SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
A-7299-96T5
ARLENE KEIL,
Plaintiff-Respondent
v.
NATIONAL WESTMINSTER BANK, INC.,
Defendant-Appellant.
___________________________________
Submitted April 22, 1998 - Decided May 15, 1998
Before Judges Baime, Brochin and Wefing.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey,
Middlesex County, Law Division.
Stanley, Powers & Matyola, attorneys for appellant
(Jeffrey T. Kosten, on the brief).
Sapiro & Gottlieb, attorneys for respondent (Alan
Gottlieb, on the brief).
The opinion of the court was delivered by
BAIME, P.J.A.D.
Plaintiff Arlene Keil brought this action claiming that defendant National Westminster Bank, Inc. (National Westminster) had improperly allowed her husband to withdraw funds from a passbook account she maintained for her mother.See footnote 1 The Law Division granted plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.
National Westminster appeals. We affirm in part and reverse in
part.
guardian for the benefit of Est[a] Durante." Other than this
stipulation, the Veterans Administration has "take[n] no
position" on the merits of plaintiff's lawsuit.
The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.
Plaintiff argued that New York law applied and that its banking
statutes imposed strict liability on a lending institution for
losses caused by unauthorized withdrawals. National Westminster
asserted that New Jersey law was controlling and that the
applicable statutes insulated banks from losses resulting from
unauthorized withdrawals. The bank argued, alternatively, that
New York's statute of limitations barred plaintiff from
recovering much of her claim. The Law Division granted
plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, finding that New York
banking statutes applied. The court made no determination
concerning National Westminster's contention pertaining to the
statute of limitations. The judgment entered recites the court's
finding as to National Westminster's liability, but does not set
forth a monetary award.
National Westminster argues: (1) plaintiff lacked standing
and should not have been permitted to assert a claim on behalf of
her mother, (2) New Jersey substantive law should have been
applied, and (3) if New York law is applicable, much of
plaintiff's claim is barred by reason of the expiration of the
limitations period. We reject National Westminster's attack upon
plaintiff's right to sue on behalf of her mother. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E). Although plaintiff should have brought suit in a
representative capacity on behalf of her mother, and while we do
not endorse her gross inattention to our rules of practice, we
are satisfied that no prejudice resulted. In light of the
Veterans Administration's direction that any recovery is to be
placed in a custodian's account with a corporate guardian for the
benefit of plaintiff's mother, we are satisfied that Mrs.
Durante's rights will be fully protected. Resolution of the
remaining issues requires full explication.
B. This section shall apply only to savings
accounts.
[Ibid. (emphasis added).]
Plaintiff formally contacted National Westminster regarding the
unauthorized withdrawals on January 12, 1996. Under N.J.S.A.
17:9A-227, plaintiff's claim was barred because she did not
notify the bank within two years of the dates of the unauthorized
withdrawals.
We note, however, that N.J.S.A. 17:9A-227 was repealed
effective June 1, 1995. See L. 1995, c. 28, § 14. At the same
time, the Legislature amended N.J.S.A. 12A:4-406 to read as
follows:
a. A bank that sends or makes available to a
customer a statement of account showing
payment of items for the account shall either
return or make available to the customer the
items paid or provide information in the
statement of account sufficient to allow the
customer reasonably to identify the items
paid. The statement of account provides
sufficient information if the item is
described by item number, amount, and date of
payment.
. . . .
c. If a bank sends or makes available a
statement of account or items pursuant to
subsection a. of this section, the customer
must exercise reasonable promptness in
examining the statement or the items to
determine whether any payment was not
authorized because of an alteration of an
item or because a purported signature by or
on behalf of the customer was not authorized.
