Maroone Chevrolet, L.L.C. v. Suntrust Bank

904 So. 2d 618, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 9714, 2005 WL 1458751
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 22, 2005
DocketNo. 4D04-4166
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 904 So. 2d 618 (Maroone Chevrolet, L.L.C. v. Suntrust Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Maroone Chevrolet, L.L.C. v. Suntrust Bank, 904 So. 2d 618, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 9714, 2005 WL 1458751 (Fla. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

POLEN, J.

This appeal arises from a final summary judgment granting declaratory relief against Appellant, Maroone Chevrolet (“Maroone”), in favor of Appellee, Sun-Trust Bank (“SunTrust”), and ordering Maroone to deliver a Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin (“MSO”) to SunTrust. We reverse, holding that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to SunTrust where the record demonstrates disputed issues of material fact as to whether entrustment of the vehicle occurred.

SunTrust filed a multi-count complaint against numerous defendants, including Maroone. Count II of the complaint sought a declaration of SunTrust’s rights concerning title to a 2001 Chevrolet Cama-ro. SunTrust’s suit arose out of an automobile transaction involving Maroone, co-defendant AutoSmart Leasing (“AutoS-mart”), and co-defendants Joseph and Brenda Ladrie (“the Ladries”).

AutoSmart and SunTrust entered into a Dealer Non-Recourse Agreement on January 11, 1999. Through that agreement, SunTrust purchases or accepts assignments of retail installment contracts from AutoSmart, which AutoSmart generates with its customers. Also under the agreement, AutoSmart warrants that it would have good title to the vehicles described in the contracts purchased by SunTrust “at the time of the making of such Contracts and of the assignment thereof to [Sun-Trust] Bank.”

In July of 2001, AutoSmart found a 2001 Chevrolet Camaro for the Ladries at Ma-roone and arranged for its future delivery to a parking lot next to a Mexican restaurant off the Turnpike and Kendall Drive. AutoSmart arranged for a purchase money loan for the Ladries from SunTrust pursuant to the Dealer Non-Recourse Agreement.

The Retail Installment Sales Contract that is the subject of the present declaratory action against Maroone and the La-dries was executed on July 13, 2001. The contract purports to memorialize a retail installment contract between AutoSmart and the Ladries for the purchase of a 2001 Camaro. It also states that, upon assignment, SunTrust is the assignee of the contract.

Joseph Ladrie dealt with Joe Dejanero, an AutoSmart employee,1 in much of the transaction, but at no time did he deal with anybody else from AutoSmart. He also did not deal with anybody from SunTrust prior to the transaction. Ladrie testified in his deposition that he had never seen the vehicle before obtaining it. It was delivered to him at a parking lot next to a Mexican restaurant off the Turnpike and Kendall drive. Ladrie did not receive it at an AutoSmart location and had never been to an AutoSmart location. He went to Dejanero’s and he and Dejanero went to the parking lot together. The transaction in the parking lot took fifteen minutes.

Ladrie testified that the drivers who delivered the vehicle to him worked for Maroone; a Maroone driver handed the keys and owner’s manual directly to him and explained information about the car. He believed the Maroone driver handed the keys directly to him, not to Dejanero. Ladrie testified that he believed that the [620]*620vehicle belonged .to Maroone immediately prior to belonging to him.2

Ladrie testified that, at the time the vehicle was delivered to him, the Maroone employee refused =to accept the draft for payment from Dejanero3 and, instead, told Dejanero that he had to take care of that issue with someone else:

Q:. Did, the agent of Maroone Chevrolet ever discuss payment with you?
A: No.
Q: Did he discuss it exclusively with Mr. Dejanero?
A: Mr. Dejanero discussed it with him
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Q: Specifically, what did they say, everything that you could remember?
A: Mr. Dejanero had the whole file, the paperwork. I don’t know what was in • there. “I have all this stuff for you with the payment and everything.”
Q: Do you remember him specifically saying, “I have the payment for you here and everything?”
A: That’s why the guy didn’t want the check. And the guy said, “I don’t want to deal with any of that. You have to deal with somebody else.”
Q: Okay. Did he say it has to be done through our respective dealers—
[[Image here]]
A: He said the gentleman’s name that he dealt with before.
Q: The gentleman’s name at Maroone?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you know the gentleman’s name?
A: No. I am assuming it was the fleet manager. But that’s just an assumption.
Q: When the gentlemen from Maroone pulled into the parking lot, who introduced themselves to the driver first?
A: Joe [Dejanero].
Q: Do you know what he said to him?
A: No.
Q: Do you know if they recognized each other? !
Á: I don’t think they knew each other.

Dejanero provided Ladrie with a purchase agreement and retail installment contract generated by AutoSmart. Ladrie testified in his deposition that he signed a purchase agreement for the car and the retail installment contract. He initially gave a $3,000.00 down payment check to Dejanero, made out either to Dejanero or to AutoSmart — he could not recall which— a few days before taking delivery of the vehicle.

SunTrust alleged that Maroone delivered possession of the Camaro to the La-dries through AutoSmart. Maroone disputes that it ever provided the vehicle to AutoSmart.

According to SunTrust’s complaint, an entrustment as contemplated by section '672.403(2), Florida Statutes, occurred between Maroone and AutoSmart that imbued AutoSmart with the ability to pass good title to the Ladries. SunTrust alleged that, pursuant to law and the con[621]*621tract between SunTrust and AutoSmart, upon SunTrust’s payment to AutoSmart of the amount financed by Ladrie for the car, SunTrust was entitled to the MSO in order to secure title to the Camaro as. the secured creditor/lienor of the Ladries.

SunTrust filed a motion for partial summary judgment as to Maroone, arguing that Maroone entrusted AutoSmart with possession of the Camaro, rendering Sun-Trust’s interest in the vehicle superior to that of Maroone. After' a hearing, the court rendered an order 4 granting declaratory relief against Maroone in favor of SunTrust, and ordering Maroone to deliver the MSO to SunTrust.

We hold that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to SunTrust where the record demonstrates disputed issues of material fact. The standard of review applicable to summary judgment is de novo. Selim v. Pan American Airways Corp., 889 So.2d 149, 153 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Summary judgment is proper if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla.2000).

The sole basis for SunTrust’s summary judgment motion is that entrustment occurred according to the terms of Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code, § 672.403(2), Fla.

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Bluebook (online)
904 So. 2d 618, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 9714, 2005 WL 1458751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maroone-chevrolet-llc-v-suntrust-bank-fladistctapp-2005.