## Facts

- Fowler Toyota sold a 1982 Chevrolet Chevette to Robert Gilmore on installment terms and retained a security interest in the vehicle.
- Gilmore later stopped making payments, became ill, and died.
- During Gilmore’s illness, the Chevette was donated to Camp Hudgens; the caretaker, unaware of any lien, delivered the car to Jim Williamson’s auto business for inspection to determine whether it was safe to sell.
- Williamson did not know of Fowler’s security interest, any default declaration, or any repossession efforts.
- Fowler hired Clint McGregor, who regularly performed repossessions for Fowler and others, to recover collateral.
- McGregor located the Chevette on Williamson’s lot at night, attempted to call the business, received no answer, and entered the property.
- Finding a locked gate secured by a chain, McGregor cut the chain with bolt cutters, accessed the lot, and towed the Chevette away for Fowler.
- Williamson discovered the missing chain/lock and vehicle the next morning, called police, and learned the vehicle had been repossessed for Fowler.
- Fowler later sold the vehicle; the company continued using McGregor for repossessions and asserted it instructed him not to repeat the conduct.
- A jury awarded Williamson $45 actual damages (chain and lock) and $15,000 punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs.

## Issues

1. Whether a secured creditor is liable for trespass and resulting damages caused by an independent contractor hired to repossess collateral through self-help under Oklahoma’s U.C.C. § 9-503.
2. Whether the repossessor’s conduct supporting punitive damages may be imputed to the creditor under Oklahoma punitive-damages law.

## Decision

- The Oklahoma Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the Court of Civil Appeals’ reversal, and affirmed the trial court’s judgment.
- The court held that § 9-503 conditions self-help repossession on avoiding a breach of the peace and imposes a nondelegable duty on the secured creditor.
- Because the duty is nondelegable, Fowler could not avoid liability by characterizing McGregor as an independent contractor.
- Cutting a locked chain and entering a closed business lot at night to seize the vehicle constituted a trespass and a breach of the peace.
- The repossessor’s wanton or reckless disregard for another’s property rights could be imputed to the creditor, supporting the punitive damages award.
- The court upheld the awards of actual damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and costs.

## Legal Principles

- A secured creditor’s statutory right to self-help repossession exists only if the repossession is accomplished without breach of the peace.
- The duty to avoid breach of the peace in self-help repossession is nondelegable; the secured creditor is liable for breaches committed by a repossession agent, even if the agent is an independent contractor.
- Breaking into or forcibly entering private property to repossess collateral constitutes a breach of the peace and supports tort liability for trespass and related damages.
- When a repossession agent acts with wanton or reckless disregard for another’s property rights in performing a repossession on the creditor’s behalf, that mental state may be attributed to the creditor for punitive damages.

## Conclusion

The court held that self-help repossession carries a nondelegable duty on the secured creditor to avoid any breach of the peace; therefore, a creditor is liable for an independently contracted repossessor’s trespass and may be subjected to punitive damages when the repossession is carried out with wanton or reckless disregard for third-party property rights.


Williamson v. Fowler Toyota, Inc., 956 P.2d 858 (Okla. 1998)