In re Downing
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri
286 B.R. 900 (2002)
Steven Downing (defendant) defaulted on his car loan from BMW Financial Services (BMW) (plaintiff) and returned the car; BMW's notice letter identified Downing, BMW, and the car, and gave a phone number for questions, but never stated whether the car would be sold at a private or public sale, never described Downing's potential deficiency liability, and never mentioned his right to an accounting. BMW sold the car privately at a dealer-only auction and then sought an unsecured deficiency claim against Downing for the remaining balance; Downing objected, arguing the notice failed to comply with UCC Article 9's requirements for consumer goods.
Whether a secured creditor who fails to strictly comply with the Uniform Commercial Code's notice requirements for disposing of repossessed consumer-goods collateral may still recover a deficiency judgment against the debtor.