Alloway v. RT Capital, Inc.

2008 WY 123, 193 P.3d 713, 2008 Wyo. LEXIS 128, 2008 WL 4527577
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 10, 2008
DocketS-08-0042
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 2008 WY 123 (Alloway v. RT Capital, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alloway v. RT Capital, Inc., 2008 WY 123, 193 P.3d 713, 2008 Wyo. LEXIS 128, 2008 WL 4527577 (Wyo. 2008).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[11] Rodney Alloway, pro se, appeals from the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of RT Capital, Inc. *715 (RT Capital) on an outstanding credit card account balance. He claims that RT Capital's summary judgment submissions were insufficient. We affirm.

ISSUE

[12] Both parties present the same simply stated issue on appeal:

Did the court improperly grant summary judgment?

FACTS

[13] In January 2007, RT Capital filed a complaint against Mr. Alloway, seeking to collect on a delinquent credit card account. The complaint alleged Mr. Alloway had applied for and received a credit card from Metris/Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank (Metris). RT Capital claimed that he used the card and did not pay the balance due of $5,847.19, plus interest. Having failed to obtain payment on Mr. Alloway's account, Metris sold it to account collectors. Eventually, RT Capital took assignment of the account.

[14] Mr. Alloway answered the complaint and admitted that he had opened an account with Metris and used the credit card. He denied, however, the balance due. RT Capital filed a motion for summary judgment, which it supported with an affidavit from one of its employees. Mr. Alloway responded to RT Capital's summary judgment motion with his personal affidavit which made various allegations against RT Capital's attorney. After a hearing, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of RT Capital. Mr. Alloway appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[15] Summary judgments are governed by W.R.C.P. 56(c):

The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

[16] A district court's summary judgment ruling is reviewed de novo, using the same materials and following the same standards as the district court. The evidence is considered from the vantage point most favorable to the party opposing the motion, and we give that party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may fairly be drawn from the record. Metz v. Laramie County School Dist. No. 1, 2007 WY 166, 117, 178 P.3d 334, 339 (Wyo.2007); Cook v. Shoshone First Bank, 2006 WY 18, 111, 126 P.3d 886, 889 (Wyo.2006).

[17] The summary judgment mov-ant bears the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case for summary judgment by showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that judgment should be granted as a matter of law. Boehm v. Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, 748 P.2d 704, 710 (Wyo.1987). He must present admissible evidence to meet his burden. Sunshine Custom Paints & Body, Inc. v. South Douglas Highway Water & Sewer Dist., 2007 WY 206, 19, 173 P.3d 898, 401 (Wyo.2007).

[TS] If the party seeking summary judgment carries his burden, the opposing party must present specific facts to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact exists. Hatton v. Energy Electric Co., 2006 WY 151, 1 9, 148 P.3d 8, 12 (Wyo.2006). We explained the duties of the party opposing a motion for summary judgment in Cook, 1 12, 126 P.3d at 890, quoting Jones v. Schabron, 2005 WY 65, 11 9-11, 118 P.3d 34, 87 (Wyo.2005):

After a movant has adequately supported the motion for summary judgment, the opposing party must come forward with competent evidence admissible at trial showing there are genuine issues of material fact. The opposing party must affirmatively set forth material, specific facts in opposition to a motion for summary judgment, and cannot rely only upon allegations and pleadings ..., and conclusory statements or mere opinions are insufficient to satisfy the opposing party's burden.
The evidence opposing a prima facie case on a motion for summary judgment "must be competent and admissible, lest *716 the rule permitting summary judgments be entirely eviscerated by plaintiffs proceeding to trial on the basis of mere conjecture or wishful speculation." Speculation, conjecture, the suggestion of a possibility, guesses, or even probability, are insufficient to establish an issue of material fact.

DISCUSSION

[19] Mr. Alloway claims the district court erred by granting summary judgment because RT Capital's summary judgment materials were insufficient to meet its prima facie burden. RT Capital's summary judgment motion was supported by Heather Herndon's affidavit, which stated in pertinent part:

1. That I am employed by RT CAPITAL, INC., and that I am the designated agent for the Plaintiff.
2. That I am authorized to make this Affidavit on behalf of RT CAPITAL, INC.
3. That Plaintiff is in the business of purchasing commercial paper; in particular, credit accounts from lenders who have chosen to sell bad debt rather than continuing the collection process themselves.
4. That as investors, we are familiar with the original lenders; and we know the original creditor to be a well-known-issuer of credit.
5. That because of my position, I have become familiar with commercial paper used to document debt in the credit industry; and in particular, I am familiar with the paper used to document by the original lender in this matter.
6. That as an investor in the credit industry, the documentation of the accounts is purchased from the original lender.
7. That as an investor, we require the documentation from the original ered-itor to be true and accurate.
8. That we know that the original ereditor must keep records in the usual course of their business in order to conduct its business.
9. That as issuers of credit, the original lender must enter all transactions at or about the time that they occur.
13. That upon use of the credit card, monthly billing statements are sent to the cardholder to be paid.
14. That the documents attached hereto are true and accurate copies provided by the original creditor and sold to the Plaintiff.
15. That the account subject of this suit was originally issued by Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank/Metris Companies, and was subsequently acquired by the plaintiff as is evidenced by assignments attached as Exhibit 1.
16. That attached hereto is a copy (Exhibit 2) of the Agreement that was issued by the original lender when the account was opened.
17. That attached as Exhibit 3 are copies of statements of account sent to the defendant by the original lender dated May 18, 2008 to May 18, 2004.
18. That the last payment was made on the account on September 30, 2008.

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Bluebook (online)
2008 WY 123, 193 P.3d 713, 2008 Wyo. LEXIS 128, 2008 WL 4527577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alloway-v-rt-capital-inc-wyo-2008.