Western Star Finance, Inc. v. White

2000 OK CIV APP 59, 7 P.3d 502, 71 O.B.A.J. 1633, 2000 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 24, 2000 WL 726999
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 31, 2000
Docket93709
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2000 OK CIV APP 59 (Western Star Finance, Inc. v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Western Star Finance, Inc. v. White, 2000 OK CIV APP 59, 7 P.3d 502, 71 O.B.A.J. 1633, 2000 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 24, 2000 WL 726999 (Okla. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

CAROL M. HANSEN, Vice-Chief Judge:

11 Plaintiff/Appellant, Western Star Finance, Inc. (Lender), seeks review of the trial court's order granting rehearing and new trial to Defendant/Appellees, Daniel White and Suzan White, and vacating Lender's summary judgment. We affirm because the record before the trial court established the existence of issues of material fact.

T2 Lender sued Chaser Truck & Diesel, Inc. (Chaser), on a note and joined the Whites as guarantors. It named other entities as having interests in the collateral, but later dismissed those entities without prejudice. After Lender obtained summary judgment against Chaser, it moved for summary judgment against the Whites. The Whites objected and filed their own motions for summary judgment against Lender, asserting Daniel White did not sign the guaranty in connection with the defaulted loan, there was no consideration for his guaranty, and Suzan White's guaranty was obtained in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The trial court denied the Whites' motions on May 17, 1999. It granted Lender's motion on June 18, 1999. The Whites moved for new trial and reconsideration and requested a hearing. Lender objected. After a hearing, the trial court granted the Whites' motion and vacated the summary judgment.

138 Lender appeals, contending the trial court erred in granting new trial and vacating Lender's summary judgment by (1) considering late-raised, purported factual issues despite the existence of sufficient evidence to support the summary judgment, (2) considering parol evidence, and (8) misconstruing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. We will review the trial court's denial of summary judgment de movo to determine whether there is substantial controversy as to any material fact and whether one party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 1 All *504 conclusions and inferences drawn from the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Even if the basic facts are undisputed, summary judgment should be denied if reasonable persons might reach different inferences or conclusions from the undisputed facts. Bird v. Coleman, 1997 OK 44, 939 P.2d 1123, 1127. The trial court may exercise discretion to change its determination of a summary judgment motion by granting new trial "unless it clearly appears that the court erred in some pure, simple and unmixed question of law, or acted arbitrarily or capriciously." Steiger v. City Nat. Bank of Tulsa, 1967 OK 41, 424 P.2d 69, 70.

I

{4 Lender first contends the trial court erred in granting new trial, thereby improperly allowing the Whites to supplement the record and raise fact issues late. It argues the Whites failed to controvert the facts in Lender's motion for summary judgment but instead sought their own summary judgment relief on their defenses. Lender argues a motion for new trial is not appropriate to fight summary judgment and the trial court should not have considered late-raised issues of fact to grant new trial. The Whites argue the fact issues discussed in their motion for new trial were not raised for the first time in that motion but had been submitted to the trial court in their own motions for summary judgment and incorporated by reference in their response to Lender's motion for summary judgment.

15 The trial court may grant a new trial to reexamine its decision on a motion for summary judgment if its decision is contrary to law. 12 O.S.Supp.1999 § 651(6). See, e.g., Malson v. Palmer Broadcasting Group, 1997 OK 42, 936 P.2d 940, 942, and Hunter's Modern Appliance, Inc. v. Bank IV Oklahoma, N.A., 1997 OK CIV APP 79, 949 P.2d 701, 704. The Whites did not supplement the record upon filing their motion for new trial, but relied on the record the parties actually presented on the motions for summary judgment. If Lender's motion for summary judgment should not have been granted in the first instance, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the motion for new trial.

16 Lender argues the trial court's original decision granting summary judgment was supported by sufficient evidence. This is not our inquiry in reviewing a summary judgment. As the Court stated in Gray v. Holman, 1995 OK 118, 909 P.2d 776, 781,

The focus in summary process is not on facts a plaintiff might be able to prove at trial (Le., the legal sufficiency of evidence that could be adduced) but rather on whether the evidentiary materials as a whole (a) show undisputed facts on some or all material issues and (b) will support but a single inference in favor of a successful movant's quest for relief.

T7 Lender submitted evidence (1) it made four loans to Chaser from October through December of 1996, (2) Daniel White signed a security agreement and personal guaranty on September 10, 1996, (8) Suzan White signed a personal guaranty on October 5, 1996, and (4) Chaser defaulted on the loans. Daniel White submitted evidence (1) he signed a guaranty on March 21, 1996 to guarantee a "Floor Plan Loan" from New-court Financial to Chaser, (2) Newcourt cere-ated Lender as a wholly-owned subsidiary and planned to move its existing floor plan loans to Lender, (8) he signed the guaranty on September 10, 1996 in connection with the proposed transfer of the Floor Plan Loan to Lender and not in connection with the later line of credit loan, (4) the Floor Plan Loan was never transferred to Lender, (5) he sold his interest in Chaser to Chase Bales on September 30, 1996, and (6) on October 8, 1996, he refused to sign a guaranty in connection with the new line of credit loan from Lender to Chaser. Suzan White submitted evidence (1) Lender's line of credit loan proposal letter did not require a personal guaranty from her, (2) she was not an officer, *505 director, shareholder, or employee of Chaser, (3) she did not fill out a loan form with Lender, (4) Lender did not check her credit record, and (5) she signed the guaranty at Lender's request.

[8 These evidentiary materials taken as a whole do not "support but a single inference in favor" of Lender's request for relief. A trier of fact could find Daniel White did not guarantee the new line of credit loan to Chaser. As discussed in Part III below, a trier of fact could find Suzan White was not an applicant or joint applicant under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and Lender did not rely on her property or ereditworthiness in making the loan but required her signature solely because she was Daniel White's spouse. Accordingly, the trial court properly granted new trial and vacated the summary judgment in favor of Lender.

II

19 Lender next argues the trial court erred in considering parol evidence to vary the explicit terms of the written guaranty. The language of a contract governs its interpretation if that language is clear and explicit. 15 0.S$.1991 § 154. The execution of a written contract supersedes the oral negotiations preceding or accompanying its execution. 15 0.8.1991 § 187. However, in Cinco Emterprises, Inc. v. Benso, 1994 OK 135, 890 P.2d 866, 878, the Oklahoma Supreme Court stated the guaranty statutes contemplate the need for extrinsic evidence where the guaranty agreement does not specify the consideration, at least where 15 § 323 does not apply.

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Bluebook (online)
2000 OK CIV APP 59, 7 P.3d 502, 71 O.B.A.J. 1633, 2000 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 24, 2000 WL 726999, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/western-star-finance-inc-v-white-oklacivapp-2000.