DILLARD, Judge.
Mason Logging Company ("Mason Logging") appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of General Electric Capital Corporation ("GECC"), contending that the trial court erred in holding that there were no genuine issues of material fact for a jury and making an express determination that GECC's evidence was more credible. Because we agree with Mason Logging that genuine issues of material fact remain,
"Viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant,"
In support of its motion for summary judgment and contention that the repossessed property was disposed of in a commercially reasonable manner, GECC submitted three affidavits from various employees.
The first affidavit, which was from an employee responsible for remarketing repossessed assets, averred that his opinion was based upon a review of business records regarding the subject equipment, including the "time, place and manner of sale"; his training and employment with GECC; his "experience, knowledge, and familiarity with the business records and routine business practices" of the company; and his "experience, knowledge and familiarity with the manner in which equipment similar to, or the same as, the collateral ... is sold." And based upon this, he opined that the sale of the first piece of equipment "was conducted in conformity with reasonable commercial practices among dealers in property that is similar to, or the same as, the collateral ..., and that the manner of sale was commercially reasonable." Additionally, based upon his "review of business records regarding the year, make, model, and condition at time of the collateral [sic] ... and [his] knowledge of and familiarity with the resale price of used equipment similar to the collateral, including the published resale value of such equipment," the affiant further opined that the first piece of equipment was sold at a commercially reasonable price of $115,000.
The second GECC affidavit was from an employee responsible for determining the value of and disposing of repossessed collateral. And based upon the same criteria listed by the first affiant, the second affiant opined that the sale of the second piece of equipment was commercially reasonable and that it drew a commercially reasonable price of $50,000. This employee also averred that GECC had, "[u]pon repossession and in connection with its subsequent sale," assigned an "as is" value to each piece of equipment and that he agreed with those values, those being $99,000 for the first piece and $33,000 for the second piece. He further averred that GECC assigned a "repaired condition" value of $37,500 to the second piece of equipment and authorized the repair of same.
Finally, GECC's third affidavit was from an employee who had access to Mason Logging's account information, and who detailed Mason Logging's default on payments for the equipment and explained what remained due after application of the proceeds from the resale, that being $41,406.02 as to the first piece of equipment and $72,592.25 as to the second piece of equipment.
In response, Mason Logging submitted the affidavit of the company's owner, who averred that he had worked in the logging industry for 22 years, had experience buying and selling heavy logging equipment, had purchased the subject equipment, and had personal experience inspecting and operating the subject equipment after purchase. And based on his "training and experience in the logging industry and [his] personal knowledge of the condition" of the equipment, he opined that the value of the pieces at the time of sale was $160,000 for the first and $90,000 for the second. Accordingly, Mason Logging contended that the sale of the equipment did not bring its full value.
After considering the above evidence, the trial court granted summary judgment in
Mason Logging argues in two separate enumerations that the trial court erred in holding that there were no genuine issues of material fact to be resolved by the fact finder and by making a credibility determination regarding Mason Loggin's affidavit.
To begin with, we note that every aspect of a disposition of collateral, "including the method, manner, time, place, and other terms, must be commercially reasonable."
When the commercial reasonableness of a sale is challenged by a debtor, "the party holding the security interest has the burden of proving that the terms of the sale were commercially reasonable and that the resale price was the fair and reasonable value of the collateral."
As to the issue of the value of the collateral, it is well established that "value is generally proven by opinion evidence."
Here, although the trial court characterized Mason Logging's argument against summary judgment as asserting "that summary judgment should be precluded because... the equipment could have been sold for a better price through sale at a different time or through a different method than that selected by [GECC]," this was incorrect. Instead, Mason Logging argued that there was a question of fact as to whether the resale price was the fair and reasonable value of the collateral, which GECC was required to establish as part of its burden to prove commercial reasonableness.
Indeed, in contrast with the trial court's determination, conflicting evidence of value can be sufficient to overcome summary judgment so long as the opinion evidence has probative value.
Accordingly, for all the foregoing reasons, we reverse the trial court's grant of summary judgment.
Judgment reversed.
ANDREWS, P.J., and McMILLIAN, J., concur.