Opinion ID: 779743
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: mpa

Text: 21 Williams contends that Regency's violations of the Missouri U.C.C. Article Nine provisions and the title statute, section 310.210, support a claim under the MPA. Mo.Rev.Stat. § 407.020. Williams argues that Regency's violations of the foregoing provisions constituted an unfair practice resulting in a quantifiable loss-that of the surplus that would have resulted from a commercially reasonable sale of the Oldsmobile. 22 Section 407.020 proscribes the use or employment of any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, unfair practice or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise in trade or commerce.... Id. Williams points out that Missouri courts construe unfair practice under 407.020 as unrestricted, all-encompassing and exceedingly broad. For better or worse, the literal words cover every practice imaginable and every unfairness to whatever degree. Ports Petroleum Co., Inc. v. Nixon, 37 S.W.3d 237, 240 (Mo.2001); Mo.Code Regs. Ann. 15 § 60-8.02((1) An unfair practice is a practice which-(A) Either-1. Offends any public policy as it has been established by the Constitution, statutes, or common law of this state ...; or 2. Is unethical, oppressive or unscrupulous; and (B) Presents a risk of, or causes, substantial injury to consumers.). Despite the broad construction given the phrase unfair practice, the MPA provides a remedy only for unfair practices that are connected with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise. Mo.Rev.Stat. § 407.020. The MPA provisions have been interpreted as providing a remedy to consumers who have been victims of the proscribed statutory conduct in connection with a violation of the title statute. Antle, 15 S.W.3d at 767-68 (holding that claims brought under § 407.025 to redress violations of § 407.020 are not barred by § 301.210, with or without contemporaneous assignment of certificate of title). Regency's alleged violations of the U.C.C. and the title statute occurred in its transaction with FPI, not in conjunction with a sale or advertisement to Williams. We have found no Missouri cases, nor have the parties cited any, in which one who is not a direct party to the sale or advertisement in which the unfair practice or otherwise violative conduct occurs has been held to have a cause of action under the MPA. We do not believe that the Missouri legislature intended to include Regency's transaction with FPI as conduct that could be remedied by the MPA. Accordingly, the MPA does not provide Williams a means by which to redress Regency's disposition of her collateral to FPI. We therefore affirm the district court's judgment dismissing Williams's MPA claim.