KUENZLE & STREIFF vs. MACKE & CHANDLER - G.R. No. L-5295

KUENZLE & STREIFF vs. MACKE & CHANDLER, ET AL.

G.R. No. L-5295

December 16, 1909

            The plaintiff alleges that it was the owner of the Oregon Saloon consisting of bar, furniture, furnishings, and fixtures in which the Jose Desiderio, as sheriff, levied upon by virtue of an execution issued upon a judgment secured by the defendant Macke & Chandler, against Stanley & Krippendorf. Said plaintiff notified the sheriff that it was the owner of said goods and forbade the sale thereof under said execution. The sheriff sold said goods under said execution and the firm of Macke & Chandler was the purchaser of said goods. Bachrach, Elser, and Gale, were the sureties upon the bond given to the sheriff by Macke & Chandler before said goods were sold. The defendants in this case allege that the property described by the plaintiff and sold at the execution sale referred to was not the property of the plaintiff at the time of said levy and sale, but was the property of Stanley & Krippendorf, who were in possession of the same at the time of such levy. They further allege that Stanley & Krippendorf, being indebted in a considerable sum to the plaintiff in this case, attempted to sell to the said plaintiff by an instrument in writing the property in question which was never recorded and was a private document. The said property was not delivered to the plaintiff but that property remained from the time of sale forward in the exclusive possession and control of said Stanley & Krippendorf, and that they conducted the business.

ISSUE:

Whether or not there is an effect in the said instrument of sale in transferring the property in question from Stanley & Krippendorf to the plaintiff.

HELD:

No. The ownership of personal property can not be transferred to the prejudice of third persons except by delivery of the property itself; and that a sale without delivery gives the would-be purchaser no rights in said property except those of a creditor. The bill of sale in the case at bar could have no effect against a person dealing with the property upon the faith of appearances. It is evident that the bill of sale was in no sense a conditional sale of property. Possession of the property in suit was not taken at any time by the plaintiff. The defendant Macke & Chandlre, having purchased the property at an execution sale, property conducted, obtained a good title to the property in question as against the plaintiff in this case.