Conditional sale note" whereby Maggart promised to pay Manlove $150. In the body of this instrument was the statement that "The express condition of the sale and purchase of one eleven piece mahogany dining room suite . . . for which this note is given, is such that the title and ownership of the above described property does not pass from the said Omer S. Manlove . . . until this note with interest is paid in full. Omer S. Manlove has full power to declare this note due, and take possession of said property at any time he may deem this note insecure." No other reference to the furniture, nor to its ownership, nor to an intention to transfer title, appears in the instrument. Manlove had never been in possession of the furniture; it had been bought from the administrator of an estate eleven months prior to the making of the so-called conditional sale note and had at that time been delivered by the administrator directly to Maggart. Prior to the. time of this sale by the administrator, Manlove, knowing that Maggart was interested in the furniture, had offered to lend him money with which to buy it. Payment to the administrator was made by Manlove with his personal check. The court held the jury justified in finding that title had passed directly from the administrator to Maggart; that Manlove had merely loaned him the money with which to pay for it; and that Manlove had no title upon which to sustain a replevin action. Manlove v. Maggart, (Ind. App. 1942) 41 N. E. (2d) 633.

Recommended Citation

SALES - TRANSFER OF POSSESSION - INTENTION OF PARTIES, 41 Mich. L. Rev. 349 (1942).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol41/iss2/22