Thorn v. Adams

Defendant appeals from a judgment for plaintiff based on the trial court’s grant of plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and its denial of her cross-motion for summary judgment. The issue is whether, under ORS 72.4030(3), a buyer in the ordinary course of business acquires legal title to an automobile purchased from a merchant entrusted with the vehicle, even though the buyer did not acquire the certificate of title. We hold that such a buyer acquires legal title, and affirm.

Defendant purchased a car in 1989. On April 15, 1992, her son-in-law, Richard, took the car to Gateley’s Fairway…