Chrysler Credit Corp. v. Lee (1983)
Citation: 278 S.C. 565, 299 S.E.2d 488 · Court: Supreme Court of South Carolina · Decided: January 11, 1983 · Author: Gregory, J.; Lewis, C.J., Littlejohn, Ness and Harwell, JJ., concurred.
Source note (2026-10-18):
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https://static.case.law/sc/278/cases/0565-01.jsonare an (unofficial Caselaw Access Project copy, retrieved before 2026-10-18; host disallows automated access); no official or otherwise permitted full-text copy was located on 2026-10-18.
The complete opinion was retrieved on 2026-10-18 from the Caselaw Access Project’s unofficial verbatim copy at the source URL. Raw JSON, request time and checksum are retained with the South Carolina final review evidence.
Facts
Chrysler Credit held a security interest in the property of Freeman Dodge, an insolvent car dealer. After default it took possession of the collateral and planned to sell it. Before that sale, the Sumter County tax collector asserted a lien for the dealer’s 1974 and 1975 county ad valorem taxes and seized several automobiles to sell them. The circuit court let Chrysler Credit sell the cars on condition that it pay the taxes under protest, then granted the county summary judgment on Chrysler Credit’s suit to recover the payment.
Holding
Affirmed. A taxpayer’s subsequently acquired personal property is subject to the first lien for ad valorem taxes, and the county’s lien was superior to the secured creditor’s lien on the dealer’s personal property, including after-acquired property (S.C. Code §§ 12-49-10 through 12-49-30).
Reasoning
Section 12-49-10 makes taxes “a first lien in all cases whatsoever upon the property taxed”; § 12-49-20 attaches the first lien as of December 31; and § 12-49-30 says “the lien” for unpaid personal-property taxes “shall also attach” to after-acquired personalty. Reading the sections together, the court held the after-acquired-property lien is the same first lien. It declined to create a dealer exception the legislature had not enacted.
Practical impact
A lender’s perfected security interest in vehicles or equipment does not outrank the county’s personal-property tax lien on the same goods. Before buying from a lender, receiver or other seller, check delinquent county personal-property taxes on the goods and on the seller’s business personalty. The case decides priority; it does not itself describe the buyer’s title at a tax sale or how any surplus is paid.
Good-law status
needs_verification: the full holding was read, and the current §§ 12-49-10,
-20 and -30 retain the first-lien and after-acquired-property language. No
comprehensive citator check of later treatment was performed. The Attorney
General’s Opinion No. 4020 (April 21, 1975) separately concluded that a buyer of
personal property sold for the taxes on that property takes free of other liens;
it is advisory and predates the manufactured-home lienholder-notice rules in
§§ 12-49-1190 to -1290.
Applies in →
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify the opinion, current statutes and subsequent treatment before acting. Holding verified: 2026-10-18.