Price v. First National Bank of the South

477 So. 2d 1340, 41 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1760, 1985 Miss. LEXIS 2242
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 4, 1985
DocketNo. 55002
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 477 So. 2d 1340 (Price v. First National Bank of the South) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Price v. First National Bank of the South, 477 So. 2d 1340, 41 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1760, 1985 Miss. LEXIS 2242 (Mich. 1985).

Opinion

ROY NOBLE LEE, Presiding Justice,

for the Court:

The Chancery Court of Jackson County, Mississippi, Honorable Glenn Barlow, presiding, entered judgment on the 27th day of October, 1982, in the amount of sixty-eight thousand eight hundred eighty-six dollars eighty-eight cents ($68,886.88) due on a promissory note and thirteen thousand seven hundred seventy-seven dollars and thirty-eight cents ($13,777.38), attorney’s fees, against Preston Price, Sr., James H. McIntosh and Mary Jane McIntosh, and in favor of First National Bank of the South. Preston Price, Sr., has appealed to this Court and assigns the following errors in the trial below:

I.
THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN HOLDING THAT THE APPELLANT, PRICE, WAS NOT AN ACCOMMODATION MAKER.
II.
THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN NOT FINDING THAT THE APPELLEE HAD IMPAIRED THE COLLATERAL.
III.
THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT THE APPELLEE HAD DISPOSED OF THE COLLATERAL IN A REASONABLE COMMERCIAL MANNER.

On December 9, 1980, James H. McIntosh, Mary Jane McIntosh, his wife, and appellant executed a promissory note secured by deed of trust and security agreement in favor of appellee for eighty-four thousand eight hundred seventy-five dollars and thirty cents ($84,875.30) payable at the rate of seventeen percent (17%) interest per annum in thirty-six (36) payments, the first thirty-five (35) payments being in the amount of fourteen hundred fifty-four dollars ($1,454.00) and the last and final payment for the remaining balance. The collateral on said note was Lot 247, Westgate Estate Subdivision (home of McIntosh), with a First deed of trust thereon, 1979 Freightliner truck, 1979 Pontiac Bonneville automobile, a Terry bass boat, and a Johnson outboard motor.

Previous to execution of the note, appellant owned and operated the Tiki Restaurant on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. McIntosh was a personal friend of appellant and was an employee of the Tiki Restaurant Corporation, working as nightclub manager. Appellant retired from the restaurant business, and it is undisputed that he executed the note along with the Mclntoshes in order that McIntosh could raise finances and enter the trucking business. Appellant had no interest in the collateral and he did not expect to receive any benefit from the execution of the note or from the trucking business.

As stated, the note was executed December 9, 1980, and the payments were in the amount of $1,454.00 each for thirty-five (35) months, beginning January 10, 1981. After April 15, 1981, the loan was never current and only two (2) payments were made, one on August 13, 1981, in the sum of eight hundred dollars ($800.00), and the second on September 15, 1981, in the sum of nine hundred dollars ($900.00). Eventually, the home and lot were sold under a court order, the first deed of trust was paid off and, after payment of expenses, the balance was paid to appellee. The Bonneville automobile was sold and forty-five hundred dollars ($4,500) of the amount received was applied to the note. The other personal property was sold and the proceeds applied to the indebtedness. Suit was filed for the delinquency on October 6, 1981, prior to surrender of the collateral, viz, Freightliner, boat, and outboard motor, [1342]*1342to appellee. However, appellee bank continued to work with the Mclntoshes who were attempting to get the loan current.

I.-III.

Appellant contends that (1) he was an accommodation maker, (2) the appellee impaired the collateral which secured the note and (3) appellee did not dispose of the collateral in a reasonable commercial manner and appellant should be discharged under his status as an accommodation maker.

The promissory note dated December 9, 1980, introduced as Exhibit 4, provided the following:

All parties hereto, whether maker or endorser, hereby authorize and empower said Bank at any time to appropriate and apply to the payment and extinguishment hereof and of any of the obligations or liabilities, direct or contingent, of any of the parties hereto, whether now existing or hereafter arising and whether then due or not due, any and all monies, stocks, bonds, or other property of any kind whatever now or hereafter in the hands of said Bank on deposit or otherwise to the credit of or belonging to any party hereto, including any monies or other property in transit to or from said Bank for any purpose, such application, however, to be made only to the obligations or liabilities, direct or contingent, of the party or parties to whom such monies or other property belong, or from whom the same may be so on deposit or credited or to be credited. Any such application shall be at the option of the Bank, and failure to make any such application to the payment of such liabilities shall not affect the liability of any party hereto. Full power and authority hereby given the said Bank to sell, assign and transfer all such stocks, bonds or property at public or private sale, at its option, without either demand, advertisement or notice of any kind, all of which are hereby expressly waived.

The remedy under Miss.Code Ann. § 75— 3-606(1) provides:

The holder discharges any party to the instrument to the extent that without such party’s consent the holder
S)C ⅜! Sft jfc
(b) unjustifiably impairs any collateral for the instrument given by or on behalf of the party or any person against whom he has a right of recourse.

The lower court found that it was clear from the face of the note and security instrument that appellee and the Mclntosh-es all signed as makers; that there was no reference to appellee having executed it in any other way; and that the decision was being based on the proposition that they were all makers and appellee was not an accommodation maker. However, it is not necessary for us to address that question and decide same, since the answer to Assignments II and III are dispositive of the case.

We now address the questions of impairment of collateral and whether the collateral was disposed of in a reasonable commercial manner. On April 15,1981, the bank released the 1979 Pontiac Bonneville from the security agreement without notice lO appellant. The $4,500 trade-in was applied to the loan. The amount of $4,500 applied to the loan was in excess of the NADA loan value on the vehicle. Under the terms of the note, appellee had authority to release the collateral and apply it to the indebtedness, therefore, the appellant consented to the release and sale of the automobile prior to that action.

In Haney v. Deposit Guaranty National Bank, Centreville Branch, 362 So.2d 1250 (Miss.1978), the note stated: "... [t]he Bank may at its discretion surrender any collateral without affecting the liability of any obligor.” This Court held:

While relying on § 75-3-606(l)(b) appellant overlooks (1) the unjustifiable impairment of collateral must be without the consent of the party claiming discharge thereon, and (2) the very instrument on which she became a party has her consent that appellee might surren[1343]*1343der any collateral without affecting her liability.

362 So.2d at 1252.

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Bluebook (online)
477 So. 2d 1340, 41 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1760, 1985 Miss. LEXIS 2242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/price-v-first-national-bank-of-the-south-miss-1985.