Meza v. Ralph

FOX, P. J.

On June 8, 1959, defendant Ralph was involved in an accident with the plaintiff. Ralph was driving a 1957 Ford automobile which he had purchased from Carls Motor Company, Inc., on May 2, 1959. In suing for damages for the injuries she received as a result of the accident, plaintiff joined as defendants both Ralph and the motor company. The motor company made a motion for summary judgment, which was granted. Plaintiff has appealed.

The sole issue is whether Carls Motor Company gave sufficient notice of the sale to the Department of Motor Vehicles to divest itself of ownership responsibility under section 402 of the Vehicle Code

1

(Owner’s Liability Law).

2

The motor company submitted three affidavits in support of its motion. One was by Alex Metrovich, who stated that he was a used car salesman for the motor company, and that on May 2, 1959, he sold a 1957 four-door Ford Sedan to Edsel Ralph; that at that time he made out the dealer’s report of sale Number 2328607 and personally attached a copy to the windshield of said car, “together with the paper license plate bearing the same number.” He delivered the car to the purchaser, Ralph, who drove it away. Affiant then took all the papers pertaining to the automobile, including a duplicate of said dealer’s report of sale (used vehicle), to Mona M. Lennox, another employee of the motor company, who was in charge of processing them. Metrovich stated that the Ford bore a Texas license, and that it had been purchased by the

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motor company from Commercial Credit Corporation, which had repossessed it from the original purchaser.

The affidavit of Miss Lennox discloses that she turned all these papers over to Otilia O’Brien, owner of the Otilia O’Brien Title Service, for the purpose of effecting transfer of title to the Ford.

In her affidavit, Mrs. 0 ’Brien stated,

inter alia,

that on May 14, 1959, she prepared a group of six registrations for the motor company including the papers involved in the transfer of the Ford automobile to Ralph; that she took the papers for each automobile and attached them to a Department of Motor Vehicles form, which is prepared in duplicate, and which lists the purchasers and pertinent data in connection with each vehicle listed; that she filed these documents with the Department of Motor Vehicles and delivered to the Department the motor company’s check in the required amount; that one of the documents which was attached to the form was a dealer’s report of sale, used vehicle (Exhibit C pertaining to the Ralph automobile); that she recalled that one document which was not available was an affidavit of repossession showing that the Ralph vehicle had been repossessed by Commercial Credit Corporation from the previous owner. Mrs. O’Brien received a receipt from the department, which contained a notation authorizing operation of the vehicle for a 60-day emergency period pending clearing of the registration. The absence of an affidavit of repossession from Commercial Credit Corporation was the reason why the transfer of title to the Ford could not be perfected at that time. Mrs. O’Brien further stated that she prepared and filed a similar form and list on May 28 which included the Ralph sale and to which she then attached the affidavit of repossession from Commercial Credit Corporation. These documents were again returned to the motor company on June 11 due to some clerical error or omission, the exact nature of which she did not recall.