Callaghan v. Commercial Credit Corporation, 14801.

Decision Date09 February 1971
Docket NumberNo. 14801.,14801.
Citation437 F.2d 898
PartiesRobert M. CALLAGHAN, Trustee, Appellant, v. COMMERCIAL CREDIT CORPORATION, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

M. Clifton McClure, Charlottesville, Va. (McClure & Callaghan, Charlottesville, Va., on brief) for appellant.

A. James Kauffman, Richmond, Va. (Taylor, Hazen, Bryant & Kauffman, Richmond, Va., on brief) for appellee.

Before BRYAN and BUTZNER, Circuit Judges, and MILLER, District Judge.

PER CURIAM:

The trustee in bankruptcy of Larry Eugene Smith attacked the validity of a lien of the Commercial Credit Corporation upon his automobile trailer. The vehicle had been procured in April 1968 by Smith in West Virginia, where he was then resident. In payment of the purchase price he executed a security agreement, which was assigned to Commercial Credit and endorsed as a lien upon the West Virginia certificate of title evidencing Smith's ownership of the trailer. No one questions perfection of the lien under the laws of West Virginia.

The contest springs from the removal of the trailer, about thirty days after its acquisition, into Virginia, the new permanent residence of Smith. He did not obtain a title certificate for it in Virginia. Because the lien was, therefore, not shown upon a title certificate as provided by the law of Virginia, Code of 1950, §§ 46.1-41 and 46.1-69, the trustee asserted that the security agreement of Commercial Credit was not a lien ahead of the bankrupt's general creditors.

In a painstaking exegesis of the Virginia law, the District Court demonstrated that, in the peculiar circumstances here, the State statutes, particularly § 8.9-103(4), would accord viability and primacy to the West Virginia lien in favor of Commercial Credit. With this conclusion we agree, and affirm on the strength of the District Judge's opinion, 311 F.Supp. 900 (W.D.Va.1970).

Affirmed.

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4 cases
  • Fruehauf Corp. v. Huntington Moving & Storage Co.
    • United States
    • West Virginia Supreme Court
    • September 9, 1975
    ...subsequently secured in this State. See Ashland Finance Co. v. Dudley, 98 W.Va. 255, 127 S.E. 33 (1925). See also, Callaghan v. Commercial Credit, 437 F.2d 898 (4th Cir. 1971). The dispositive issue to be determined in this appeal is whether a perfected security interest in specific persona......
  • Richlands Nat. Bank v. Smith, Civ. A. No. 83-0298-A.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia
    • October 28, 1983
    ...upon the precedents of In re McCroskey, 19 U.C.C.Rep. 1394 (W.D.Va. 1976) and In re Smith, 311 F.Supp. 900 (W.D.Va.1970), aff'd. 437 F.2d 898 (4th Cir. 1971). The Bankruptcy Judge, anticipating an appeal, ordered that the defendants Smiths escrow with the trustee the contract sum of $4,650.......
  • In re Osborn, 72-BK-808.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York
    • February 26, 1975
    ...M. A. C. v. Whisnant, 387 F.2d 774 (5th Cir. 1968); In re Smith, 311 F.Supp. 900 (W.D.Va.1970), aff'd sub nom. Callaghan v. Commercial Credit Corp., 437 F.2d 898 (4th Cir. 1971); In re Friedman, 4 UCC Rep.Serv. 890 (D.Conn., Ref. Dec. In accordance with § 9-103(4), we find that it is the la......
  • Johnson, In re, 92-2142
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
    • July 9, 1993
    ...to the case at bar.2 The parties have discussed In re Smith, 311 F. Supp. 900 (W.D. Va. 1970), aff'd sub nom., Callaghan v. Commercial Credit Corp., 437 F.2d 898 (4th Cir. 1971) in their respective briefs and have accorded the case different interpretations. While the primary issue addresse......

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