Banks v. Paul White Chevrolet, Inc.

629 S.E.2d 792, 218 W. Va. 733
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 10, 2006
Docket32725
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 629 S.E.2d 792 (Banks v. Paul White Chevrolet, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Banks v. Paul White Chevrolet, Inc., 629 S.E.2d 792, 218 W. Va. 733 (W. Va. 2006).

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

This case is before the Court on appeal from the September 10, 2004, Order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County granting summary judgment in favor of Appellee Paul White Chevrolet. This Court has before it the petition for appeal, the response, the briefs of the parties, and all matters of record. Following the arguments of the parties and a review of the record herein, this Court finds that the circuit court erred in granting Appellee’s motion for summary judgment. Accordingly, this Court reverses the September 10, 2004, Order of the circuit court and remands the matter for further proceedings.

I.

FACTS

On March 27, 2000, Gloria Banks (hereinafter, “Banks”) entered into an agreement (hereinafter, the “contract”) with Paul White Chevrolet (hereinafter, “Paul White”) for the purchase of a car. That contract, titled “Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement,” contained the provision that [735]*735“[i]f a payment is more than 10 days late, you will be charged 5% of the unpaid portion of any regularly scheduled payment, but not less than $1.00 nor more than $5.00.” In its section titled “Additional Terms of This Contract and Security Agreement,” the contract contained the following provisions:

DEFAULT: You agree that the following are additional terms and conditions of this Contract and that if one or more of the following occur you will be in default:
A. You fail to make a payment in full when it is due.
If you default, you agree to pay the reasonable expenses, including costs and fees authorized by statute, that we incur to realize on any security interest.
REMEDIES: If you are in default on this Contract, we have all of the remedies provided by law and this Contract. Before using any remedy, we mil send you any notice and wait for any cure period that the law may require for that remedy. Our remedies include the following:
A. We may require you to immediately pay us, subject to any refund required by law, the remaining unpaid balance of the amount financed, sales finance charges and all other agreed charges. This right of ours is subject to your limited right to cure some defaults and to get notice of this right to cure, as provided in W.Va.Code § 4-6A-2-106.
D. We may immediately take possession of the Property by legal process or self-help, but in doing so we may not breach the peace or unlawfully enter onto your premises. We may then sell the Property and apply what we receive as provided by law to our reasonable expenses and then toward your obligations. This right of ours is subject to your limited right to cure some defaults and to get notice of this right to cure, as provided in W.Va.Code § 4.6A-2-106.

[Emphasis added] Paul White subsequently assigned the contract to City National Bank “with recourse,” meaning that Paul White remained responsible for any amount owed, such as in the case of default.

Banks timely made payments according to the contract until November of 2002, at which time she failed to make a timely payment. On or about December 12, 2002, City National Bank sent Banks a “Notice of Right to Cure Default” advising Banks that she had until December 22, 2002, to cure the default. According to Banks’ deposition testimony, on or about December 17, 2002, Donald Weekley (hereinafter, “Weekley”), who apparently had a contractual relationship with Paul White, appeared at Banks’ home and asked her to pay the amount of the late payment plus a $300 “fee.” Weekley did not explain the basis of this “fee.” Banks borrowed the money from an acquaintance and gave the-money to Weekley, who accompanied Banks to the bank to cash the check from the acquaintance.1

Thereafter, City National Bank received regular and timely payments until April 2003. For this second nonpayment, City National Bank sent Banks a second “Notice of Right to Cure Default” on or about May 12, 2003. The notice stated that Banks had until May 22, 2003, to cure the default. Prior to this deadline to cure, Weekley, on May 14, 2003, approached Banks at her place of employment and again asked that she pay the amount of the late payment plus a $300 fee. Together, Banks and Weekley left Banks’ workplace and drove to Banks’ house to look for certain receipts. When Banks was unable to satisfy Weekley that payment had been made, she again borrowed the money. Banks met Weekley at her place of employment and gave him the money.

Banks subsequently filed suit against Paul White and City National Bank in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County alleging unlawful debt collection practices and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.2 By motion, Paul White sought a partial summary [736]*736judgment asserting that Weekley, as Paul White’s agent, engaged in repossession, not debt collection, on behalf of Paul White. The circuit court agreed. However, instead of simply granting partial summary judgment, the court granted full summary judgment and dismissed Banks’ action altogether. The court concluded that each of Banks’ causes of action were dependent on her contention that her action was a debt collection case governed by the Consumer Credit Protection Act (hereinafter, the “CCPA”).3 In concluding that Banks’ action was instead a repossession case, the court detei’mined that all of Banks’ related causes of action failed. Banks now appeals the circuit court’s decision.

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court has held that “[a] circuit court’s entry of summary judgment is reviewed de novo.” Syl. Pt. 1, Painter v. Peavy, 192 W.Va. 189, 451 S.E.2d 755 (1994).

III.

DISCUSSION

The primary issue for consideration by the circuit court below of Paul White’s motion for summary judgment was whether Weekley was acting on behalf of Paul White as a debt collector in violation of the CCPA or whether he was acting as a “repo man” whose actions were protected by the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code (hereinafter, “UCC”).'4 In granting Paul White’s summary judgment motion, the circuit court concluded that Banks had no cause of action under the CCPA because Weekley was aching as a “repo man” rather than as a debt collector. Paul White argues, and the lower court agreed, that Weekley, as a “repo man,” was acting lawfully under the provisions of the UCC to attempt, on the behalf of a seller, to repossess goods in which the seller retained a security interest. Paul White argues that the $300 fee collected by Weekley was allowable under the UCC as an expense incurred in attempt to repossess goods.5

However, in the contract presented by Paul White to Banks and signed by both parties, Paul White acknowledges that Banks had certain rights if she defaulted, which rights were accorded to her under the provisions of the CCPA.6 Those rights included Banks’ right to receive notice of and to cure any default. As provided in West Virginia Code § 46A-2-106 (1998),

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Related

McFarland v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
19 F. Supp. 3d 663 (S.D. West Virginia, 2014)
Banks v. Paul White Chevrolet, Inc.
629 S.E.2d 792 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
629 S.E.2d 792, 218 W. Va. 733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/banks-v-paul-white-chevrolet-inc-wva-2006.