Arkansas Industrial Development Commission v. FABCO of Ashdown, Inc.

In this decision, the majority has swept aside decades law on the discharge of a guarantor’s obligation. The majority, first, has obliterated the requirement that a determination of material alteration must be made prior to discharge. But the decision also affirms the placement of the burden of proof on what Arkansas cases and American Jurisprudence have long held to be the wrong party. As this is an appeal from a summary judgment, I would reverse and remand this case so that proof of material alteration could be presented by the guarantors and the issue resolved.

Initially, this decision…