runs two years after the time when the account was stated, and if suit is not commenced within two years, the debt will be outlawed.

Section 682.-INTEREST ON A STATED ACCOUNT. -The uniform custom of a merchant or manufacturer is presumed to be known to those who are in the habit of dealing with him, and in their dealings they are supposed to act with reference to that custom. When it is the universal custom of a merchant to charge interest after thirty days upon monthly balances due upon open accounts, and where such an account showing the interest charged up regularly is received by the debtor and fully understood by him, and where such account becomes stated, either by the prolonged failure of the debtor to object or by a settlement between the parties, the debtor is bound to pay the balance found due, including the interest charged.

Section 683.-ASSIGNMENT FOR COLLECTION.An open account, a mutual account, or an account stated. may be assigned to a third person for collection. No money need be paid for the assignment. The consideration will be sufficient to sustain the assignment, if the person to whom the account is assigned undertakes on his part to make collection. If the assignee brings suit on the account, and the debtor makes the defense that there was no consideration for the assignment, it will be a sufficient answer to that defense to show that the account was assigned for collection.

Section 684.-ASSIGNEE MAY SUE IN HIS OWN NAME. The assignee for collection may bring the suit in his own name. The law of California provides that every suit must be brought in the name of the real party in interest; but the assignee for collection must contribute his labor and services, and his presumed undertaking and promise to do so is a sufficient consideration for the assignment to enable him to sue in his own name.

Section 685.-ASSIGNMENT MAY BE VERBAL OR WRITTEN.-The assignment of an account, open, mutual, or stated, may be made verbally or in writing. It is usual to make such assignments in writing, because this of itself affords documentary proof of the assignment; but a verbal assignment will be sufficient, where the proof is conclusive.

Section 686.-ASSIGNMENT BY ONE PARTNER OF PARTNERSHIP ACCOUNT.-One partner may make an assignment of a partnership account, in the name of the firm, and the assignment will be good. It is of no consequence to the debtor, as it in no respect affects his liability, whether the assignment was made at one time or another, or with or without consideration, or by one or by all the members of the firm. One member of a firm may even assign a partnership claim, in the name of the firm, to himself individually, and this will be sufficient to enable him to sue on it, if the other partners do not object. The other partners making no objections, the debtor will not be allowed to do so.

Section 687.-COLLECTION OF ACCOUNTS WHEN BOOKS ARE LOST.-Though the books in which the accounts were kept are lost, from whatever cause, by fire, or theft, or by being mislaid, yet the accounts can be collected, if they can be proved in some other way. First, the loss of the books of original entry must be shown, and diligent search to find them; then, the accounts may be proved by producing other books into which they were. copied from the original entry book, or, if none such exist, by the verbal testimony of bookkeepers, agents, clerks, proprietors, or any one who may know what the accounts consisted of.

Section 688.-WHAT DEBTOR MAY SET OFF AGAINST ASSIGNED ACCOUNT.-When the assignee of an account sues to recover the amount due, the debtor

may set off against the claim any claim which he had against the creditor himself at the time of the assignment, or before notice to him of the assignment. But his claim must be one upon which he could have maintained an independent action, and be one of contract; for he could not, in a suit against him upon an account, brought by either the creditor or his assignee, defend by setting up a demand for damages for a wrong suffered by him.

Code of Civil Procedure, Section 368.

Section 689.-AUTHORITY OF AGENT IN MAKING COLLECTIONS. The authority of agents in making collections will be equal to the power actually or ostensibly delegated to them by the principal. If the debtor is informed by the creditor that a certain person or a bank is his agent to make collections, there can seldom be any danger in inferring full and extensive authority on the part of the agent to do everything necessary in and about the collection. But it often happens that the authority of the agent, and the extent of his powers, must be ascertained, not by any direct communication from the creditor, but from a long-continued course of dealing or custom of trade. If an agent for collection has been in the habit of collecting in a certain manner, or of making discounts upon certain accounts, or has collected regularly for the same firm or person at a particular place for a long time, these facts being known, it will be presumed that he has authority from his principal coextensive with his acts.

Section 690.-RATIFICATION OF AGENT'S ACTS. -Even though one who represents himself as an agent to make collections really has no such authority, the creditor for whom the collection is made may so conduct himself as to create a ratification of the agent's acts. Thus, if he receives the proceeds from the agent, or knows of the manner of collection and makes no objection, or in any way leads the debtor to believe that he is satisfied with the

agent's conduct, he will be deemed to have ratified the acts. of the agent, and thus bind himself.

Section 691.-AGENT'S COMMISSIONS UPON COLLECTIONS.-The law leaves the agent's commissions upon collections made by him to be regulated by the agreement of the parties. But if a creditor sends a bill or account to an agent, with instructions to collect the same from the debtor, and the agent proceeds to make the collection, and nothing is said about the agent's compensation, there will be an implied obligation on the part of the creditor to pay the agent a reasonable commission. What is a reasonable commission will depend upon circumstances, taking into consideration the nature of the collection, the amount of labor and skill employed, and the amount usually paid, if there is any custom, for such collections in the particular locality or business.

Section 692.-COLLECTION OF BILLS AND ACCOUNTS WHEN DEBTOR IS DEAD.-When the debtor is dead, a claim upon the account must be presented to his Administrator or Executor, within four months from the first publication of notice to creditors, if the estate is appraised at less than $10,000, or within ten months from the first publication of notice to creditors, if the estate is appraised at $10,000 or over. The claim must be allowed and approved by the Administrator or Executor and the Judge of the Superior Court. If the claim is not allowed, the creditor can then sue the Administrator or Executor, as the case may be.

Section 693.-SUIT IN JUSTICE COURT ON BILLS AND ACCOUNTS.-A suit to collect the amount of a bill or account must be brought in the Justice Court, when the amount is less than $300, exclusive of interest.

Section 694.-IN WHAT TOWNSHIP SUIT MUST BE BROUGHT.-If the money is to be paid at a certain place, then the suit may be brought in the township and county where the place of payment is situated. But if goods are sold in San Francisco to a person in Ukiah, and the bill is to be paid at Ukiah, then the creditor must sue in the Justice Court in Ukiah Township. If the bill is to be paid at San Francisco, the suit may be brought in the Justice Court there. If there is no agreement as to where the obligation to pay is to be performed, then the suit must be brought in the township and county where the debtor resides.

Section 695.-SUIT IN SUPERIOR COURT ON BILLS AND ACCOUNTS.-If the bill amounts to $300 or more, exclusive of interest, a suit to collect the amount due must be commenced in the Superior Court. However, the creditor may waive all the excess of his claim, and sue in the Justice Court for a sum less than $300, exclusive of interest, thus remitting to the debtor all of the account exceeding the amount sued for.

Section 696.-IN WHAT COUNTY SUIT IN SUPERIOR COURT MUST BE BROUGHT. The same rule applies to suits in the Superior Court as obtains in the matter of Justice Court suits. That is, where there is no place agreed upon for the performance of the debtor's obligation to pay, the debtor has a right to have the suit tried. in the Superior Court of the county where he resides; but if the bill is to be paid where the creditor resides, or at some other place, the suit may be tried there. The creditor may bring his suit in the Superior Court of the county where he lives or has his place of business, in any event, and the suit will be tried there, unless the debtor appears and moves for the transfer of the case to the Superior Court of the county of his own residence.