Opinion
June 28, 1943.
Order settling the final accounts of the respondent trustee and discharging it, modified on the law and the facts by striking out the second decretal paragraph and by providing, in lieu thereof, that from January 11, 1940, to May 15, 1941, the interest payable upon the mortgage debt is at the rate of four per cent, and that the sum equal to the two per cent differential between four and six per cent for this period being held in escrow be paid to appellants. As so modified, the order, insofar as appealed from, is affirmed, with ten dollars costs and disbursements to appellants. For the period from April 1, 1938, to January 11, 1940, we hold, on the basis of the prior controlling decisions, that interest is payable at the six per cent rate. ( Brighton Operating Corp. v. Morrison, 262 App. Div. 895; Hammond v. Lawrence Investing Co., Inc., 262 App. Div. 900; Royal Court Realty Co., Inc., v. Thomas, 259 App. Div. 313.) For the period from January 11, 1940, the date the city of New York acquired title by condemnation proceedings to a substantial part of the mortgaged premises, to May 15, 1941, the date the city made partial payment of the award in an amount more than sufficient to satisfy the mortgage debt, we hold that the interest payable is at the rate of four per cent. Regardless of the means employed in obtaining the award from the city or the method used in applying it in satisfaction of the mortgage debt, the record leaves no doubt that the respondent trustee actually received from the city its check representing the payment of the award; that upon receipt thereof the respondent trustee delivered to the city a satisfaction of the mortgage debt and surrendered to appellants all the papers evidencing such debt; and that in accordance with the intention of the parties the respondent trustee actually utilized only the award moneys paid by the city to satisfy the mortgage debt. The respondent trustee had also formally appeared in the condemnation proceeding and filed its proof of claim therein upon the mortgage indebtedness. Under such circumstances we hold that the respondent trustee voluntarily elected to substitute the award for appellants' personal liability and, hence, the respondent trustee, as mortgagee, is limited to the four per cent interest rate paid by the city upon the award. ( Muldoon v. Mid-Bronx Holding Corp., 287 N.Y. 227; Matter of City of New York [ Rockaway Beach], 261 App. Div. 936, affd. on this point, 288 N.Y. 51; Matter of City of New York [ Chrystie Street], 239 App. Div. 314, 317, revd. on other grounds, 264 N.Y. 319; Irving Trust Co. v. Hughes, 239 App. Div. 74; German Savings Bank v. Dunn, 75 Misc. 251, affd. 150 App. Div. 928.) Carswell, Johnston, Taylor and Lewis, JJ., concur; Adel, J., concurs on the authority of Brighton Operating Corp. v. Morrison ( 262 App. Div. 895) and Hammond v. Lawrence Investing Co., Inc. ( 262 App. Div. 900), adhering, however, to his opinion expressed in the dissents in those cases. [See post, pp. 922, 978.]