Hubbard v. Farmers Bank, Union Point
| Decision Date | 23 October 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 60225,60225 |
| Citation | 272 S.E.2d 510,155 Ga.App. 720 |
| Parties | HUBBARD v. FARMERS BANK, UNION POINT, Georgia. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Walton Hardin, Washington, for appellant.
Peter J. Rice, Jr., Eatonton, for appellee.
This litigation in which the appellee bank seeks a deficiency judgment following foreclosure of personal property had a prior appearance in 153 Ga.App. 497, 265 S.E.2d 845 (1980). The property, a tractor and trailer pledged as collateral on a note, was sold at public sale after advertisement and notice, and brought $15,000. The case was then tried before a jury which returned a verdict finding value of the truck and trailer to be $18,000 and the plaintiff bank due a balance of $7,369.75. Appeal was filed in the Supreme Court which transferred it to this court. Held :
The right of a secured party to dispose of collateral after default, and the effect of disposition, is governed by Code § 109A-9-504, which requires that the disposition of such property be commercially reasonable. It is well settled that the burden of proof on this issue rests with the secured party, that this includes a burden to show that the terms of sale are commercially reasonable, and that one of the terms which must be so proved is that the resale price was the fair and reasonable value of the collateral. Where there is no evidence of such fair and reasonable value this burden has not been carried. Failure to establish that the fair and reasonable value of the property does not equal the debt results in a presumption that the value of the property disposed of is at least equal to the debt, from which it follows that no deficiency judgment can be obtained. Granite Equipment Leasing Corp. v. Marine Development Corp., 139 Ga.App. 778, 230 S.E.2d 43 (1976); Vines v. Citizens Trust Bank, 146 Ga.App. 845(4), 247 S.E.2d 528 (1978); Brown v. C. I. T. Corp., 150 Ga.App. 361, 258 S.E.2d 44 (1979); BVA Credit Corp. v. May, 152 Ga.App. 733, 264 S.E.2d 32 (1979).
The only valuation placed on this tractor and trailer was that of the owner, who valued it at $25,000, approximately the amount of the debt. The defendant moved for a directed verdict at the close of the evidence on the ground that the plaintiff had failed to prove market value, to which the plaintiff replied that "the best evidence of what something is worth is what somebody will pay...
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...Ga.App. 137, 296 S.E.2d 431, 432; Richard v. Fulton Nat'l Bank, 1981, 158 Ga.App. 595, 281 S.E.2d 338, 340; Hubbard v. Farmers Bank, 1980, 155 Ga.App. 720, 272 S.E.2d 510, 511, aff'd, 1981, 247 Ga. 431, 276 S.E.2d 622. Such proofs necessitate a detailed accounting of the creditor's disposit......
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...time, place, etc. of the sale," summary judgment granting a deficiency judgment was improper. See generally, Hubbard v. Farmers Bank, 155 Ga.App. 720, 272 S.E.2d 510 (1980); Wagner v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 155 Ga.App. 729, 272 S.E.2d 500 (1980). Chrysler, citing the rationale expressed in ......
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Farmers Bank, Union Point v. Hubbard
...Jr., Martin, Snow, Grant & Napier, Macon, for amicus. HILL, Presiding Justice. This case is here on certiorari. Hubbard v. Farmers Bank, 155 Ga.App. 720, 272 S.E.2d 510 (1980). This litigation began as a suit by the bank for deficiency judgment following its foreclosure of personal The prop......
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Ervin v. Arnold
...(Code Ann. § 109A-9-504) requires that the disposition of collateral after default be commercially reasonable. Hubbard v. Farmers Bank, 155 Ga.App. 720 (272 SE2d 510) (1980), affirmed, Farmers Bank[, Union Point, Georgia] v. Hubbard, 247 Ga. 431 (276 SE2d 622) (1981). 'Where the commercial ......