Tuloka Affiliates, Inc. v. Security State Bank

627 P.2d 816, 229 Kan. 544, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1762, 1981 Kan. LEXIS 228
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 29, 1981
Docket51,626
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 627 P.2d 816 (Tuloka Affiliates, Inc. v. Security State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tuloka Affiliates, Inc. v. Security State Bank, 627 P.2d 816, 229 Kan. 544, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1762, 1981 Kan. LEXIS 228 (kan 1981).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

McFarland, J.:

This is an action wherein a creditor under a floor plan arrangement seeks to recover proceeds from the sale of its collateral from a bank acquiring same through the debit of a checking account.

The complex factual situation must be set forth in considerable detail. At all times relevant hereto, Gary P. Heideman was the president of Country Side Travelers, Ltd., whose principal business was the retail sale of travel trailers and recreational vehicles in Fort Scott, Kansas. For simplicity’s sake, Country Side Travelers, Ltd., will be referred to herein as the “trailer company.” Contemporaneously, Gary P. Heideman was also president of Countryside Home Sales South, Inc., whose principal business was the retail sale of mobile homes in Fort Scott. This corporation henceforth will be referred to as the “home company.” Until otherwise indicated herein, the two corporations maintained separate business facilities with noncontiguous sales lots. Heideman kept three checking accounts with defendant Security State Bank: his personal account; an account for the trailer company; and an account for the home company. A reserve account for the home company was also maintained at the same bank. Security State Bank will henceforth be referred to as the “bank.”

In March, 1973, and June, 1974, the trailer company and the [545]*545bank executed security agreements and promissory notes pertaining to two camper trailers in accordance with their floor plan arrangement. The two trailers were placed on the sales lot of the trailer company. Pursuant to the written agreement of the parties thereto, the bank, upon default or breach by the trailer company, could declare any or all of its secured obligations immediately due and owing. Additionally, the bank reserved the right to offset any such default against any trailer company bank account with the defendant bank. No effort was made by the bank to perfect security interests herein.

Meanwhile, down in Oklahoma, Heideman, on behalf of the trailer company, established a floor plan arrangement with Minnehoma Financial Company relative to mobile homes (May, 1973). Minnehoma Financial Company is the predecessor in interest of plaintiff Tuloka Affiliates, Inc. Again, for the sake of simplicity, the Minnehoma-Tuloka party hereto will henceforth be referred to as the “finance company.” On August 30, 1973, pursuant to said floor plan arrangement, the trailer company took possession of a 1973 Di-Sun mobile home which was placed on the sales lot of the home company. The transaction was based on a trust receipt type security agreement on the single mobile home rather than under a blanket security agreement.

Matters proceeded rather uneventfully until August 5, 1974, when the mobile home was sold to one James Barrows for $8,000, plus $240.00 sales tax. The check was made payable to the home company and placed in its regular checking account with the bank. Pursuant to the trailer company’s floor plan arrangement with the finance company, Heideman notified the finance company of the sale of the mobile home and on August 8, 1974, the finance company sent a draft to the bank for payment from the trailer company’s checking account. The check for the purchase of the mobile home having been deposited in the home company’s account, there were insufficient funds in the trailer company’s account to cover the draft. The draft was returned unpaid on August 15, 1974.

On August 13, 1974, a bank officer, during a routine collateral inspection visit to the trailer company’s sales lot (which had been combined with the home company’s lot in the spring or early summer of 1974) noted its collateral (the two trailers) was missing. An officer of the bank immediately telephoned Heideman [546]*546relative to the whereabouts of the trailers. Heideman advised the bank the trailers had been sold. This being a breach of their agreement, the bank advised Heideman that it was declaring the trailer company’s loans due immediately. Authority was expressly granted by Heideman (although later not specifically recalled by him) to the bank to debit the home company’s account for the sum due. The bank then debited $6,086.30 from said account. The funds in the home company’s account were merely funds in a checking account as far as the bank was concerned, as it had no knowledge of the circumstances of the sale of the mobile home or the finance company’s interest therein. Subsequently, both the home company and the trailer company were declared bankrupt.

In June of 1976 the action herein was filed by the finance company against the bank to recover the funds debited from the home company’s account. Judgment was entered in favor of the bank in May of 1979 and the finance company appeals therefrom.

For the finance company to be successful herein there are essentially three hurdles it must overcome. The finance company must establish: (1) It had a valid security interest in the mobile home; (2) the funds in question in the home company’s bank account were “identifiable proceeds” from the sale of the secured mobile home as contemplated by K.S.A. 84-9-306(2) (since amended); and (3) by virtue of the circumstances involving the acquisition of such funds by the bank, the finance company was entitled to have the bank return the finance company’s portion of such funds.

The finance company’s security interest in the mobile home is challenged by the bank in many respects, which include alleged deficiencies in the instruments themselves, their execution, and the filing of the security interest. We will for the moment assume that the finance company had a duly perfected security interest, and proceed to the “identifiable proceeds” question.

K.S.A. 84-9-306 provides:

“84-9-306. ‘Proceeds’; secured party’s rights on disposition of collateral. (1) ‘Proceeds’ includes whatever is received when collateral or proceeds is sold, exchanged, collected or otherwise disposed of. The term also includes the account arising when the right to payment is earned under a contract right. Money, checks and the like are ‘cash proceeds.’ All other proceeds are ‘non-cash proceeds.’
“(2) Except where this article otherwise provides, a security interest continues in collateral notwithstanding sale, exchange or other disposition thereof by the debtor unless his action was authorized by the secured party in the security [547]*547agreement or otherwise, and also continues in any identifiable proceeds including collections received by the debtor.
“(3) The security interest in proceeds is a continuously perfected security interest if the interest in the original collateral was perfected but it ceases to be a perfected security interest and becomes unperfected ten days after receipt of the proceeds by the debtor unless
“(a) a filed financing statement covering the original collateral also covers proceeds; or
“(b) the security interest in the proceeds is perfected before the expiration of the ten-day period.
“(4) In the event of insolvency proceedings instituted by or against a debtor, a secured party with a perfected security interest in proceeds has a perfected security interest

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Tuloka Affiliates, Inc. v. Security State Bank
627 P.2d 816 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
627 P.2d 816, 229 Kan. 544, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1762, 1981 Kan. LEXIS 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tuloka-affiliates-inc-v-security-state-bank-kan-1981.