Hale v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 76-2287
| Decision Date | 29 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-2287,76-2287 |
| Citation | 581 F.2d 111 |
| Parties | Charles E. HALE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FORD MOTOR CREDIT COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Richard Bounds, James A. Yance, Mobile, Ala., for plaintiff-appellant.
Wm. L. Howell, M. Lloyd Roebuck, Mobile, Ala., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
Before COLEMAN and FAY, Circuit Judges and KING *, District Judge.
We have concluded that this appeal presents an important issue of Alabama law which we believe is appropriate for resolution by the Supreme Court of Alabama. Our decision in this matter will therefore be deferred pending certification of the issue to the Supreme Court of Alabama.
We have requested that the parties submit a proposed agreed statement of facts and certificate of issues for decision pursuant to our general practice. See West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., Inc., 504 F.2d 967 (5th Cir. 1974). The parties have reached agreement on the statement of the case and the issue to be certified.
It appears to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that the above styled case in this court involves a question or proposition of the law of the State of
Alabama which is determinative of the cause, and there appears to be no clear, controlling precedent in the decisions of the Supreme Court of the State of Alabama. This Court certifies the following question of law to the Supreme Court of Alabama for instructions concerning said question of law, based on the facts recited herein, such case being on appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
The style of the case in which this certification is made is Charles E. Hale, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus Ford Motor Credit Company, a corporation, et al, Defendants-Appellees, Case No. 76-2287, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
On March 30, 1974, Charles Hale purchased the automobile in question from Robinson Brothers Lincoln Mercury, Inc. and executed therefor a retail installment contract in the gross amount of TWELVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED SIXTY AND 69/100 ($12,660.69) DOLLARS which sum included a FIVE HUNDRED AND NO/100 ($500.00) DOLLARS pickup payment, payable April 28, 1974 on which no finance charge was assessed. The total of the regularly scheduled monthly installments under the terms of the contract is TWELVE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED SIXTY AND 69/100 ($12,160.69) DOLLARS payable in forty-one (41) monthly installments of TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE AND 55/100 ($289.55) DOLLARS and one (1) final installment of TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE AND 14/100 ($289.14) DOLLARS, on the fourteenth (14th) day of each month, commencing May 14, 1974. Under the terms of the contract, the seller was granted a security interest in the automobile to secure payment of all amounts due or to become due thereunder. The contract provides that "Waiver . . . of any default shall not be deemed a waiver of any other default" and "This contract constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and no modification hereof shall be valid in any event, and Buyer expressly waives the right to rely thereon, unless made in writing signed by the seller." The contract provided for a delinquent charge on each installment which was in default for more than ten (10) days in the amount of 5% Thereof. Contemporaneously with its execution, the contract was assigned by Robinson Brothers Lincoln Mercury, Inc., to Ford Motor Credit Company, defendant.
Ford Motor Credit Company informed Hale by letter dated February 18, 1975 which letter Hale admits receiving, that his physical damage insurance policy on the automobile in question would expire on March 30, 1975 and that Ford Motor Credit Company, in accordance with the terms of the contract, would renew such insurance unless it received evidence of other insurance at least twenty (20) days before the expiration date. This letter further provided that should Ford Motor Credit Company renew the expiring policy, Ford Motor Credit Company would pay the renewal premium and add such premium plus a service charge to Hale's account with Ford Motor Credit Company. Hale did not acquire other insurance on the automobile in question. Ford Motor Credit Company sent Hale a letter dated March 21, 1975 stating that Ford Motor Credit Company had renewed the expiring physical damage insurance policy and had added to Hale's remaining payments, the renewal premium of FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-NINE AND NO/100 ($479.00) DOLLARS, plus an 8% A.P.R. related finance charge and had increased Hale's monthly installment payments to THREE HUNDRED SEVEN AND 21/100 ($307.21) DOLLARS commencing May 14, 1975. Hale does not recall receiving this letter, but does remember being advised by Ford Motor Credit Company in a telephone conversation that the monthly payments would be increased to THREE HUNDRED SEVEN AND 21/100 ($307.21) DOLLARS beginning May 14, 1975.
The following is a summary of the payments made by Mr. Hale as more particularly appears on Defendant's Exhibit No. 4, viz:
DATE
PAYMENT DUE POSTED
NUMBER DATE BY FORD AMOUNT
------- -------- -------- --------------
Pickup 4-28-74 5-31-74 $ 789.14
1. 5-14-74 5-31-74 Included above
2. 6-14-74 7-23-74 289.55
3. 7-14-74...To continue reading
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Walters v. Inexco Oil Co.
...F.2d 194 (5th Cir. 1978) (Louisiana); Allstate Insurance Co. v. Young, 638 F.2d 31 (5th Cir. 1981) (Georgia); Hale v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 581 F.2d 111 (5th Cir. 1978) (Alabama) with Phillips v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 651 F.2d 1051 (5th Cir. 1981) (Brown, J., dissenting as to Georg......
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Hale v. Ford Motor Credit Co., CER-17
...before it on which there is no clear controlling precedent in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Alabama. The certification opinion (581 F.2d 111) of the Fifth Circuit Charles E. HALE, Plaintiff-Appellant, V. FORD MOTOR CREDIT COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees. No. 76-2287. United Sta......
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Hale v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 76-2287
...Supreme Court of Alabama, we certified this case to that distinguished Court and the Honorable Justices thereof. Hale v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 581 F.2d 111 (5th Cir. 1978). The facts are set forth in our previously published certification. Id. The Supreme Court of Alabama's opinion is publ......