State v. Robert E. Frankwick, 229 Wis.2d 406, 599 N.W.2d 893 (Ct. App. 1999)
For Frankwick: Wendy A. Patrickus
Issue/Holding: Frankwick’s truck was ordered seized and forfeited, per § 346.65(6), following OWI convictions. However, someone had perfected a lien, the day before the convictions, and the trial court voided the lien after concluding that it had been filed in bad faith. The court of appeals reverses: § 346.65 (6) doesn’t speak to perfection of liens, though the UCC does require that they be created in good faith. Nonetheless, it is the lien’s creation, not an eleventh-hour attempt to perfect it, that is subject to the good-faith requirement of § 401.203. Because the trial court’s findings of bad faith aren’t supported by the record, the case is remanded for further fact-finding.
