Town House Department Stores Inc v Ahn [2000] GUSC 29; 2000 Guam 29 (6 October 2000)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF GUAM

TOWN HOUSE DEPARTMENT STORES, INC.
Plaintiff-Appellee

vs.

HI SUP AHN
Defendant-Appellant

AMENDED OPINION
(The title page of this opinion was amended pursuantto a "Notice of Amendment to the Title Page of theOpinion Issued on October 6, 2000", filed on October 10, 2000)

Filed: October 6, 2000

Cite as: 2000 Guam 29

Supreme Court Case Number: CVA98-024
Superior Court Case Number: CV0098-97

Appeal from the Superior Court of Guam
Argued and submitted May 10, 1999
Hagåtña, Guam

Appearing for the Plaintiff-Appellee: James H. Maher, Esq. Maher and Thompson, P.C. 140 Aspinall Ave., Suite 201 Hagåtña, Guam 96910

Appearing for the Defendant-Appellant: Howard Trapp, Esq. Howard Trapp, Inc. 200 Saylor Bldg. 139 Chalan Santo Papa Hagåtña, Guam 96910

BEFORE: BENJAMIN J. F. CRUZ, Chief Justice; PETER C. SIGUENZA, Associate Justice; and RICHARD H. BENSON, Designated Justice.

CRUZ, C.J.:

[1] This matter comes before this court based upon a deficiency judgment involving the default of a personally-guaranteed business loan to purchase certain goods. A portion of the proceeds of the loan were recovered by the creditor's resale of the goods. The trial court determined that the price received for the goods and the resale in general was Acommercially reasonable.@ The Defendant-Appellant contends that the trial court failed to address whether or not the sale price was Afair and reasonable.@ We reverse this decision and remand this case to the trial court ordering it to address the issue of whether the sale price was Afair and reasonable.@

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

[2] This case arises out of a sales contract between Town House Department Stores, Inc. (hereinafter ATown House@) and T&K Construction Development, Inc. (hereinafter AT&K@). The contract provided for the sale of furniture and furnishings from Town House to T&K for use in their construction project for a sum in excess of $350,000.00. The agreement was executed in December 1994 by Mr. Hi Sup Ahn (hereinafter AAhn@), then president of T&K.

[3] Shortly thereafter, T&K experienced financial troubles and the payments to Town House fell into arrears. In December1995, Ahn met with representatives of Town House to restructure the terms of the contract. An agreement was reached whereby Ahn personally guaranteed the debt. T&K's financial situation continued to spiral downward, leading the company to default on its payments to its primary construction contractor, L.G. Construction, Inc. (hereinafter AL.G.@). Eventually, T&K abandoned the project and left the furniture in the building. Town House seized the furniture and sold it to L.G. for approximately $150,000.00. Town House then sued Ahn for the deficiency. After denying a motion for summary judgment filed by Town House, the Superior Court, following a two-day bench trial, held in favor of Town House. Ahn filed a timely notice of appeal on September 16, 1998.

JURISDICTION

[4] This court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 48 U.S.C. ' 1424-3(d) (1984) and Title 7 GCA