Howard Kool Chevrolet, Inc. v. Blomstedt

511 N.W.2d 222, 2 Neb. Ct. App. 493, 25 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 310, 1994 Neb. App. LEXIS 23
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 25, 1994
DocketNo. A-93-551
StatusPublished

This text of 511 N.W.2d 222 (Howard Kool Chevrolet, Inc. v. Blomstedt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Howard Kool Chevrolet, Inc. v. Blomstedt, 511 N.W.2d 222, 2 Neb. Ct. App. 493, 25 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 310, 1994 Neb. App. LEXIS 23 (Neb. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

Miller-Lerman, Judge.

Howard Kool Chevrolet, Inc. (Kool), appeals the order of the district court for Red Willow County granting the motion [495]*495for summary judgment filed by Dennis and Frances Blomstedt, appellees, and dismissing Kool’s petition. In its petition, Kool sought a deficiency judgment against the Blomstedts after Kool repossessed and resold a secured automobile at an alleged loss. The trial court concluded that Kool’s failure to give the Blomstedts notice of the sale barred any recovery. For the reasons recited below, we reverse the judgment and remand the cause for further proceedings.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In appellate review of a summary judgment, the court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment is granted and gives such party the benefit of all reasonable inferences deducible from the evidence. Dowis v. Continental Elev. Co., 241 Neb. 207, 486 N.W.2d 916 (1992); Spittler v. Nicola, 239 Neb. 972, 479 N.W.2d 803 (1992). Moreover, summary judgment is to be granted only when the pleadings, depositions, admissions, stipulations, and affidavits in the record disclose that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rowe v. Allely, 244 Neb. 484, 507 N.W.2d 293 (1993); Hanson v. General Motors Corp., 241 Neb. 81, 486 N.W.2d 223 (1992); Antelope Cty. Farmers Coop. v. Citizens State Bank, 240 Neb. 760, 484 N.W.2d 822 (1992); Barelmann v. Fox, 239 Neb. 771, 478 N.W.2d 548 (1992); Flamme v. Wolf Ins. Agency, 239 Neb. 465, 476 N.W.2d 802 (1991); Flynn v. Bausch, 238 Neb. 61, 469 N.W.2d 125 (1991).

Regarding a question of law, an appellate court has an obligation to reach a conclusion independent from a trial court’s conclusion in a judgment under review. VanDeWalle v. Albion Nat. Bank, 243 Neb. 496, 500 N.W.2d 566 (1993); Young v. Dodge Cty. Bd. of Supervisors, 242 Neb. 1, 493 N.W.2d 160 (1992); Huffman v. Huffman, 232 Neb. 742, 441 N.W.2d 899 (1989).

FACTS

On January 31, 1987, the Blomstedts purchased a used 1986 Chevrolet Caprice station wagon and executed and delivered to Kool and its assignor, General Motors Acceptance Corporation [496]*496(GMAC), a written contract agreeing to pay the principal sum of $13,220.59 with initial interest at the rate of 12.5 percent per annum. The automobile was refinanced through GMAC on February 28, 1990, in the principal sum of $7,547.64 with interest at the rate of 13.25 percent per annum. The Blomstedts granted a security interest in the vehicle to GMAC pursuant to the financing agreements, and GMAC subsequently assigned its security interest to Kool. The parties agree that the certificate of title shows a first lien in favor of GMAC.

The Blomstedts made the required payments until May 21, 1990, when they surrendered the vehicle to Kool. Kool had the vehicle in its possession from May 21,1990, until Kool sold it on July 14, 1992. Kool admitted in its response to the Blomstedts’ request for admissions that the Blomstedts were not notified prior to the sale and that the “only communication concerning the sale of said automobile set [sic] or delivered to Defendants, and each of them, by Plaintiff, is a Certified letter to each Defendant, undated, indicating that Plaintiff had sold the automobile for $4,500.00, seeking the balance due of [$]3,336.04.” A copy of the envelope for this letter bears a stamped legend, “ 1st Notice, ” followed by a handwritten entry, “08-20-92.”

Kool filed a petition on February 16, 1993, seeking a deficiency judgment of $4,373.76, representing the principal amount of $3,336.04 plus $1.21 in interest per day, and any interest accruing to the date of judgment. Although the Blomstedts in their answer denied “each and every allegation contained in plaintiff’s petitioner [sic],” the facts as recited above were subsequently admitted. The Blomstedts further answered that the “vehicle in question had a fair market value sufficient to cover the the [sic] debt remaining on the secured property on the date plaintiff took control thereof” and that

plaintiff failed in all respects to comply with the requirements of Nebraska law contained in the Uniform Commercial Code pertaining to repossession and resale of secured property to wit: petitioner specifically failed to send notice or provide any notice pursuant to section 2-706 (3) RRS, Ne, (1992), thereby depriving defendants of their statutory right to appear and bid or buy at said sale.

[497]*497The Blomstedts moved for summary judgment. A telephonic hearing was held on June 9,1993. The affidavits of counsel for all parties, with answers to requests for admissions attached, were received in evidence. The affidavit of the Blomstedts’ counsel stated that there were no material facts in dispute and that the facts admitted by Kool would constitute a complete defense to the petition based on failure to provide notice under Neb. U.C.C. §§ 2-703 and 2-706 (Reissue 1992). The competing affidavit prepared by Kool’s counsel claimed that there remained material facts in dispute, inter alia, surrounding the reasonableness of the sale of the vehicle, that the transaction was covered by Neb. U.C.C. art. 9 (Reissue 1992 & Supp. 1993), and that compliance with the notice requirement of § 9-504(3) was not a condition precedent to the right of a secured party to recover a deficiency. The trial court took the matter under advisement.

On June 17, 1993, the trial court granted the Blomstedts’ motion for summary judgment. The trial court made the following findings and order:

1. The cause of action in this case accrued on or about May 21, 1990, when the Plaintiff took possession of the vehicle which is the subject of this action and paid G.M.A.C.
2. Although the vehicle giving rise to this law suit was not sold until July 14,1992, the law in effect at the time the cause of action accrued required notice of the public or private sale of the collateral as a condition precedent to an attempt to collect a deficiency judgment.
3. Section 9-504 U.C.C., Neb., was not amended until March 30,1991, long after the cause of action in this case accrued.
4. No notice of any sale was given to the Defendants of any kind.
5. There is no genuine issue of a material fact and the Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Summary Judgment is found in favor of the Defendants and against the Plaintiff herein; the petition of the Plaintiff, filed herein, should be and [498]

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511 N.W.2d 222, 2 Neb. Ct. App. 493, 25 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 310, 1994 Neb. App. LEXIS 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/howard-kool-chevrolet-inc-v-blomstedt-nebctapp-1994.