If, based on the statement or items provided,
the customer should reasonably have
discovered the unauthorized payment, the
customer must promptly notify the bank of the
relevant facts.
d. If the bank proves that the customer failed, with respect to an item, to comply
with the duties imposed on the customer by
subsection c. of this section, the customer
is precluded from asserting against the bank:
(1) the customer's unauthorized signature or
any alteration on the item, if the bank also
proves that it suffered a loss by reason of
the failure; and (2) the customer's
unauthorized signature or alteration by the
same wrongdoer on any other item paid in good
faith by the bank if the payment was made
before the bank received notice from the
customer of the unauthorized signature or
alteration and after the customer had been
afforded a reasonable period of time, not
exceeding 30 days, in which to examine the
item or statement of account and notify the
bank.
e. If subsection d. of this section applies
and the customer proves that the bank failed
to exercise ordinary care in paying the item
and that the failure substantially
contributed to loss, the loss is allocated
between the customer precluded and the bank
asserting the preclusion according to the
extent to which the failure of the customer
to comply with subsection c. of this section
and the failure of the bank to exercise
ordinary care contributed to the loss. If the
customer proves that the bank did not pay the
item in good faith, the preclusion under
subsection d. of this section does not apply.
f. Without regard to care or lack of care of
either the customer or the bank, a customer
who does not within one year after the
statement or items are made available to the
customer (subsection a. of this section)
discover and report the customer's
unauthorized signature on or any alteration
on the item is precluded from asserting
against the bank the unauthorized signature
or alteration. If there is a preclusion
under this subsection, the payor bank may
not recover for breach of warranty under
12A:4-208 with respect to the unauthorized
signature or alteration to which the
preclusion applies.
[(Emphasis added).]
The amended statute imposes a duty on a bank customer to
exercise reasonable diligence in examining statements of account.
The customer must promptly notify the bank of any improper or
unauthorized withdrawal. However, the customer's duty becomes
operative only if the bank sends or makes available a statement
of account. A bank is not under a duty to provide such a
statement. But if it does not do so, "the customer does not have
any duties under subsection (c)." Uniform Commercial Code
Comment 1 to N.J.S.A. 12A:4-406. N.J.S.A. 12A:4-104(a) defines
the word "account" to include a passbook savings account.
The question then is whether the amended N.J.S.A. 12A:4-406
constitutes an implied repealer and should be applied
retroactively. A venerable principle of statutory construction
posits that "statutes should not be given retrospective
application unless such an intention is manifested by the
Legislature in clear terms." Skulski v. Nolan,
68 N.J. 179, 202
(1975); see also South Hamilton Assocs. v. Mayor & Council of
Morristown,
99 N.J. 437, 444 (1985); Gibbons v. Gibbons,
86 N.J. 515, 521-24 (1981); Peper v. Princeton Univ. Bd. of Trustees,
77 N.J. 55, 73 (1978); Rothman v. Rothman,
65 N.J. 219, 224-25
(1974). The purpose of this rule is to give the public fair
notice of the law it is expected to follow. Weinstein v.
Investors Sav. and Loan Ass'n,
154 N.J. Super. 164, 167 (App.
Div. 1977), certif. denied,
75 N.J. 598 (1978); see also 2
Sutherland, Statutory Construction § 41.02 at 247 (4th ed. 1973).
Despite its soundness, the principle disfavoring
retrospective application of a statute "is not to be applied
mechanistically to every case." Gibbons v. Gibbons, 86 N.J. at
522. Where the Legislature has explicitly or implicitly
expressed an intent to make a statute retroactive, see Kruvant v.
Mayor & Council of Cedar Grove Tp.,
82 N.J. 435, 440 (1980), or
where the section is said to be "ameliorative" or "curative," see
In re Smigelski,
30 N.J. 513, 527 (1959), or where the reasonable
expectations of the parties require it, see D.C. v. F.R.,
286 N.J. Super. 589, 604 (App. Div. 1996), we will apply an enactment
to events that came before its effective date.
However, we are satisfied that none of these exceptions to
the general rule are applicable here. The amendment provides
incentives to a bank to provide its passbook customers with
periodic statements of account by insulating it from liability if
the depositor does not act with reasonable diligence. That
incentive and the corollary duty imposed on the bank's customer
did not exist at the time the withdrawals were made. It would
offend the interests of justice to apply the statute
retroactively in these circumstances. We thus regard N.J.S.A.
17:9A-227 as the controlling New Jersey law on the question of
unauthorized withdrawals.
