## Facts

- PrimeSouth Bank loaned Okefenokee Aircraft, Inc. (OAI) money to purchase an airplane, evidenced by a promissory note for $161,306.25 plus interest.
- The note was secured by the airplane, and Joseph E. Rimes III executed a personal guaranty promising payment under the note’s terms.
- OAI defaulted; the bank demanded payment from OAI and Rimes, and neither paid.
- The bank repossessed the airplane but did not sell it; instead, it sued OAI and Rimes for a money judgment on the note (principal, interest, and attorney’s fees).
- OAI and Rimes did not dispute the default or the amount owed, but argued the bank could not obtain a money judgment while holding the collateral and that the bank’s failure to dispose of the airplane raised a fact issue under UCC Article 9.

## Issues

1. Whether a secured creditor that has repossessed collateral may retain it and still sue for a money judgment on the underlying note without first disposing of the collateral.
2. Whether a debtor can defeat summary judgment on the note by asserting that the creditor’s continued retention of collateral implicates UCC “commercial reasonableness” duties before any disposition occurs.

## Decision

- The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the bank.
- The court held that UCC Article 9 permits cumulative remedies, allowing a secured creditor to reduce its claim to judgment while retaining repossessed collateral.
- The court rejected the argument that the creditor’s right to sue on the note is conditioned on a prior sale of collateral.
- The court held that alleged commercial-unreasonableness concerns did not create a present fact dispute where the creditor had not yet disposed of the collateral and the debt, default, and amount due were undisputed.

## Legal Principles

- Under Georgia’s UCC Article 9, after default a secured creditor may pursue cumulative remedies, including obtaining a judgment on the underlying obligation and enforcing rights in collateral.
- A secured creditor’s repossession and retention of collateral does not, by itself, bar an action for a money judgment on the note.
- Commercial-reasonableness requirements primarily govern the manner of collateral disposition and related accounting (including application of proceeds and deficiency matters), not the creditor’s threshold entitlement to judgment on an undisputed debt.

## Conclusion

Because the note, guaranty, default, and amount due were undisputed, the bank was entitled to summary judgment on the debt, and it was not required to sell the repossessed airplane before suing for a money judgment.


Okefenokee Aircraft, Inc. v. PrimeSouth Bank, 297 Ga. App. 842, 676 S.E.2d 394 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009)