Recchio v. Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co.

55 Misc. 2d 788, 286 N.Y.S.2d 390, 4 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1133, 1968 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1833
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 12, 1968
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 55 Misc. 2d 788 (Recchio v. Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Recchio v. Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co., 55 Misc. 2d 788, 286 N.Y.S.2d 390, 4 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1133, 1968 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1833 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1968).

Opinion

Gilbert H. King, J.

This is a motion for summary judgment in an action for replevin of a mobile home. The plaintiff, Michael A. Recchio, purchased the mobile home in question in 1965 and thereafter made an agreement with one Barbara Dee whereby she would assume the monthly payments due on the mobile home to the Wyoming County Bank and Trust Company and when all the payments were made, ownership of the home would be transferred to her. Possession of the mobile home was given to Barbara Dee when this oral agreement was made. Thereafter, the said Barbara Dee, as President of Carpets by Bianco, Inc., executed a financing agreement purporting to give a security interest in the mobile home to the defendant, Manufacturers & Traders Trust Company in order to secure payment of a loan made to Carpets by Bianco, Inc. The defendant bank properly filed its security agreement as required by the Uniform Commercial Code. The said Barbara Dee defaulted in the monthly payments she was to make under the agreement with Recchio to the Wyoming County Bank and Trust Company and the plaintiff then continued these payments himself until the debt was discharged. Recchio brought suit against Dee and obtained a judgment for the monthly payments.

Thereafter, Carpets by Bianco, Inc., defaulted in payments to the defendant bank and the bank took possession of the mobile home according to its security agreement, whereupon the plaintiff Recchio replevied the mobile home from the defendant by initiating this action.

The question presented on this motion for summary judgment is which of the parties to this present action have the superior right to this mobile home as a matter of law.

It is clear from the pleadings and moving papers that the agreement between Recchio and Dee was a “ contract for sale ” within the scope of section 2-106 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The object of the contract was the sale of goods ” as defined by section 2-105 of the Uniform Commercial Code.

It is the contention of the defendant that when Recchio gave possession of the mobile home to Dee, the only reservation or retention of title which he preserved for himself was that of a security interest. Section 2-401 of the Uniform Commercial Code provides in part that “ Any retention or reservation by the seller of the title (property) in goods shipped or delivered to the buyer is limited in effect to a reservation of a security interest. Subject to these provisions and to the provisions of the [790]*790Article on Secured Transactions (Article 9), title to goods passes from the seller to the buyer in any manner and on any conditions explicitly agreed to by the parties. ’ ’ This section had the effect of limiting the plaintiff Recchio’s rights in the mobile home to a security interest despite the fact that, as he contends, he may not have intended to so limit his rights. Section 2-401 provides that the mere delivery of this mobile home to Dee was sufficient to divest the seller of any other rights he may have had.

A security interest arising under article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code is subject to the provisions of article 9. Section 9-302 of the Uniform Commercial Code provides in part: “ (1) A financing statement must be filed to perfect all security interests except the following * * * (d) a purchase money security interest in consumer goods; but filing is required to perfect such a security interest in a motor vehicle required to be licensed or registered in this state, and filing in the place specified in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of Section 9-401 is required to perfect, for the purposes of Section 9-313 only, such a security interest in a fixture ” (emphasis added).

It is admitted by the plaintiff herein that he did not file a financing statement pursuant to article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. However, the plaintiff Recchio contends that a financing statement was not required, because his interest was a purchase-money security interest in consumer goods and the mobile home in question was not “ a motor vehicle required to be licensed or registered in this state ’ ’ and hence, would be excluded from the filing requirements of article 9 (emphasis supplied).

In the court’s opinion, the mobile home in question was “ consumer goods ” as defined by section 9-109 (subd. [1]) since it was “ used or bought for use primarily for personal, family or household purposes”. Recchio’s interest in the “ consumer goods ” was a purchase-money security interest since it was ‘ ‘ taken or retained by the seller of the collateral to secure all or part of its price (Uniform Commercial Code, § 9-107, subd. [a].)

The defendant bank contends that this mobile home is not excluded from the filing requirements, because it is a motor vehicle required to be licensed. The defendant relies on subdivision 8 of section 401 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law which provides in part that ‘1 the provisions of this chapter in relation to registration * * * for motor vehicles, shall apply also to trailers.” However, paragraph (d) of subdivision (1) of section 9-302 of the Uniform Commercial Code requires fifing of financial statements in transactions involving a “ motor vehicle ” [791]*791required to be licensed. Even if the mobile home in question requires licensing under the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the question still remains as to whether it is a “ motor vehicle.” Section 125 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law defines a motor vehicle as 1 ‘ Every vehicle * * * operated or driven upon a public highway by any power other than muscular power”. By the definition of the Vehicle and Traffic Law as well as by commonly accepted usage a motor vehicle would appear to require some sort of self-propulsion. This mobile home is not a self-propelled vehicle and does not have any power of its own. Furthermore, section 119 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law defines a house coach as ‘1 any vehicle motivated by a power connected therewith or propelled by a power within itself, which is or can be used as the home or living abode or habitation of one or more persons, either temporarily or permanently.” The definition goes on to say that a “ house coach propelled by a power within itself shall be deemed a motor vehicle, a house coach motivated by a power connected therewith shall be deemed a trailer, and all house coaches shall be deemed vehicles.” (Emphasis supplied.) This definition clearly indicates that all house coaches are deemed vehicles for purposes of the Vehicle and Traffic Law but that only house coaches having a power within themselves shall be deemed motor vehicles, those being propelled by a power connected therewith being referred to merely as trailers. The Recchio mobile home is not propelled by a power within itself and therefore, even for the purposes of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, it would be deemed a trailer and not a motor vehicle. It is the court’s opinion that this mobile home is not genetically or by statute included within the definition of a motor vehicle and therefore, even though it may be a trailer requiring licensing under the Vehicle and Traffic Law, it is not that type of goods ” which requires filing of a financing statement to perfect a purchase-money security interest.

Since the mobile home is within the exclusion of paragraph (d) of subdivision (1) of section 9-302 of the Uniform Commercial Code, the filing of a financing statement to perfect the security interest of the plaintiff Recchio was not required.

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55 Misc. 2d 788, 286 N.Y.S.2d 390, 4 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1133, 1968 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/recchio-v-manufacturers-traders-trust-co-nysupct-1968.