We next examine New York law on the subject. The applicable
statute provides:
Any withdrawal of moneys from any savings
account or time deposit account maintained in
any banking organization, branch of a foreign
banking corporation, national bank, federal
savings and loan association or federal
credit union located in this state which is
made by means of an unauthorized signature is
wholly inoperative as to the person whose
name is signed unless such person has
authorized or ratified such withdrawal or is
precluded from denying such withdrawal
because he has received a portion of the
funds withdrawn, provided that in such latter
event he shall be precluded from denying such
withdrawal only with respect to the funds so
received; provided, however, that such a
signature shall operate as the signature of
the unauthorized signer in favor of any such
banking organization, branch of a foreign
banking corporation, national bank, federal
savings and loan association or federal
credit union which has, in good faith,
honored such withdrawal. No such banking
organization, branch of a foreign banking
corporation, national bank, federal savings
and loan association or federal credit union
shall interpose the defense, in an action for
recovery by a depositor of money paid upon an
unauthorized signature, that it has exercised
due care and diligence in ascertaining the
identity of the person to whom it has paid
such money. The term "unauthorized
signature" shall have the meaning ascribed to
it by section 1-201 of the uniform commercial
code and the term "savings account" shall
include shares issued by a savings and loan
association, state or federally chartered,
and by a credit union, state or federally
chartered. Any waiver of the provisions of
this section or any contrary agreement, by
law, rule or regulation of any banking
organization, branch of a foreign banking
corporation, national bank, federal savings
and loan association or federal credit union
located in this state shall be void as
against public policy and wholly
unenforceable.
[N.Y. Banking Law §676 (McKinney 1976) (emphasis
added).]
This section provides "in simple and direct language, that when a bank pays out funds from a savings or time deposit account based on an unauthorized signature, it is the bank, rather than the depositor, that must bear the burden of any loss . . . ."
American Lodge Ass'n v. East New York Sav. Bank,
100 A.D.2d 281,
285,
474 N.Y.S.2d 332, 335 (App. Div. 1984).
We thus conclude that the law of New Jersey and New York
differs on the question whether the bank or its depositor incurs
a loss resulting from an unauthorized withdrawal.
Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws (1971). Section 188 of
the Restatement provides that the law of the state having the
most significant relationship to the parties and the transaction
is to control. Among the factors to be considered are:
(a) the place of contracting,
(b) the place of negotiation of the contract,
(c) the place of performance,
(d) the location of the subject matter of the
contract, and
(e) the domicil, residence, nationality,
place of incorporation and place of business
of the parties.
[Ibid.]
These contacts are to be evaluated "according to their relative
importance with respect to the particular issue." Ibid.
However, "[i]f the place of negotiating the contract and the
place of performance are in the same state, the local law of this
state will usually be applied . . . ." Ibid.
Section 6 of the Restatement delineates the general
considerations that are relevant to a court's choice of law
analysis. These factors include:
(a) the needs of the interstate and
international systems,
(b) the relevant policies of the forum,
(c) the relevant policies of other interested
states and the relative interests of those
states in the determination of the particular
issue,
(d) the protection of justified expectations,
(e) the basic policies underlying the
particular field of law,
(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity
of result, and
(g) ease in the determination and application
of the law to be applied.
[Ibid.]
Applying these factors, we are convinced that New York had
the more significant relationship with the parties and the
transaction. Plaintiff and her husband were New York residents
when the passbook account was created. The withdrawal agreement
was executed in New York, and the parties presumably envisioned
that the contractual duties would be performed in that state.
NBNA, National Westminster's predecessor, was a New York bank
authorized to do business only in New York. Although conflicting
evidence was presented concerning the situs of the unauthorized
transactions, it is undisputed that the passbook savings account
was never transferred from the Brooklyn branch of the bank.
Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to assume that the
parties expected New York law to govern their contractual
relationship.
The result we reach is also consistent with Section 195 of
the Restatement concerning contracts for the repayment of money
borrowed. That section states:
The validity of a contract for the repayment
of money lent and the rights created thereby
are determined, in the absence of an
effective choice of law by the parties, by
the local law of the state where the contract
requires that repayment be made, unless, with
respect to the particular issue, some other
state has a more significant relationship
under the principles stated in § 6 to the
transaction and the parties, in which event
the local law of the other state will be
applied.
[Ibid.]
Comment d to Section 195, which deals specifically with the
subject of bank accounts, states in pertinent part:
Money lent by a bank or deposited in a bank
is usually repayable at the bank itself or,
when the bank has branches, at the branch
with which the customer dealt. In the
absence of an effective choice of law by the
parties, the state of the applicable law in
such instances will almost invariably be the
state where the bank, or the particular
branch thereof, is located.
[Ibid. (emphasis added).]
We are thus satisfied that the Law Division was correct in
applying New York law. We also agree with the court below that
under Section 676 of New York's banking laws, National
Westminster was liable for the loss resulting from Keil's
unauthorized withdrawals, and that plaintiff neither consented to
her husband's defalcations nor ratified his unlawful conduct.
Section 676 makes specific reference to "section 1-201 of the
[U]niform [C]ommercial [C]ode." U.C.C. 1-201(43) defines the
word "[u]nauthorized" in terms of an act "made without actual,
implied or apparent authority . . . ." We, therefore, assume
that Section 676 places on a depositor the loss caused by an
unauthorized withdrawal where the depositor has acted in such a
way as to clothe the person making the withdrawal with apparent
authority.
This much conceded, the record is barren of any evidence
suggesting that Richard Keil had apparent authority to withdraw
funds from the custodian account. Under New York law, apparent
authority of an agent may be created "by words or conduct of a
principal, communicated to a third party, that gives rise to an
appearance and reasonable belief . . . that an agency has been
created and the agent possesses the authority to enter into [the]
transaction." Hoysradt v. Nilles Ford-Mercury, Inc.,
168 A.D.2d 824, 825,
563 N.Y.S.2d 956, 957-58 (App. Div. 1990). The third
party has a duty to inquire as to the scope of the agent's
apparent authority where: "(1) the facts and circumstances are
such as to put the third party on inquiry, (2) the transaction is
extraordinary, or (3) the novelty of the transaction alerts the
third party to a danger of fraud." F.D.I.C. v. Providence
College,
115 F.3d 136, 141 (2d Cir. 1994); Herbert Constr. Co. v.
Continental Ins. Co.,
931 F.2d 989, 996 (2d Cir. 1991). This
duty of inquiry is "an alternative way of asking whether the
third party reasonably relied on the representations of the agent
that he possessed authority to bind the principal." Herbert
Constr. Co. v. Continental Ins. Co., 931 F.
2d at 996.
Within this analytical framework, as a matter of law,
Richard Keil was not clothed with apparent authority. The mere
fact that Keil customarily prepared income tax returns on the
account and prepared reports to be filed with the Veterans
Administration is insufficient to establish apparent authority.
We stress that under the withdrawal agreement, funds could be
withdrawn "only with the written consent of the Veterans Services
Officer of the Veterans Administration Regional Office . . . or
[his] designee." The bank was a party to this agreement and was
bound by its express terms. The withdrawal agreement should have
alerted the bank to the fact that the withdrawals were unlawful.
Under these circumstances, the Law Division properly held that
National Westminster was responsible for the loss caused by the
unauthorized withdrawal under Section 676.
plaintiff] received knowledge of defendant's alleged breach."
Gonzalez v. Anchor Bank Corp.,
666 N.Y.S.2d 151, 152 (App. Div.
1997); see also Varga v. Credit-Suisse,
5 A.D.2d 289, 292,
171 N.Y.S.2d 674, 677 (App. Div.), aff'd,
155 N.E.2d 865,
5 N.Y.2d 865,
182 N.Y.S.2d 17 (1958); Bollag v. National City Bank of New
York,
225 A.D. 218, 220,
232 N.Y.S. 498, 500-01 (App. Div. 1929).
It thus appears that the laws of New Jersey and New York are in
conflict respecting the date plaintiff's cause of action accrued.
The second prong of the governmental-interest analysis seeks
to determine the interest that each state has in resolving the
specific issue in dispute. That analysis requires
identification of the governmental policies underlying the law of
each state and how those policies are affected by each
jurisdiction's contact to the litigation and the parties. Gantes
v. Kason Corp., 145 N.J. at 485 (citing Veazey v. Doremus,
103 N.J. 244, 248 (1986)).
The purpose underlying any statute of limitations is "to
`stimulate to activity and punish negligence' and `promote repose
by giving security and stability to human affairs.'" Id. at 486
(quoting Savage v. Old Bridge-Sayreville Medical Group, P.A.,
134 N.J. 241, 248 (1993)). In a variety of contexts, "[t]o avoid
harsh results from the mechanical application of the statute,
[New Jersey] courts have developed" and applied the discovery
rule, which provides that, "in an appropriate case, a cause of
action will not accrue until the injured party discovers, or by
exercise of reasonable diligence and intelligence should have
discovered, facts which form the basis" of a claim. O'Keeffe v.
