Tropical Jewelers, Inc. v. NATIONSBANK, NA

781 So. 2d 381, 2000 WL 60207
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 21, 2000
Docket3D99-119
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 781 So. 2d 381 (Tropical Jewelers, Inc. v. NATIONSBANK, NA) 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
Tropical Jewelers, Inc. v. NATIONSBANK, NA, 781 So. 2d 381, 2000 WL 60207 (Fla. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

781 So.2d 381 (2000)

TROPICAL JEWELERS, INC., Saul Waksman, Eve Rose Ozeil, Szmul Waksman and Yuda Ozeil, Appellants,
v.
NationsBANK, N.A. (South), a national banking association as successor in interest by merger to Intercontinental Bank, N.A., Appellee.

No. 3D99-119.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

January 21, 2000.

*382 Geller, Geller, Beskin, Shienvold, Fisher & Garfinkel and Peggy Fisher (Hollywood); Richard J. Burton, Aventura, for appellants.

Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo, P.A. and Juan A. Gonzalez, Miami, for appellee.

Before COPE, LEVY, and GREEN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a final summary judgment entered on the issue of damages against the maker and individual guarantors of two promissory notes. We reverse.

I.

Appellant, Tropical Jewelers, Inc. ("Tropical"), was the maker of two promissory notes totaling $840,000 to Intercontinental Bank, N.A., the predecessor in interest to appellee, NationsBank, N.A. ("bank"). These notes were secured by all inventory, supplies, furniture, fixtures, equipment, and accounts receivable then owned or thereafter acquired by Tropical. Appellants, Saul Waksman, Eve Rose Oziel, Szmul Waksman and Uyda Oziel, executed personal guarantees of Tropical's promissory notes. In the guarantees, the individual guarantors specifically waived, among other things, any rights that they might otherwise have under the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC"), including the commercial reasonableness of any sale or disposition of collateral by the bank in the event of a default by Tropical. There was no such waiver in the promissory notes executed by Tropical.

Tropical defaulted under the terms of both promissory notes and the bank filed this suit against Tropical and the individual guarantors to collect the unpaid amounts due on the notes. During the *383 pendency of this action, the bank obtained a pre-judgment writ of replevin pursuant to chapter 78, Florida Statutes which allowed it to replevy and liquidate the collateral securing the notes. The bank liquidated the collateral through an independent auction company. The proceeds of the sale were then applied to Tropical's outstanding indebtedness owed on the notes and the bank sought to recover the deficiency amount in this action.

Tropical and the individual guarantors respectively answered this suit and asserted, as affirmative defenses, that the bank had (1) wrongfully repossessed Tropical's assets; (2) failed to handle the liquidation of Tropical's assets in a commercially reasonable fashion; and (3) grossly mishandled Tropical's property, resulting in its unnecessary loss or destruction. Thereafter, Tropical and the individual guarantors collectively filed a counterclaim against the bank based upon the same factual allegations contained in their affirmative defenses. The bank moved for final summary judgment against Tropical and the individual guarantors on the grounds that there were no genuine issues of material fact as to Tropical's default under the promissory notes, and that the affirmative defenses regarding the commercial reasonableness of its disposition of the collateral had been waived by the appellants and was thus unavailable as a matter of law. The motion was granted and this appeal followed.

II.

The appellants first argue that the trial court erred in denying their motion for continuance of the hearing on the motion for summary judgment. A motion for continuance, however, is addressed to the sound judicial discretion of the trial court and absent an abuse of that discretion, that court's decision will not be reversed on appeal. See Fleming v. Fleming, 710 So.2d 601, 603 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); Talley v. Fain, 692 So.2d 279, 280 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); Crespo v. Florida Entertainment Direct Support Org., Inc., 674 So.2d 154, 155 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). The trial court's order denying the continuance reflects that the bank's motion for summary judgment was not heard until five months after its filing; after appellants' former counsel's motion for withdrawal was rescheduled for hearing numerous times; after the appellants were afforded an adequate period of time within which to secure new counsel; and approximately one month after appellants' new counsel filed his notice of appearance. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that the denial of appellants' motion for continuance of the summary judgment hearing constituted an abuse of discretion.

III.

We now turn to the merits of this appeal. Tropical and the individual guarantors urge that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment against them on their affirmative defenses that the collateral securing the debt was not disposed of in a commercially reasonable manner by the bank. We agree that summary judgment was improvidently entered.

Under Article 9 of the UCC, upon a debtor's default, a secured creditor is obligated to dispose of the collateral securing the debt in a commercially reasonable manner. See § 679.504(3), Fla. Stat. (1995)[1]; see also Sorrels v. Rebecca's Ice *384 Cream, Inc., 696 So.2d 1313, 1314 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). Indeed, the right to commercially reasonable disposition of repossessed property cannot be waived by the debtor. See § 679.501(3)(b), Fla. Stat. (1995)[2]; Barnett Bank of Tallahassee v. Campbell, 402 So.2d 12, 13 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Tropical did not, and indeed could not, waive the requirement of commercial reasonableness of disposition of collateral.

The summary judgment record reflects that there exists a genuine issue of disputed fact between Tropical and the bank as to whether the collateral was disposed of in a commercially reasonable manner. We thus conclude that the summary judgment entered as to Tropical was error. See Holl v. Talcott, 191 So.2d 40 (Fla.1966).

IV.

In addition to Tropical, the guarantors also challenge the commercial reasonableness of the bank's disposition of collateral. The guarantors present a different legal issue, however, because the guarantees in this case contain language waiving the guarantors' "right to object to the commercial reasonableness of any sale or disposition of collateral."[3] The guarantors argue that this waiver is invalid under the anti-waiver provision of the UCC, § 679.504(3), Fla. Stat., and we agree.

As already stated, a secured creditor must dispose of collateral in a commercially reasonable manner, and this requirement of the UCC cannot be waived by the debtor. See §§ 679.501(3)(b), 679.504(3), Fla. Stat. (1995). The question is whether a guarantor is a "debtor" for Article 9 purposes. The answer is yes.

Article 9 defines "debtor" in part as "the person who owes payment or other performance of the obligation secured, whether or not he owns or has rights in the collateral ...." § 679.105(1)(d), Fla. Stat. (1995) (emphasis added).[4] Certainly *385 a guarantor is a person who owes "payment or other performance," id., and this court has already said that the UCC definition of debtor includes guarantors. See Adler v. Key Fin. Servs., Inc., 553 So.2d 284, 285 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (stating "definition of `debtor' under UCC includes guarantors"). The First and Fourth Districts have likewise held that a guarantor is a debtor for purposes of this part of the UCC. See Motorola Communications and Elecs., Inc. v. Nat'l Patient Aids, 427 So.2d 1042, 1044 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Barnett Bank v. Campbell,

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781 So. 2d 381, 2000 WL 60207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tropical-jewelers-inc-v-nationsbank-na-fladistctapp-2000.