Smith v. Central Point Pawn, LLC

When reviewing a trial court’s summary judgment ruling, courts review “the evidence in light most favorable to the nonmoving party, here plaintiff, to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact that precludes summary judgment. Rush v. Corvallis School District 509J, 291 Or App 252, 253, 419 P3d 746 (2018). There is no genuine issue of material fact if, “based upon the record before the court viewed in a manner most favorable to the adverse party, no objectively reasonable juror could return a verdict for the adverse party on the matter that is subject of the motion for summary judgment. ORCP 47 C.

Plaintiff appealed from the trial court’s ruling of summary judgment in favor of Defendant. On appeal, Plaintiff argued summary judgment for Defendant was inappropriate because there was evidence that supported the existence of a triable issue of fact related to whether a loan was made to Defendant in the “ordinary course of business.” In response, Defendant argued that the debt in question was not incurred in the “ordinary course of business,” since pawn shops lend money and are not ordinarily debtors, so it required authorization by the other member-managers, which was not obtained here, and as such the debt was not valid. When reviewing a trial court’s summary judgment ruling, courts review “the evidence in light most favorable to the nonmoving party, here plaintiff, to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact that precludes summary judgment. Rush v. Corvallis School District509J, 291 Or App 252, 253, 419 P3d 746 (2018). There is no genuine issue of material fact if, “based upon the record before the court viewed in a manner most favorable to the adverse party, no objectively reasonable juror could return a verdict for the adverse party on the matter that is subject of the motion for summary judgment. ORCP 47 C. The Court concluded the trial court erred in granting Defendant its motion for summary judgment because based on the evidence in the summary judgment record, there existed a genuine issue of material fact related to whether Defendant incurred the debt in the “ordinary course” of business.

Reversed and remanded.