Mortgage. Pledge. Bankruptcy. An unrecorded bill of sale of personal property intended as security for a loan cannot be effective against third persons either as a mortgage or a pledge unless the property is delivered to and retained by the mortgagee or pledgee.
Under R.L.c. 198, § 1, and the bankruptcy act of 1898 the holder of an unrecorded bill of sale of personal property, which was given as security for a loan by one who after its delivery became a bankrupt while still retaining possession of the property, has no title as against the trustee in bankruptcy.
SHELDON, J.
This case is governed by the decisions in Moors v. Reading, 167 Mass. 322, and Hawes v. Weeden, 180 Mass. 106. There was as much evidence of a delivery and as much retention of possession in those cases as in the case at bar. It is immaterial whether the plaintiff has the rights of a mortgagee or of a pledgee. If the former, the mortgage was invalid because it was not recorded and the property was not retained by him in conformity with the requirements of R.L.c. 198, § 1; if the latter, his failure to retain possession of the property was equally fatal to him. He cannot claim the property against his debtor's trustee in bankruptcy. Drury v. Moors, 171 Mass. 252. Haskell v. Merrill, 179 Mass. 120.
Exceptions overruled.