In re Giaimo
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
440 B.R. 761 (2010)
Giaimo (debtor) financed a car purchase with a loan from her grandmother O'Keefe (creditor) without executing any formal loan documents, but listed O'Keefe as the lienholder on both her application for the vehicle's certificate of title and on the certificate itself; when Giaimo later filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and sought to establish O'Keefe's lienholder status, the trustee argued no valid Ohio security agreement existed absent formal documentation, and the bankruptcy court granted the trustee summary judgment. Giaimo appealed.
Whether a security interest in collateral can be established without a formal security agreement if other documents prove the parties intended to create a security interest.