Kelly

This is an aetion brought against D. H. Ward, a real estate broker in California during the times mentioned in the complaint, and the Maryland Casualty Company, which had bonded Ward for the years 3.926, 1927, and 1928 under the Real Estate Brokers’ License Act (St. Cal. 1919, p. 1252, as amended), to recover certain sums of money collected for plaintiff by Ward a.nd embezzled by him. Ward has not been located, and the surety company alone defends the action. There are twenty-one causes of action all similar in general character. Ward negotiated a series of loans for plaintiff in his capacity of real estate broker. The loans were to different property owners for relatively small amounts. They were secured by deeds of trust or mortgages to plaintiff, in some of which Ward was named as trustee. Plaintiff employed Ward to make collections on these loans. He collected some in full and some in part, retaining in all but one instance the full amount collected, paid the interest thereon to plaintiff, so that plaintiff would be unaware of the collections having been made, and in some instances where the loan had been paid in full executed reconveyances to the borrowers. Each cause of…