Smith v. Fidelity Consumer Discount Co.

• Decision Date: 27 June 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-1406,88-1406
• Citation: 898 F.2d 896
• Parties: Annabelle SMITH, Charles Coplin, Margaret Coplin, Gloria Young and Tito Manor v. FIDELITY CONSUMER DISCOUNT COMPANY, Jerry Silver, Marshall Gorson, Kutner Buick, Inc. and Samson Motors, Inc. Appeal of FIDELITY CONSUMER DISCOUNT COMPANY.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 896

898 F.2d 896

Annabelle SMITH, Charles Coplin, Margaret Coplin, Gloria Young and Tito Manor v. FIDELITY CONSUMER DISCOUNT COMPANY, Jerry Silver, Marshall Gorson, Kutner Buick, Inc. and Samson Motors, Inc Appeal of FIDELITY CONSUMER DISCOUNT COMPANY.

No. 88-1406.

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Argued Nov. 29, 1988.

Opinion filed on June 27, 1989 in Nos.88-1406 and 88-1444.

Opinion withdrawn as to Nos. 88-1406

and 88-1444 and, as modified, filed

as to No. 88-1406 on March 15, 1990.

Jeffrey S. Saltz (argued), Alan S. Kaplinsky, Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant.

Eric L. Frank (argued), David A. Searles, Community Legal Services, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., for appellees.

Alan C. Gershenson, Dennis H. Replansky, Timothy M. Kolman, Leonard A. Bernstein, Blank, Rome, Comisky, McCauley, Philadelphia, Pa., for amicus curiae, Pennsylvania Financial Services Ass'n.

Before SEITZ ^*, STAPLETON and COWEN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

SEITZ, Circuit Judge.

Fidelity Consumer Discount Corporation ("Fidelity") appeals from the final judgment of the district court, specifically the order of the district court granting the motion of Annabelle Smith, Charles Coplin, and Margaret Coplin, ¹ (herein denominated "plaintiffs" unless otherwise indicated) for summary judgment on their claims under the Truth-in-Lending Act ("TILA"), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1601 et seq. 686 F.Supp. 504. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291.

I. BACKGROUND

Fidelity, a Pennsylvania corporation in the business of making loans to the general public, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Equitable Credit and Discount Company ("Equitable"). Silver is the president and chief operating officer of Fidelity. Gorson is the majority stockholder of Equitable. They will be referred to collectively as "Fidelity" unless otherwise indicated.

The claims of the plaintiffs arose in connection with three loans extended by Fidelity. In each of the three loan transactions, Fidelity extended credit for the purchase of an automobile and held the buyer's, or in one case the buyer's cosigner's, home as security for the car loan. Because the district court entered judgment on cross-motions for summary judgment, our review is plenary. Solomon v. Klein, 770 F.2d 352, 353 (3d Cir.1985).

II. DISCUSSION

We proceed to address plaintiffs' TILA claims.

Through TILA, Congress sought to remedy the "divergent and often fraudulent practices by which credit customers were apprised of the terms of the credit extended to them." Johnson v. McCrackin-Sturman Ford, Inc., 527 F.2d 257, 262 (3d Cir.1975). Indeed, the congressionally stated purpose of TILA is "to assure a meaningful disclosure of credit terms so that the consumer will be able to compare more readily the various credit terms available to him." 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1601(a). TILA, as a remedial statute which is designed to balance the scales "thought to be weighed in favor of lenders," is to be liberally construed in favor of borrowers. Bizier v. Globe Financial Services, 654 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1981). See Johnson, 527 F.2d at 262.

TILA achieves its remedial goals by a system of strict liability in favor of the consumers when mandated disclosures have not been made. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1640(a). A creditor who fails to comply with TILA in any respect is liable to the consumer under the statute regardless of the nature of the violation or the creditor's intent. Thomka v. A.Z. Chevrolet Inc., 619 F.2d 246, 249-50 (3d Cir.1980). "[O]nce the court finds a violation, no matter how technical, it has no discretion with respect to liability." Grant v. Imperial Motors, 539 F.2d 506, 510 (5th Cir.1976).

A single violation of TILA gives rise to full liability for statutory damages. Damages include actual damages incurred by the debtor plus a civil penalty equal to double the finance charge up to a maximum of $1,000. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1640(a)(1)(2)(A)(i). Multiple violations of TILA in the course of a single loan transaction do not yield multiple civil penalties but result in only a single penalty. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1640(g).

In addition, when a creditor takes a security interest against property which is the principal dwelling of the debtor, the debtor has the right to rescind the transaction until the later of (1) midnight of the third day following the transaction or (2) the date on which the creditor delivers to the consumer the notice of the right to rescission and the material disclosures that TILA requires. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1635. Exercise of the right to rescind under Sec. 1635 results in discharge of the consumer's liability for any finance or other charge and in discharge of any security interest taken in conjunction with the extension of credit. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1635(b).

To implement TILA, Congress "delegated expansive authority to the Federal Reserve Board to elaborate and expand the legal framework governing commerce in credit." Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Milhollin, 444 U.S. 555, 560, 100 S.Ct. 790, 794, 63 L.Ed.2d 22 (1980). "The Board exerted its responsibility by promulgating Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. Part 226 (1979)," Id., which "absent some obvious repugnance to the statute should be accepted by the courts, as should the Board's interpretation of its own regulation." Anderson Brothers Ford v. Valencia, 452 U.S. 205, 219, 101 S.Ct. 2266, 2274, 68 L.Ed.2d 783 (1981). As the Supreme Court has noted, "traditional acquiescence in administrative expertise is particularly apt under TILA, because the Federal Reserve Board has played a pivotal role in setting the statutory machinery in motion [and] ... the Act is best construed by those who gave it substance in promulgating regulations thereunder." Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Milhollin, 444 U.S. at 566, 100 S.Ct. at 797.

Here Smith as well as Charles and Margaret Coplin requested, and the district court awarded them, both statutory and rescissory damages. We next address Fidelity's attack on each such liability determination.

1. Annabelle Smith

Herbert Smith is the son of Annabelle Smith. On January 27, 1984, the Smiths and Fidelity entered into a loan transaction to enable Herbert to buy a used car. Annabelle Smith used her house as collateral for the loan.

The total amount of financing was $5,500. