HERNANDO URIBE ET AL., APPELLANTS, v. THE MERCHANTS BANK OF NEW YORK,
RESPONDENT.
91 N.Y.2d 336, 693 N.E.2d 740, 670 N.Y.S.2d 393 (1998).
March 31, 1998
1 No. 35
(98 NY Int. 0024)
Decided March 31, 1998
_________________________________________________________________
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
_________________________________________________________________
Alexander J. Wulwick, for appellants.
Mitchell B. Shenkman, for respondent.
BELLACOSA, J.:
This case is about the effort of appellant H. Uribe, Inc. to recover
for an alleged theft from its safe deposit box rented from defendant
Merchants Bank of New York. Cash, gems and other items, worth
approximately $2,000,000, were allegedly missing or stolen.
The issue on appeal is whether the term "valuable papers," among the
items specified in the rental agreement as allowed for storage in the
box, may be interpreted to include currency or cash. We conclude that
"valuable papers" in this juridical context and contest is unambiguous
as used in this rental agreement, is sufficiently specific and
exclusive in its usage, and was not intended to encompass legal
tender. Thus, the defendant bank is not liable for the allegedly
missing currency.
I.
Defendant Merchants Bank's standard safe deposit box rental agreement
provides in pertinent part:
The safe is leased solely for the purpose of keeping securities,
jewelry, valuable papers, and precious metals only, and the Renters
agree not to use the said safe for any other purpose (emphasis
supplied).
Paragraphs 7 and 12 of the bank's Safe Deposit Department Rules and
SNIPPETS:
HERNANDO URIBE ET AL., APPELLANTS, v.
THE MERCHANTS BANK OF NEW YORK,
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York
This case is about the effort of appellant H. Uribe, Inc. to recover for an alleged theft
The issue on appeal is whether the term "valuable papers," among the items specified in the
We conclude that "valuable papers" in this juridical context and contest is unambiguous as
the defendant bank is not liable for the allegedly missing currency.
The safe is leased solely for the purpose of keeping securities, jewelry, valuable papers,
Renters expressly waive every presumption of law that loss shall have occurred through Bank's
In December 1990, Hernando Uribe, a wholesale gem dealer, leased a box at the Manhattan West
Uribe claims that he placed the entire cash proceeds of the sale in the safe deposit box,
It concluded that "the clear qualifying language of the safe deposit box rental agreement,
The dissent further urged that "the provision upon which the bank presently relies expresses
Appellant concedes that "at first blush 'valuable papers' might be thought of as referring
In usual parlance and understanding, the term "valuable papers" is customarily limited to
safe deposit boxes in which to keep personal property and papers of any kind"); General Business
Traditional rules of construction further enlighten our analysis and prompt our conclusion.
That notion is further dispelled by another canon of interpretive construction: inclusio
|
