Legal and Institutional Methods Applied to the Debiting of Direct Discounts. I. Legal Method, Banker's Set-Off

Abstract

Steiner v. Germantozwn Tn:st Company I was an action brought by a customer to recover from his bank the amounts of two of his checks which he had requested the bank not to honor. It appeared that the customer had a checking account at the defendant bank and that he drew two checks on the defendant to the order of the same payee and delivered them to the payee. Shortly thereafter the customer communicated over the telephone to the manager of one of the bank's branch offices his order or request that the bank should not honor the checks. Almost immediately the branch manager communicated the request over the telephone to a teller at the main office who promptly began and, without interruption, continued the relaying of the request to the employees of the bank to whom the checks might be presented. The checks were presented to another teller at the main office who certified them after the order not to honor had been received by the branch manager but before it had been relayed to that teller. It did not appear, however, whether the certification preceded or followed the communication of the order to the first teller at the main office or, if the certification did follow that communication, how long a period elapsed between that communication and the certification. Notwithstanding the hiatus in the evidence the trial court, sitting without a jury, made a general finding for the defendant and entered judgment for the defendant thereon. The judgment was affirmed on an appeal in which the error relied on was the trial court's denial of a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto.