INGERSOLL-RAND FINANCIAL CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MILLER MINING COMPANY, INC.; Michael Miller, Esq., Defendants-Appellants

Miller Mining Company and Michael Miller, its guarantor, appeal a deficiency judgment entered against them by the district court. They allege that Ingersoll-Rand Financial Corporation did not conduct the resale of collateral it repossessed from Miller Mining in a commercially reasonable manner. Failure to do so, they contend, gave rise to a presumption that the proceeds of sale were equal to the claimed deficiency. We agree. We also conclude that the automatic bankruptcy stay applies to Miller Mining Company’s appeal but does not apply to Michael Miller.

FACTS

On October 17, 1979, Miller Mining Company purchased a used Wagner, Model #ST-8 front-end loader (loader), for $79,-000 plus tax for a total of $83,740. It paid $20,935 down and executed a security agreement in favor of Ingersoll-Rand Financial Corporation for the balance of $62,-805. The security agreement provided for the payment of twenty-four equal monthly installments of $3,115 commencing on December 1, 1979. In the event of default, Ingersoll-Rand was to retain all prior payments as liquidated damages.

The then president of Miller Mining, Michael Miller, acting as an individual, signed a guaranty for the debt…