Court Opinion

ID: 9583517
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:39:28.626813+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:39:03.443608
License: Public Domain

Judge Eagles
dissenting.
I dissent from that portion of the majority opinion that reverses the directed verdict for plaintiff on the issue of liability for substantial non-compliance with the provisions of G.S. Chapter *44244A. Plaintiffs admitted non-compliance and no evidence to the contrary was offered. I concur in the remand for determination of damages, if any, arising from the failure to substantially comply.
Here, plaintiffs made a request for admissions, in pertinent part, as follows:
That no notice of the sale of the motor vehicle, the subject of this lawsuit, by Cordell’s Body Shop was posted at the courthouse in Buncombe County, North Carolina, as required by N.C.G.S. 44A.
Defendants answered as follows:
Defendants admit that so far as they know, no notice of the sale of the motor vehicle, the subject of this lawsuit, by Cor-dell’s Body Shop, was posted at the courthouse in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
The magistrate’s judgment authorized the defendants’ lien to be enforced by public sale as provided in G.S. 44A-4. G.S. 44A-4(e)(1) requires in pertinent part that “not less than 20 days prior to sale by a public sale, the lienor shall advertise the sale by posting a copy of the notice of sale at the courthouse door in the county where the sale is to be held.” This requirement of notice to the public was not met. Where posting is required, as in G.S. 44A-4(e)(1), a failure to comply with the provisions of a statute requiring posting may constitute an irregularity warranting a setting aside of the sale, particularly where the sale brings an inadequate price. 47 Am. Jur. 2d, Judicial Sales, Section 85 (1969 Cum. Supp.). If a failure to comply with a statute requiring posting of notice of a public sale might warrant setting aside a sale, it is surely a failure to substantially comply with the statutory requirements for a judicial sale when the required notice is not posted. The term “public sale” has been said in effect to require notice to a sufficic*r 1 number of people to insure competitive bidding and fairness of the sale. Standley v. Knapp, 113 Cal. App. 91, 298 P. 109 (1931). Here, the only persons to attend the sale were the lienor’s wife and daughter. The daughter bought the 1979 Fiat for $1,000 in July of 1981. The plaintiff testified that she purchased the automobile new in July 1979 for $8,330.
Defendant Earl Cordell admits that he did not comply with G.S. 44A-4(e)(l) regarding notice to be posted at the courthouse *443door. That admission necessarily includes that he did not comply with G.S. 44A-4(f) regarding the required contents of the notice of sale to be posted at the courthouse door.
For those reasons, non-compliance with the provisions for the enforcement of a statutory lien pursuant to G.S. 44A-1, et seq. was a proper subject for directed verdict. N.C.N.B. v. Burnette, 297 N.C. 524, 256 S.E. 2d 388 (1979).
I concur in other respects with the majority but would limit the matters considered on remand to a determination by the jury of the amount of damages, if any, arising from the defendants’ substantial non-compliance with Chapter 44A.