Mahana v. Onyx Acceptance Corp.
Utah Supreme Court
96 P.3d 893 (2004)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
Chris Mahana (plaintiff) purchased a used pickup truck from a Texas car dealership for $9,000. The truck’s previous owner had financed it with Onyx Acceptance Corporation (Onyx) (defendant) but defaulted on the loan. Onyx failed to perfect the lien, and therefore the truck’s title appeared to be clean when Mahana purchased it. Three years later, Onyx had the truck towed from Mahana’s workplace while he was working. Mahana sued Onyx for conversion and rented a Dodge Neon to replace the truck while the lawsuit was pending. Eighteen months after Onyx took the truck, the trial court found Onyx liable for conversion and awarded Mahana $11,880 in lost-use damages, representing the retail rental value of the Dodge Neon. Onyx appealed, arguing that the trial court had erred by awarding damages in excess of the purchase price of the truck.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Parrish, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.