Mouton v. Toyota Motor Credit Corp. (In re Mouton)

479 B.R. 55
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 7, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 4:11-BK-16479; Adversary No. 4:11-AP-1275
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 479 B.R. 55 (Mouton v. Toyota Motor Credit Corp. (In re Mouton)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mouton v. Toyota Motor Credit Corp. (In re Mouton), 479 B.R. 55 (Ark. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JAMES G. MIXON, Bankruptcy Judge.

Christopher S. Mouton (Debtor), one of the joint debtors in this Chapter 13 case, filed this adversary proceeding against Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (Toyota) and First Security Bank (Bank). In his complaint, the Debtor seeks a determination as to the validity and extent of liens and an avoidance of liens and/or a declaratory judgment regarding liens held by Toyota and the Bank in the Debtor’s 2009 Toyota Corolla automobile.

Toyota and the Bank separately answered the complaint, and after a trial on the merits, the Court ruled that Toyota’s lien was perfected but that the Bank’s lien was not. Upon further reflection, the Court decided to take under advisement [58]*58the issue of whether Toyota’s lien was perfected. The Debtor and each defendant filed post-trial briefs. In its brief, the Bank seeks reconsideration of the Court’s bench ruling that the Bank’s lien in the automobile is unperfected.

The Court has jurisdiction to decide this matter in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157(a). This matter is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(K). The following opinion constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7052.

FACTS

A separate dischargeability action filed by the Bank against the Debtor was tried before the Court prior to the trial in this case. See First Security Bank v. Mouton, 4:11-ap-01269. In that adversary proceeding, certain facts were established that provide background for the instant case.

In the course of the previous trial, the facts demonstrated that the Debtor had received checks drawn on banks in Canada that were subsequently determined to be counterfeit. The Bank initially gave the Debtor provisional credit for these deposits. The Debtor then used some of the funds for payments to various third parties for a variety of reasons prior to the deposits being reversed when the checks were returned by the Canadian banks as counterfeit forgeries. These facts do not appear in the record in the instant case and are not relevant to the Court’s determination, but are recited to explain more fully why the relevant events in August, September, and October 2011 occurred.

In this case, the evidence shows that on April 29, 2009, the Debtor purchased a Toyota Corolla automobile in Decatur, Illinois, for $29,935.43. (Tr. at 20, 39, Pl.’s Ex. 1.) Toyota was noted as first lien holder on the face of the certificate of title, which was issued in Illinois. (Tr. at 39, Pl.’s Ex. 1.) The Debtor commenced making regular monthly ear payments to Toyota.

At some point not precisely shown by the record, the Debtor moved to Arkansas and was living there by August 2011. In early August 2011, the Debtor logged on to the Toyota website to ascertain the balance owed on the car. (Tr. at 21.) On August 13, he electronically transferred from his account at the Bank to Toyota the sum of $23,624.12, which was the principal balance owed. (Tr. at 22, 34, Toyota Ex. 2 at 4.) When he made the transfer, his account balance at the Bank showed sufficient funds to defray the total indebtedness. (Tr. at 22.)

A day or so later, the Debtor examined his Toyota account online and found the account reflected a zero balance due. (Tr. at 22.) About a week later, he received the certificate of title in the mail with the release portion executed by Toyota. (Tr. at 23, 36.)

At trial, Greg Jacoby, a sales manager with Toyota, explained the procedure Toyota follows when it receives automated notice of payoff. Toyota “pulls” the certificate of title, signs the release on the face of the document, and then sends the title reflecting the lien release to the owner of the vehicle. (Tr. at 42.) Toyota’s policy is to hold the certificate of title for ten days after payoff before sending it to the owner. (Tr. at 54.)

On August 18, 2011, Toyota received notice that the transaction with the Debtor was uncollectible, and on August 19, Toyota reversed the payoff notation on the vehicle. (Tr. at 42-43.) Toyota did not immediately notify the Debtor of the denied payment because, in addition to the reversed payoff, the Debtor had made his regular monthly car payment in August, so [59]*59his account was current through August. (Tr. at 66.) Despite the reversed payoff, the certificate of title was erroneously sent to the Debtor by Toyota. According to Jacoby, Toyota’s “paid in full department did not receive notice to hold up the release of the title.” (Tr. at 64.)

Toyota sent the Debtor a form letter dated October 5, 2011, stating that the online payment was returned to Toyota for insufficient funds. (Toyota Ex. 3.) In the letter, Toyota gave the Debtor a certain amount of time to pay the full amount owed, or return the certificate of title and take action to assist Toyota in reinstating the lien. (Tr. at 44, Toyota Ex. 3.) The Debtor filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 13 on October 6, 2011, and received the October 5 form letter post-petition. (Chapter 13 Voluntary Petition, docket entry 1; Tr. at 31.) Later, in response, to the form letter, the Debtor sent the title back to Toyota.

During the August-October 2011 period when the transactions between the Debtor and Toyota occurred, the Debtor also had dealings with the Bank concerning the counterfeit funds in his account with the Bank. The Debtor informed the Bank that the funds were counterfeit on August 16 or 17. (Tr. at 33.) At about that time, the Debtor entered into an agreement with the Bank to borrow funds from the Bank to correct the “shortfall ... in his account” created when he used the counterfeit funds to pay third parties. (Tr. at 71, 72.)

The Debtor gave the Bank a note for $60,464.87, and he offered the Toyota Corolla as collateral for the loan. (Pl.’s Ex. 2, Tr. at 17.) Because Toyota had released its lien on the certificate of title and sent the title to the Debtor, the Debtor believed and represented to the Bank when he entered into the agreement that the car was unencumbered. (Tr. at 69.) The Debtor and a Bank official testified that when the note itself was executed on September 16, 2011, neither the Debtor nor the Bank employees he was dealing with were aware that the earlier August payoff to Toyota was ineffective. (Tr. at 36, 37, 74, 76.) The Debtor’s account statement did not reflect that the electronic payoff to Toyota had been declined. (Tr. at 76.) Therefore, the Debtor’s and the Bank’s calculation of the shortfall in the account did not include the $23,624.12 reversed payment to Toyota. (Tr. at 72.)

On September 16, 2011, the Debtor executed various loan documents which included a security agreement granting the Bank a security interest in the car. (Pl.’s Ex. 2.) After executing the loan documents, the Debtor was given the certificate of title to the car with the Bank’s lien noted on the face of the title and instructed to file the appropriate papers with the Revenue Office of the State of Arkansas. However, the Debtor failed to do so and three weeks later filed his bankruptcy petition. (Tr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
479 B.R. 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mouton-v-toyota-motor-credit-corp-in-re-mouton-areb-2012.