White v. Household Finance Corporation

302 N.E.2d 828, 158 Ind. App. 394, 13 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 858, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 928
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 31, 1973
Docket2-473A92
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 302 N.E.2d 828 (White v. Household Finance Corporation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Household Finance Corporation, 302 N.E.2d 828, 158 Ind. App. 394, 13 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 858, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 928 (Ind. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

I.

STATEMENT ON THE APPEAL

Staton, J.

Charles and Catherine White’s nephew, Rickey L. Butzin, was under twenty-one (21) years of age. He wanted to purchase a 1968 Dodge Charger automobile. Charles and Catherine White signed a promissory note and security agreement so that the automobile could be financed. The 1968 Dodge Charger was destroyed in a single car accident. The insurance company paid $1,850.00 for the loss which was applied by Rickey L. Butzin and Household Finance Corporation to a second automobile, a 1969 Plymouth. Rickey L. Butzin defaulted upon his payments and Household Finance Corporation filed a complaint against Charles and Catherine White to recover $2,094.25 plus $10.20 interest due on the promissory note. The trial court heard the evidence and entered judgment for Household Finance Corporation in the sum of $2,094.25. The Whites’ motion to correct errors presents this question for our review on appeal:

*396 Did Household Finance Corporation’s endorsement of the insurance check to Hendrickson Motor Sales impair the collateral thereby releasing the Whites on the promissory note pro tanto ?

Our opinion concludes that the endorsement of the insurance check by Household Finance Corporation and the purchase of a second automobile was not a substitution of collateral but constituted an impairment of the collateral. We reverse the judgment of the trial court with instructions.

II.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On October 5, 1970, Household Finance Corporation loaned Rickey L. Butzin $2,484.00 to purchase a 1968 Dodge Charger. The loan agreement was signed by Charles J. White, Catherine L. White and their nephew, Rickey L. Butzin, who was under the age of twenty-one. Also on this date, Charles White and Catherine White signed a security agreement covering the 1968 Dodge Charger. Rickey Butzin took out insurance on the Dodge Charger and had Household Finance Corporation named a beneficiary. This appears not to have been a requirement of Household Finance Corporation. The title to the Dodge Charger was in the names of Charles J. White and Rickey Butzin and showed a lien in favor of Household Finance Corporation.

In November, 1970, the Charger was destroyed in a single car accident. The insurance company paid Rickey Butzin and Household Finance Corporation $1,850.00. Charles White, Rickey Butzin and Household Finance Corporation released their respective interests on the title to the 1968 Dodge Charger. Upon receiving the insurance check, Rickey Butzin went to Household Finance Corporation to inquire about using the insurance proceeds to purchase a 1969 Plymouth. Without executing a new promissory note or security agreement, Household Finance Corporation endorsed the check *397 payable only to Hendrickson Motor Sales from whom Rickey Butzin then purchased a 1969 Plymouth with the $1850.00 insurance check. The title to the 1969 Plymouth was also in the names of Charles White and Rickey Butzin with Household Finance Corporation listed as a lienholder. Mr. and Mrs. White were not notified by Household Finance Corporation or their nephew, Rickey Butzin, that the insurance check had not been applied to their loan until Rickey Butzin stopped making payments and Household Finance Corporation contacted the Whites about the delinquent note. The Whites refused to make payments contending that the insurance check should have been applied to their indebtedness, and Household Finance Corporation sued the Whites on the promissory note.

III.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

The issue to be decided by this appeal is:

Was the endorsement of the insurance check to Hendrick-son Motor Sales an impairment of collateral releasing the Whites on the promissory note pro tanto or was it a mere substitution of collateral?

Our opinion concludes that the release of the insurance proceeds was not a substitution of collateral but an impairment of collateral. We reverse.

IV.

STATEMENT ON THE LAW

The Whites contend that they are accommodation makers on the note which was also signed by their nephew, Rickey L. Butzin. They further contend that the release of the insurance proceeds to Hendrickson Motor Sales released them on the promissory note pro tanto.

We agree with the Whites’ contention that they are accommodation makers under IC 1971, 26-1-3-415; Ind. Ann. Stat. § 19-3-415 (Burns 1964) :

*398 “Contract of accommodation party.— (1) An accommodation party is one who signs the instrument in any capacity for the purpose of lending his name to another party to it.
(2) When the instrument has been taken for value before it is due the accommodation party is liable in the capacity in which he has signed even though the taker knows of the accommodation.
(3) As against a holder in due course and without notice of the accommodation oral proof of the accommodation is not admissible to give the accommodation party the benefit of discharges dependent on his character as such. In other cases the accommodation character may be shown by oral proof.
(4) An indorsement which shows that it is not in the chain of title is notice of its accommodation character.
(5) An accommodation party is not liable to the party accommodated, and if he pays the instrument has a right of recourse on the instrument against such party.”

It is clear from the record that the Whites signed the promissory note only to enable their twenty (20) year old nephew, Rickey Butzin, to buy a car. 1 Rickey Butzin testified:

“Q. Had you been to Household Finance before? Before you went in with your Uncle about financing the Charger or talked to them?
“A. Yes, I did, I talked to them about it.
“Q. And what did they say to you and what did you say to them?
“A. Well, they told me I had to have co-signers. I said Okay, and they explained everything to me about having to have a co-signer. I was only 20 years old.
“Q. And then you and your uncle Charles went in?
“A. Yes.”

Mr. White testified as follows:

*399 “Q. How was it that you went down and co-signed this note for Rickey?
“A. Well, he wanted to buy that Dodge Charger and for him to buy the Dodge Charger he had to have cosigners. And, he got me as a co-signer, me and my wife.
“Q. Did you receive any compensation for co-signing?
“A. Nope.
“Q. Did your wife?
“A. Nope.” 2

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Bluebook (online)
302 N.E.2d 828, 158 Ind. App. 394, 13 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 858, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 928, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-household-finance-corporation-indctapp-1973.