United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Duffy v. Charak, 236 U.S. 97 (1915)

Duffy v. Charak

No. 120

Argued January 14, 1915

Decided January 25, 1915

236 U.S. 97

Syllabus

A taking possession by the mortgagee of the personal property under the power contained in the mortgage is a delivery that satisfies the requirements of the Massachusetts statute in regard to the delivery of goods sold or mortgaged unless recorded.

Goods under attachment may be sold or mortgaged upon notice to the officer as effectively as though a true delivery took place.

The holder of a recorded mortgage on personal property in Massachusetts, made within four months of the petition, took possession under the power contained in his mortgage after the sheriff had levied under an attachment, and the next day the petition was filed. Held that the mortgagee was entitled to his security to the extent that

Page 236 U. S. 98

the mortgage represented cash advanced at the time it was given.

No order having been made in the bankruptcy court as to whether the lien of the attachment should be preserved for the benefit of the estate, the case is sent back to that court without prejudice to further action on that point.

200 F.7d 7 reversed.

The facts, which involve the validity of a chattel mortgage and the lien thereof on goods of the bankrupt, are stated in the opinion.