United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Truck & Concrete Equipment Co.

257 N.E.2d 380, 21 Ohio St. 2d 244, 50 Ohio Op. 2d 480, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 662, 1970 Ohio LEXIS 462
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 25, 1970
DocketNo. 69-352
StatusPublished
Cited by63 cases

This text of 257 N.E.2d 380 (United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Truck & Concrete Equipment Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Truck & Concrete Equipment Co., 257 N.E.2d 380, 21 Ohio St. 2d 244, 50 Ohio Op. 2d 480, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 662, 1970 Ohio LEXIS 462 (Ohio 1970).

Opinion

O’Neiul, J.

The question which this cause presents is whether the statute of limitations to be applied is the two-year statute of limitations, provided by Section 2305.10, Revised Code, or the four-year statute of limitations of the Ohio Uniform Commercial Code, Section 1302.98, Revised Code.

Section 1302.98, Revised Code, provides:

“ (A) An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued. By the original agreement the ‘parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year but may not extend it.” (Emphasis added.)

The cause of action referred to in Section 1302.98, Revised Code, is an action in contract based upon a contract for sale.

Nicholson, the appellant’s subrogor, was not a party to the contract between the appellee and the Auto Fleet Lease Company.

Appellant attempts to rely upon the case of Val Decker Packing Co. v. Corn Products Sales Co. (6th Cir. 1969), 411 F. 2d 850.

The question which the Court of Appeals considered in that case was whether the four-year statute of limitations provided in the Uniform Commercial Code, Section 1302.98, Revised Code, or the two-year statute of limitations, Section 2305.10, Revised Code, applicable to all actions for injury to personal property, was controlling.

In Val Decker, supra, the plaintiff brought an action for the breach of an implied warranty of a written contract for sale. The plaintiff and the defendants were parties to that contract. The dispute between the parties in the District Court was as to whether the 15-year statute of limitations, applicable to contracts in writing (Section 2305.06, Revised Code), should be applied to a case arising from a breach of an implied warranty of a written contract for sale, or the two-year statute of limitations provided in Section 2305.10, Revised Code, should be applied. The Uniform Commercial Code’s four-year statute of limi[248]*248tations,. Section, 1302.98, Bevised Code, was not brought to the attention of the District, Court.. The District Judge held that the two-year statute of limitations, Section 2305.10,. Revised Code, was controlling on authority of Andrianos v. Community Traction Co. (1951), 155 Ohio St. 47. The court apparently reasoned that the two-year, statute of limitations,. Section 2305.10,'Bevised >Code,'was a specific statute with -regard to actions; for injury to personal, property, and that the 15ryear statute of limitations* Section 2305.06, Bevised , Code,-was a general statute-and that, therefore, on-authority of Andrianos, supra, paragraph one of the syllabus, i the .special statutory provision relating to a specific subject matter.is controlling-over a general statutory provision which might otherwise be apr plicable.

Upon, appeal, the United States Court of-Appeals, Sixth Circuit, took judicial notice of the fourTyear statute of limitations in the Ohio Uniform Commercial- .Code* Section 1302.98, Bevised Code, reversed the. District Court and held that Where the plaintiff and defendant were parties to a written contract and the cause of action was for the breach of an implied warranty of a contract -for- sale in writing, the specific four-year statute of -limitations provided in the Uniform Commercial Code, Section 1302.98, Bevised Code, was controlling, rather than the ‘general two-year statute-,. of. limitations,.. Section. 2305.10,' Bevised Code, applicable to all actions for injury to personal property. Since the. question had not been decided / by. this court or. any Ohio court, the United States Court of Appeals relied upon cases .decided in. other jurisdictions which have considered the-question. Gardiner v. Philadelphia Gas Works (1964), 413 Pa. 415, 197 A. 2d 612, rehearing denied, February 28, 1964; Rufo v. Bastion-Blessing Co. (1965), 417 Pa. 107, 207 A. 2d 823; Bobo v. Page Engineering Co. (W. D. Pa. 1967), 285 F. Supp. 664.

The court did apply? the reasoning of the. Andrianos case, supra, as indicated by-the; following language -from the'opinion: . • ;

[249]*249“Applying the criteria in Andrianos, it follows that the specific statute of limitations relating to the specific subject'matter of sales in the Ohio .Uniform Commercial Code controls over the general statute of' limitations dealing with actions for injuries' to person or property.” ■

The question which wás considered and determined by the .court in Val Decker, supra, is hot presented by the instant case, because there is no contractual relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant as there was in Val Decker, supra.

Plaintiff attempts to rely upon Lonzrick v. Republic Steel Corp. (1966), 6 Ohio St. 2d 227, for authority to bring Ms action in contract under the provisions of the Uniform Commercial.Code

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257 N.E.2d 380, 21 Ohio St. 2d 244, 50 Ohio Op. 2d 480, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 662, 1970 Ohio LEXIS 462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-fidelity-guaranty-co-v-truck-concrete-equipment-co-ohio-1970.