Biggus v. Ford Motor Credit Co.

613 A.2d 986, 328 Md. 188, 1992 Md. LEXIS 161
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedOctober 16, 1992
Docket123, September Term, 1991, No. 4, September Term, 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 613 A.2d 986 (Biggus v. Ford Motor Credit Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Biggus v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 613 A.2d 986, 328 Md. 188, 1992 Md. LEXIS 161 (Md. 1992).

Opinions

RODOWSKY, Judge.

Since 1941 Maryland law has included the Retail Installment Sales Act (RISA), currently Md.Code (1975, 1990 Repl. Vol.), §§ 12-601 through 12-636 of the Commercial Law Article (CL).1 RISA regulates, from contract formation to deficiency judgment, secured installment sales of certain consumer goods and of motor vehicles. By the Acts of [191]*1911983, ch. 143, the General Assembly enacted CL Title 12, Subtitle 10, “Credit Grantor Closed End Credit Provisions” (CLEC). CLEC addresses many aspects of closed end credit extensions, including interest rates, other charges, insurance, prepayment, refinancing, default, collection, and repossession. The statute includes commercial and consumer transactions, whether secured or unsecured, and, if secured, whether by realty or personalty. The transactions in the cases before us are secured installment sales of motor vehicles to consumers. Our task is to determine whether RISA or CLEC governs these transactions.

I

Biggus

Appellant, Charles T. Biggus (Biggus), bought a used Ford van from Sherwood Ford (Sherwood) in Baltimore City. Biggus signed a contract titled, “Maryland Vehicle Retail Instalment Contract.” The contract was printed on a single sheet of paper approximately twenty inches long by eight and one-half inches wide. The front side contained the material terms. The cash price was $5,050.47, Biggus was given credit for a $350 down payment and a trade-in allowance of $1,500. Added to the unpaid balance of the cash price were itemized charges for taxes, tags, filing fees, credit life insurance, credit disability insurance, and an extended service warranty. The amount financed was payable in twenty-four monthly installments at an annual percentage rate of twenty-four percent.

The reverse side of the contract was covered in smaller print. The bottom half of that side contained the terms of an assignment of the contract by Sherwood to the appellee, Ford Motor Credit Company (Ford Credit). The top portion, headed “Additional Agreements,” contained seven subsections. They included the grant of a security interest in the vehicle to Sherwood, and the following:

“G. General: Any change in this contract must be in writing and signed by you and the Creditor. The law of [192]*192Maryland, applies to this contract including Subtitle 10 of the Maryland Commercial Law Article. If the applicable law does not allow all of the agreements in this contract, the ones that are not allowed will be void. The rest of this contract will still be good.”

Biggus failed to make scheduled payments due on July 21 and August 21, 1989. In September 1989, Ford Credit sent Biggus a “Notice of Default and Intent to Repossess.” The van was repossessed in Baltimore City. In November Ford Credit sent Biggus a “Notice of Repossession and Right to Redeem or Reinstate.” That notice informed Biggus that the van was being stored at 7151 Brookdale Drive, which is the location of the Baltimore-Washington Auto Exchange in Howard County. The van was sold at a public auction for $700 in December. In February 1990, Ford Credit sent Biggus a “Statement of Sale,” which itemized a deficiency of $2,248.92.

Ford Credit sued to collect the deficiency in the District Court of Maryland, sitting in Baltimore City. Biggus argued that RISA, with which Ford Credit had not complied, governed. The District Court agreed with Biggus. Ford Credit appealed de novo to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, which held that CLEC applied. Judgment was entered for Ford Credit for $1,948,2 plus interest from December 12, 1989. We granted Biggus’s petition for a writ of certiorari.

The Jacksons

Appellants, Joan C. Jackson and John W. Jackson, Jr. (the Jacksons), purchased a new 1989 Chevrolet from Ourisman Chevrolet Company (Ourisman) in Prince George’s County. The Jacksons signed the same form contract as Biggus had signed. Ourisman likewise assigned the Jacksons’ contract to Ford Credit. In August 1990, Ford Credit sent the [193]*193Jacksons a “Notice of Default and Intent to Repossess” after the Jacksons missed their scheduled payments in June, July, and August. The car was repossessed in Prince George’s County. Ford Credit sent the Jacksons a notice of their right to redeem, which stated that the car was being stored at the Baltimore-Washington Auto Exchange in Howard County. The car was sold at public auction in October for $2,800. In November 1990, Ford Credit sent the Jacksons a notice of a deficiency in the amount of $10,292.73.

Ford Credit sued to collect the deficiency in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The Jacksons’ motion contended that the contract was governed by RISA which Ford Credit had violated. The circuit court held that CLEC applied to the transaction and granted Ford Credit’s motion for summary judgment. The Jacksons appealed to the Court of Special Appeals. We granted the Jacksons’ petition for a writ of certiorari before hearing in that court.

II

In this Court the position of the petitioners is supported by an amicus brief on behalf of certain of its clients by the Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. (Legal Aid), a brief which the Court has found to be most helpful in refining the issues. We shall refer to the petitioners and to Legal Aid collectively as the “consumers.”

The position advocated by the consumers has three steps:

1. RISA governs the subject transactions;
2. Ford Credit violated RISA

(a) by failing to include the notice to buyer required by § 12-606(c); and

(b) by failing to retain the repossessed vehicles in the respective counties where they were sold or repossessed, in violation of § 12-625(a); and

[194]*1943. The consequence of the violations is debtor absolution from deficiency liability.

Under RISA § 12-606(c)(2)

“the installment sale agreement shall:
(2) Contain the following notice in 12-point bold type or larger, directly above the space reserved in the agreement for the signature of the buyer:
Notice to Buyer
1. You are entitled to a copy of this agreement at the time you sign it.
2. Under the State law regulating installment sales, you have certain rights, among others:
(1) To pay off the full amount due in advance and obtain a partial rebate of the financing charge;
(2) To redeem the property if repossessed for a default;
(3) To require, under certain conditions, a resale of the property, if repossessed.”

The Ford Credit contract does not contain that notice.

RISA § 12-625(a) requires the holder of a retail installment contract who has repossessed the security to “retain any repossessed goods in the county where the goods were sold to the buyer or were repossessed” for fifteen days after giving a written notice, required by § 12-624(d), concerning the rights of the buyer to redeem or require a resale and advising of the location of the repossessed goods.

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Bluebook (online)
613 A.2d 986, 328 Md. 188, 1992 Md. LEXIS 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/biggus-v-ford-motor-credit-co-md-1992.