Snyder,
83 N.J. 478, 491 (1980). Although not based specifically
on the discovery principle, we have said, albeit in a slightly
different context, that depositors "inveterately think" that "a
demand and refusal are conditions precedent to the right . . . to
sue a bank upon a deposit account, and consequently, the statute
of limitations does not start to run against a depositor until a
demand has been made by him." Pagano v. United Jersey Bank, 276
N.J. Super. at 496.
New York has also developed a discovery rule, but it is much
more narrowly circumscribed. See National Life Ins. Co. v. Frank
B. Hall & Co. of New York,
494 N.E.2d 449, 450-51,
67 N.Y.2d 1021, 1023,
503 N.Y.S.2d 318, 319 (1986). In any event, the
principle that a depositor's cause of action against a bank
accrues on the date of an unauthorized withdrawal and not on the
subsequent date the depositor "received knowledge" is one of long
standing in New York. Gonzalez v. Anchor Bank Corp., 666
N.Y.S.
2d at 152.
Our Supreme Court has "set out five requirements for barring
an action by applying a statute of limitations" of a foreign
state. O'Keeffe v. Snyder, 83 N.J. at 490. They are: (1) the
cause of action arose in the other state; (2) the parties are all
present in and amenable to jurisdiction in the other state; (3)
New Jersey has no substantial interest in the matter, (4) the
substantive law of the other jurisdiction is applicable, and (5)
the limitations period of the other jurisdiction has expired at
the time of the commencement of the suit in New Jersey.
Ibid. (citing Heavner v. Uniroyal, Inc.,
63 N.J. 130, 140-41
(1973)). Obviously, some of these factors favor application of
New Jersey's statute of limitations law and others do not. We
recognize that the government-interest test is issue-specific,
that is, that the focus is upon the interest each state has in
resolving the particular issue in dispute. Gantes v. Kason
Corp., 145 N.J. at 484-85. We nevertheless think it would be
anomalous to hold that New York's substantive law should be
applied but that New Jersey's statute of limitations law also
governs this dispute.
The statute in New Jersey at the time of the withdrawals,
N.J.S.A. 17:9A-227, required the bank customer to notify the
banking institution "in writing" of any unauthorized withdrawal
within two years of the improper entry. The New Jersey
Legislature clearly intended that the equitable principles which
underlie the discovery rule were not to be applied in this
situation. Indeed, under the facts of this case, New Jersey law,
specifically N.J.S.A. 17:9A-227, would not have allowed plaintiff
to recover. We, thus, perceive no significant New Jersey policy
that would provide plaintiff with access to a legal remedy in
this situation. Stated somewhat differently, because the statute
in effect at the time of the unauthorized withdrawals did not
afford plaintiff a remedy, we see no distinct substantial New
Jersey governmental interest in applying New Jersey's statute of
limitations and discovery rule to afford access to New Jersey
courts. Under these circumstances, application of New Jersey's
limitations law would only encourage forum shopping, which would
increase litigation and needlessly burden this state's courts.
We thus hold that New York's limitations law should be
applied. The present record does not fully disclose when the
unauthorized withdrawals occurred. Because the complaint was
filed on January 29, 1996, it would appear that all wrongful
withdrawals made after January 29, 1990 would be actionable.
However, the exact dates of the withdrawals are not set forth in
the record with particularity. As we noted earlier, the Law
Division judge made no reference to questions relating to the
applicability of the statute of limitations to plaintiff's claim.
We thus remand the matter to the Law Division for resolution of
these questions.
Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed in part and reversed
in part. The matter is remanded to the Law Division for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain
jurisdiction.
Footnote: 1The correct name of National Westminster Bank, Inc. is Fleet Bank National Association. Plaintiff moved to correct defendant's name, but the record contains no order disposing of the motion.
Rutgers School of Law - Camden.