Southern Wisconsin Cattle Credit Co. v. Lemkau

412 N.W.2d 159, 140 Wis. 2d 830, 4 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1284, 1987 Wisc. App. LEXIS 3930
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 28, 1987
Docket86-1045
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 412 N.W.2d 159 (Southern Wisconsin Cattle Credit Co. v. Lemkau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Wisconsin Cattle Credit Co. v. Lemkau, 412 N.W.2d 159, 140 Wis. 2d 830, 4 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1284, 1987 Wisc. App. LEXIS 3930 (Wis. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

CANE, P.J.

Gary Lemkau appeals replevin and deficiency judgments in connection with the repossession and sale of livestock and farm equipment by Southern Wisconsin Cattle Credit Company (Southern). He argues that: (1) The trial court improperly granted summary judgment for replevin in favor of Southern; (2) the trial court abused its discretion by allowing Southern’s attorney to testify at the summary judgment hearing; (3) the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to grant Lemkau a continuance at the summary judgment hearing; and (4) the subsequent sale of the repossessed livestock and equipment was not performed in a commercially reasonable manner.

Southern asserts that we have no jurisdiction to hear Lemkau’s first two arguments because he did not appeal within forty-five days of the original foreclosure judgment. We conclude that Lemkau’s appeal was timely filed. We also conclude that the trial court properly ruled on each of the issues Lemkau raises on appeal. Accordingly, we affirm.

Lemkau first borrowed money from Southern in 1980 for his Green County farming operation. Person *834 al property comprised of cattle and farm equipment secured the loan. In 1984, Southern expressed concerns about the farm operation and the condition of the collateral. Rather than renew the note, as it had previously done each year, Southern extended the 1984 note from its April 1985 expiration date to June 1, 1985. Lemkau defaulted, and Southern brought a replevin action on July 12, 1985.

Lemkau’s attorney appeared for him at an October 15, 1985, summary judgment hearing. At that hearing, the trial court granted Southern’s summary judgment motion for replevin of the collateral. Lem-kau requested that he be allowed to obtain feed for the cattle and Southern consented. Lemkau, however, never did so and Southern took possession of the cattle on November 11. The animals, underfed and needing care, were transferred to another farm where they were fed and cared for in preparation for their sale. Southern sold the surviving cattle and the farm equipment at a public auction on December 17, 1985.

Southern then moved for confirmation of the sale and a deficiency judgment. The motion was heard in late January, 1986, then continued at Lemkau’s attorney’s request to April 24. Lemkau appeared pro se at the April hearing and requested another continuance. The court denied the continuance, finding that Lemkau had not exercised due diligence in obtaining new counsel. At the hearing, the court found that the sale had been accomplished in a commercially reasonable manner and granted Southern a deficiency judgment.

We first consider Southern’s argument that Lem-kau’s June 1986 appeal of the October 1985 summary judgment granting replevin was untimely and thus *835 deprives this court of jurisdiction to consider the issues concerning the replevin judgment. An appellate court may proceed to a decision on the merits of the issues raised only if it has jurisdiction. Walford v. Bartsch, 65 Wis. 2d 254, 262, 222 N.W.2d 633, 638 (1974). Southern contends that the replevin judgment was final with respect to Lemkau and therefore Lemkau was required by statute to appeal within forty-five days of its entry. Section 808.04(1), Stats. We reject this argument.

Southern bases its contention on Shuput v. Lauer, 109 Wis. 2d 164, 325 N.W.2d 321 (1982). In Shuput, our supreme court held that a judgment of foreclosure and sale of real estate was not reviewable on appeal from the subsequent order confirming the foreclosure sale. Id. at 165, 325 N.W.2d at 323. The defendants in Shuput did not appeal the judgment of foreclosure and sale of their real estate until nearly a year later, following the judgment confirming sale. The defendants argued that the judgment of foreclosure and sale was interlocutory in nature and that the judgment confirming the sheriff s sale of the real estate was the only final order, appealable by right, in the action.

Shuput rejected this argument, citing the historical development of real estate foreclosure law and the Wisconsin statutory scheme that specifically designates real estate foreclosures as two-step actions:

Wisconsin statutes provide for a foreclosure action that has two steps: The judgment of foreclosure and sale, and the proceedings after the judgment.
The judgment of foreclosure and sale determines the parties’ legal rights in the underlying obligation and in the mortgaged property and thus determines the default, the right of the mortgagee *836 to realize upon the security, the time and place of sale of the security and the notice required, and the right of the mortgagee to a judgment of deficiency....
The statutory proceedings after the judgment of foreclosure and sale, namely, the sale, judicial confirmation of the sale, the computation of the deficiency, and the entry of the judgment for deficiency, carry into effect and enforce the judgment of foreclosure and sale-The order confirming the sale, though a part of the foreclosure action, is distinct from the judgment of foreclosure and sale.

Id. at 169, 325 N.W.2d at 325.

In concluding that the judgment of foreclosure and sale of real estate was a final judgment, the Shuput court defined a final judgment as one that "terminates the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing to be done but to enforce by execution what has been determined.” Id. On the other hand, an interlocutory judgment is a "finding substantially disposing of a claim on its merits but leaving an account to be taken or a condition to be performed in order fully to determine the rights of the parties....” Id.; sec. 806.01(2), Stats. Because the judgment of foreclosure and sale determines the default, the mortgagee’s right to realize upon the security, important sale details, and the mortgagee’s right to a deficiency judgment, the litigation with respect to the mortgagor is effectively terminated. Shuput, 109 Wis. 2d at 171, 325 N.W.2d at 325.

Southern argues that the real estate foreclosure and sale judgment and the personal property replevin judgment are essentially analogous. Therefore, Southern urges, we should apply the logic of Shuput to the *837 facts in this case. For several important reasons, we decline to do so. First, Wisconsin’s two-part real estate foreclosure procedure traces its roots to a distant period when strict foreclosure of real estate was the "prevailing remedy and the [foreclosure] decree operated simply to make the mortgagee’s title absolute upon the expiration of a specified period for redemption.” Id. at 170, 325 N.W.2d at 325. 1 In contrast, the statute governing the replevin action before us originated with Wisconsin’s 1963 enactment of the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.). See secs.

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412 N.W.2d 159, 140 Wis. 2d 830, 4 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1284, 1987 Wisc. App. LEXIS 3930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-wisconsin-cattle-credit-co-v-lemkau-wisctapp-1987.