First Westside Bank v. For-Med, Inc. (1995)
Citation: 247 Neb. 641, 529 N.W.2d 66 · Court: Nebraska Supreme Court · Decided: March 24, 1995 · Docket: S-94-247. Full opinion retrieved from Justia, an unofficial reproduction.
Facts
The bank repossessed a motor home securing the corporate/individual borrowers’ loan and sold it privately for USD 60,000. An earlier appeal reversed summary judgment because commercial reasonableness lacked evidentiary support. After trial on remand, the court awarded a deficiency; borrowers appealed again. 247 Neb. at 641–644.
Holding
Affirmed. The trial court’s commercial-reasonableness finding was not clearly wrong on this record. The court did not declare all unadvertised collateral sales reasonable or decide that debtor notification could always be omitted. 247 Neb. at 644–647.
Reasoning
The creditor solicited sealed bids by word of mouth from institutions, dealers and customers for a specialized motor home. Evidence described the limited market, condition and substantial repair costs. Later resale yielded less than the purchaser’s acquisition/repair investment, and defendants conceded the price was not wholly unreasonable. Commercial reasonableness was fact-specific and reviewed under the bench-trial clearly-wrong standard. 247 Neb. at 644–647.
Practical impact
Document the market reached and condition/value evidence in a collateral sale. This was a deficiency appeal under former UCC § 9-504; the sale outcome is not an independent rule discharging senior liens or authorizing sheriff execution without its required publication. 247 Neb. at 643–647.
Good-law status
The complete holding was rechecked during the October 18 continuation of the October 17 review. The opinion’s three-private-bid example describes the Utah decision Chrysler Dodge Country v. Curley, not an established count of bids in this Nebraska record. Full opinion.
Lincoln Lumber Co. v. Fowler, 248 Neb. 221, 533 N.W.2d 898 (1995), cites this decision for the clearly-wrong review standard, not a new advertising exception. The opinion was retrieved through the public reader; the direct HTTP denial is separately preserved. This is bounded affirmative treatment, not a comprehensive citator certificate. Fowler opinion.
Current Nebraska UCC §§ 9-610–626 and consumer-credit cure provisions §§ 45-1,105–107, 45-353 govern current transactions; historical § 9-504 numbering and the first appeal’s constructive-notice holding do not waive those requirements. Current UCC, current chapter 45.
Applies in →
nebraska · ucc-article-9-dispositions · motor-vehicles
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify current law and later treatment against primary sources and consult a licensed attorney before acting.