Massachusetts High Court Rejects Consumer Class Action Involving Method Of Establishing Deficiency Claim

LexisNexis (July 26, 2018, 10:28 AM EDT) -- In a case decided on June 5, 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ruled that secured auto lenders are not required to use “fair market retail value” of repossessed cars to calculate the deficiency that the lender can obtain from a defaulting debtor under the Massachusetts Retail Installment Sales of Motor Vehicles Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 255B. The RISA supplements Article 9 of the UCC with respect to secured auto loans. The case is significant in that the plaintiff class was seeking big-time civil penalties under UCC 9-625 and state deceptive trade practice legislation. Williams v. American Honda Finance Corp., 479 Mass. 656, 2018 Mass. LEXIS 351 (Mass. 2018)....