Creditors Bureau v. De La Torre

The case is before this court pursuant to an order granting transfer following certification by the Appellate Department of the Superior Court of Tulare County that such transfer appears necessary to settle a novel question of law involving an interpretation of Civil Code section 2983.2 (Automobile Sales Finance Act). The facts are not in dispute, and may be summarized as follows:

By September 3, 1968, buyer was in default in his payments to the holder, and voluntarily relinquished possession of the automobile to it. The holder treated the relinquishment as a repossession, and, by letter dated September 3, 1968, notified buyer that it had repossessed the automobile and that buyer could redeem it by paying to the bank $728.82, less certain rebate credits. It is conceded that the notice complied in all respects with Civil Code section 2983.2, in that it specified a 10-day period during which buyer could redeem, specified the amount necessary to redeem, to whom payment should be made and where. The notice also specified that if the vehicle was not redeemed, it would be sold pursuant to the terms of the conditional sale contract.

Buyer did not redeem, and on September 30…