Legal News for Credit Union Managers Since 1990
« “Investment” Information Provided to Member
Credit Union Employee Policies »
04
Sep
2023

Wrongful Repossession & Conversion: Creditor Held Liable

Court held creditor must pay debtor for creditors wrongful repossession.

In this case, the debtor pledged his vehicle as collateral on a loan and the loan was in default due to late payments.

The creditor, Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp., repossessed debtor’s vehicle, however, the court found the repossession constituted a wrongful repossession, or “conversion.” The court ordered Credit Corp. to pay $11,900 damages to debtor.

Here, during the first 14 months that debtor made payments to Credit Corp., debtor was late with his payments 13 times. Although Credit Corp. accepted the 13 late payments, it decided to repossess the vehicle when debtor was again in default.

The standard security agreement and note which creditor provided stated, in part:

Acceptance of a late payment or late charge does not excuse your late payment or mean that you can keep making payments after they are due. The creditor can also take the steps set forth below if there is any late payment.

The following provisions concerned default and the creditor’s right to repossess the collateral in the event of default.

Notwithstanding the specific contract terms above, the court found that by virtue of the creditor accepting 13 late payments, the creditor had established a course of dealing with the debtor, which would require creditor to notify the debtor that no further late payments would be accepted.

The court concluded that continuous acceptance of late payments could be considered a waiver of the actual contract terms. Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp. v. Morgan, Arkansas Supreme Court, No. 92-982.

Author: Charles R. Harroun, Attorney at Law



This entry was posted on Monday, September 4th, 2023 at 8:15 am and is filed under National, Secured Loans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Your comment

Powered by WP Hashcash

  • Recently Posted Articles written by: Charels R. Harroun, Attorney at Law

    • Parents Liable: Minor Forged Check
    • Co-Debtor’s Probate Estate Claim – Stay Lifted
    • Reaffirmation, Redemption or Surrender of Collateral
    • Right of Rescission – Refinance
    • Collection Letter Not Required Before Filing Suit
    • Creditor Required to Release Lien
    • Fraudulent Check Endorsement by Borrower
    • Collateral Taken Out-of-State
    • Refinanced Debt Fraud – No New Money
    • Preferential Transfer: Creditor Retains Debtor Garnishment Funds Received within 90-Days of Bankruptcy Filing
    • Defective Automobile Lien Enforced

  • Website Builder

2009-2020 Copyright Harroun, P.C. | Credit Union Legal Newsletter powered by WordPress and Uchilla
Subscribe: Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)