Kapor v. RJC Inv., Inc.

2019 MT 41, 434 P.3d 869, 394 Mont. 311
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 12, 2019
DocketDA 18-0208
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2019 MT 41 (Kapor v. RJC Inv., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kapor v. RJC Inv., Inc., 2019 MT 41, 434 P.3d 869, 394 Mont. 311 (Mo. 2019).

Opinions

Justice Beth Baker delivered the Opinion of the Court.

***315¶1 Deneige Kapor appeals an order of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, ruling as a matter of law that she has no right to claim surplus proceeds on the resale of her mobile home after she returned it to RJC Investment, Inc. ("RJC") when she could not make the payments. We restate the issues as follows:

1. Whether the District Court erred in determining that the release agreement Kapor signed terminated any further application of the Uniform Commercial Code;
2. Whether the District Court erred in determining that the release constituted an acceptance of the collateral in full satisfaction of Kapor's secured obligation; and
3. Whether the District Court correctly held that Kapor was equitably estopped from pursuing her claims.

We reverse the District Court's summary judgment order and remand for further proceedings.

*872PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶2 Kapor entered into an Installment Sale Contract and Security Agreement (the "Contract") with Cherry Creek Development, Inc. ("Cherry Creek") to purchase a mobile home in March 2009. The purchase price of the mobile home was $ 53,500. Cherry Creek retained a security interest in the mobile home to secure Kapor's payment obligations. Kapor paid $ 4,280 down and agreed to pay $ 544 per month for fifteen years to pay off the $ 49,220 balance.

¶3 Cherry Creek assigned the Contract to its parent company, RJC. On multiple occasions, Kapor defaulted on her payment obligations. In March 2015, Kapor voluntarily vacated the mobile home and allowed RJC to take possession of it. When Kapor returned the mobile home to RJC, she owed $ 39,791.80. Kapor signed a Full Release of Contract (the "Release"), under which she released all rights to the mobile home. The Release reads in full as follows:

I/We Deneige Phillips1 herby [sic] release all rights to the manufactured home located at 4 Skeena St., Billings, MT 59105 described by serial number HX12359 am [sic] releasing myself and removing my name off the contract currently in place with ***316RJC Investment, Inc. I am fully aware that by signing this I am completely removing my rights to all aspects of the home and I will not be entitled to any rights of this home and or refund of all money applied to the home including but not limited to the down payment, and all payments made on the home and the lot up to this day.

The Release was executed by Kapor and Roy Clause, the President of RJC.

¶4 RJC resold the mobile home in April 2015, without notice to Kapor, for $ 53,500, which Kapor alleges is $ 13,708.20 more than the principal she owed when she returned the mobile home. RJC did not refund any surplus to Kapor, and disputes that a surplus was in fact realized. Kapor sued RJC for failing to pay her the surplus allegedly realized on the resale of the mobile home as required by Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code ("U.C.C."). RJC moved for summary judgment, asserting that the Release terminated the underlying Contract and any further application of U.C.C. Article 9. RJC alternatively asserted that Kapor was equitably estopped from pursuing her claims because she made false representations that she would not pursue her rights under the U.C.C. by signing the Release.

¶5 The District Court granted RJC's motion for summary judgment on three separate and independent grounds: (1) U.C.C. Article 9 no longer applied after Kapor executed the Release; (2) even if U.C.C. Article 9 applied, the Release constituted an acceptance of the collateral in full satisfaction of the secured obligation; and (3) Kapor's execution of the Release was a representation that equitably estopped her from pursuing the lawsuit.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6 We review de novo a district court's grant or denial of summary judgment, applying the criteria of M. R. Civ. P. 56. Yorlum Props. v. Lincoln County , 2013 MT 298, ¶ 12, 372 Mont. 159, 311 P.3d 748. Summary judgment "should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." M. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3). Where the material facts are undisputed, we "identify the applicable law, apply it to the uncontroverted facts, and determine who prevails." Yorlum Props. , ¶ 12. The determination whether a party is entitled to judgment on the facts is a conclusion of law, which we review for correctness. Yorlum Props. , ¶ 12.

***317DISCUSSION

¶7 1. Whether the District Court erred in determining that the release agreement Kapor signed terminated any further application of the Uniform Commercial Code.

¶8 Kapor argues that the execution of the Release did not terminate RJC's duty *873under § 30-9A-608(1)(d), MCA, to pay her the surplus proceeds from the resale of the mobile home. Kapor maintains that the plain language of § 30-9A-602(5), MCA, prohibited the parties from waiving or varying the U.C.C. rule that required RJC to account to Kapor for the surplus. RJC relies on § 28-1-1601, MCA, and common law to argue that the parties executed the release "in accordance with their express intention to discharge their obligations to one another and go their separate ways."

¶9 " 'The fundamental tenet of modern contract law is freedom of contract'-parties are free to 'agree to terms governing their private conduct as long as those terms do not conflict with public laws.' " Lenz v. FSC Secs. Corp. , 2018 MT 67, ¶ 17, 391 Mont. 84, 414 P.3d 1262 (quoting Arrowhead Sch. Dist. No. 75 v. Klyap , 2003 MT 294, ¶ 20, 318 Mont. 103, 79 P.3d 250 ). Under generally applicable laws of contract, a creditor may agree to extinguish a debtor's obligations through a release. Section 28-1-1601, MCA.

¶10 Montana first adopted the Uniform Commercial Code in 1963. 1963 Mont. Laws, ch. 264. The U.C.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 MT 41, 434 P.3d 869, 394 Mont. 311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kapor-v-rjc-inv-inc-mont-2019.