Venaglia v. Kropinak

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY C. BURTON COSGROVE, District Judge {1} The Appellants, Frank Venaglia, Ann P. Venaglia, and Roy J. Venaglia (the Venaglias), sued Roy M. Kropinak on his guarantee of a $68,000 promissory note from Downtown Business Center, Inc. (DBC) to the Venaglias. On cross-motions for summary judgment the district court granted Kropinak's motion and denied the Venaglias'. The Venaglias appeal, asking that we set aside the summary judgment against them and order the district court to enter summary judgment in their favor. This appeal requires us to examine suretyship defenses under the Uniform Commercial Code (the UCC) and the common law, and the relationship between these two sources of law. We hold that the record before us will not sustain a summary judgment for either party. We therefore reverse the summary judgment and remand for further proceedings. I. BACKGROUND