Routh Wrecker Service, Inc. v. Wins
| Decision Date | 22 February 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-984,92-984 |
| Parties | ROUTH WRECKER SERVICE, INC. and John Ransom d/b/a Red Oak Auto Clinic, Appellants, v. M.C. WINS, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Robert A. Newcomb, John Ransom, Little Rock, for appellants.
Winston Bryant, Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
This case requires us to construe statutes that relate to the ownership of a stolen car. On May 11, 1990, Connie and Shirley Aday of Russellville sold their jointly owned 1976 Cadillac automobile to Car Brokers, who, in turn, sold the car to M.C. Wins, a used car dealer. Wins testified that he paid $2,400.00 for the car and took an open title. He explained that this meant Car Brokers signed the certificate of title as the seller but did not list Wins as the buyer. Instead, the space for the name of the buyer recited "first re-assignment by licensed dealer only." Wins testified that he did not register the transfer of ownership with the Commissioner of Revenues of the Department of Finance and Administration because a registered car dealer is not required to do so. Wins parked the car on his used car lot located on West Roosevelt Road in Little Rock, where he and a partner do business under the name of Nelson Auto Sales. The car was stolen from the lot on May 18, 1990, and Wins's partner immediately notified the Little Rock Police Department. The police department prepared an information report on the stolen car.
The Little Rock Police Department recovered the car the next day, May 19, but Wins was not notified. The police called Routh Wrecker Service, Inc. and had that company tow the car to a secure area and impound it. The City of Little Rock and Routh Wrecker have a contract under which Routh Wrecker performs such services. The Little Rock Police Department apparently overlooked its information report because it only informed Routh Wrecker that Connie and Shirley Aday were the registered owners of the car. Routh Wrecker asked the Arkansas State Police whether the car was stolen, but that agency responded that it did not have a report of the car being stolen. Routh Wrecker sent a notice to the Adays that the car had been recovered and they could redeem it by paying the towing and storage charges authorized under Ark.Code Ann. § 27-50-1101 (Supp.1991). The Adays did not redeem the car and notice of a proposed sale of the car to pay the charges was sent to the Adays. A notice of sale was published on August 3 and 17, 1990.
John Ransom, doing business as the Red Oak Auto Clinic, purchased the car at public auction for $1,650.00. On January 2, 1991, the Commissioner of Revenues issued a certificate of title reflecting the Red Oak Auto Clinic as owner of the car.
Some months later, Wins was sitting in his office on West Roosevelt Road and saw a car that looked like the stolen car being driven into the McDonalds restaurant next door. Wins still had the keys to the car. He took the keys and walked over to the car. The keys fit the door lock, and he unlocked the car. He then tried the ignition key, but it would not work. He went inside the restaurant and asked who owned the car outside. A lady said it was hers. Wins called the police. The lady was allowed to drive the car away.
Wins filed this suit for replevin. The trial court ruled that Wins was entitled to possession of the car. Routh Wrecker Service, Inc. and John Ransom, doing business as Red Oak Auto Clinic, appeal. The ruling of the trial court was correct and, accordingly, we affirm.
At common law our general rule was that title to stolen property remains in its rightful owner. In Superior Iron Works v. McMillan, 235 Ark. 207, 357 S.W.2d 524 (1962), we said this common law rule is now embodied in Ark.Code Ann. § 16-80-103(a) (1987), which provides: "All property obtained by larceny, robbery, or burglary shall be restored to the owner, and no sale, whether in good faith on the part of the purchaser or not, shall divest the owner of his right to the property."
Appellants, Routh Wrecker and John Ransom, contend that Ark.Code Ann. §§ 27-50-1101 to -1102 and 27-50-1201 to -1210 (Supp.1991) have implicitly amended the common law rule now embodied in Ark.Code Ann. § 16-80-103.
The first of the two above cited statutes, which appellants contend have implicitly amended our statutory law, is Ark.Code Ann. § 27-50-1101. It provides that when a car is found abandoned on public property, a towing-storage firm may be requested to take possession of and store the abandoned car. After so doing, the towing-storage firm shall notify the last known registered owner that he or she may reclaim the car by...
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