American Exch. Bank v. Topp

── American Exch. Bank v. Topp ── Court: Nebraska Supreme Court Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/ 05/15/2026 08:12 AM CDT - 409 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 321 Nebraska Reports AMERICAN EXCH. BANK v. TOPP Cite as 321 Neb. 409 American Exchange Bank, appellee, v. Luke G. Topp and Ria N. Topp, appellants. ___ N.W.3d ___ Filed May 15, 2026. No. S-25-290. 1. Summary Judgment: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and drawing all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. 2. ____: ____. An appellate court will affirm a lower court’s grant of sum- mary judgment if the pleadings and admitted evidence show that there is no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 3. Judgments: Statutes: Appeal and Error. When an appeal calls for statutory interpretation or presents questions of law, an appellate court must reach an independent, correct conclusion irrespective of the deter- mination made by the court below. 4. Contracts: Appeal and Error. The construction of a contract is a mat- ter of law, in connection with which an appellate court has an obligation to reach an independent, correct conclusion irrespective of the determi- nations made by the court below. 5. Contracts: Public Policy. The determination of whether a contract vio- lates public policy presents a question of law. 6. Trusts: Deeds: Security Interests. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1013 (Reissue 2018) plainly applies to “obligations for which the trust deed was given as security.” 7. Trusts: Deeds: Public Policy. Allowing a beneficiary to proceed with a trustee sale and simultaneously avoid the limitations of the antidefi- ciency statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1013 (Reissue 2018), is a violation of public policy. 8. Trusts: Deeds: Security Interests: Waiver. A waiver of the limitation on deficiency judgments in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1013 (Reissue 2018)  - 410 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 321 Nebraska Reports AMERICAN EXCH. BANK v. TOPP Cite as 321 Neb. 409 is unenforceable when a trust deed is given to secure an obligation, the power of sale is exercised, and a deficiency judgment is sought. 9. Valuation: Evidence. Some relationship exists between appraised and actual value such that the appraised value can properly be said to consti- tute relevant evidence of at least the minimum value of the land. 10. Circumstantial Evidence: Proof. Circumstantial evidence is not inher- ently less probative than direct evidence, and a fact proved by circum- stantial evidence is nonetheless a proven fact. A fact finder may draw reasonable inferences from the facts and circumstances proved. 11. Evidence. Where there is a conflict in the evidence or where differ- ent minds may reasonably draw different conclusio