Greater Irvine Credit Union v. Superior Court

Bonita Kent obtained a loan from the Greater Irvine Credit Union secured by her 1978 Cadillac Seville. The loan went into default and *1191 the credit union repossessed the car. Kent sued the credit union alleging breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and conversion. She claims she was in bankruptcy with a stay order in effect when the car was repossessed and thus the credit union’s initial seizure of the car and subsequent refusal to return it to her were wrongful. The credit union alleges that Kent was in default and repossession was proper under the loan agreement and that she did not notify it of her bankruptcy prior to the repossession.

The credit union brought a motion for summary judgment or, alternatively, for summary adjudication of issues, which was denied. In its minute order, the court stated, “There are triable issues of material [fact] as to whether defendants breached their duty to plaintiff, whether defendants were justified in depriving plaintiff of her property and whether defendants caused a delay in returning plaintiff’s property by refusal to reinstate the loan. Declaration of plaintiff and deposition…