Opinion
(Filed 15 June, 1932.)
Bills and Notes H b — Complaint in action on note by payee or endorsee held not demurrable for failure to allege ownership.
The payee or endorsee of a negotiable instrument is prima facie the holder and owner, and entitled to sue thereon, and in an action by the payee, a demurrer on the ground that the complaint failed to allege that the plaintiff was the owner or holder of the note is properly overruled, it being for the defendant to show the contrary as a defense.
CIVIL ACTION, before Cowper, Special Judge, at January Special Term, 1932, of WAKE.
Calvert Duncan for plaintiff.
A. J. Fletcher for defendant.
Plaintiff alleged that on 1 January, 1930, the defendant, K. B. Johnson, and J. Beal Johnson executed and delivered a promissory note for $5,000, payable to Jacob Thompson, and that as collateral to said note there was pledged and "delivered to the plaintiff" certain shares of stock, and that no part of the note had been paid. The defendant demurred to the complaint upon the ground that there was no allegation as to whom the note was delivered or that the plaintiff was the owner or holder of said note. The demurrer was overruled and the defendant excepted and appealed.
It is true that the complaint is little more than a skeleton, but the judgment overruling the demurrer is sustained upon the authority of Deloatch v. Vinson, 108 N.C. 148, 12 S.E. 895. The Court said: "The payee or endorser of a note is the prima facie owner and holder. The allegation that he is so is unnecessary, and if the defendant defends upon the ground that the plaintiff is not such owner, he should set up the facts showing title in someone else."
Affirmed.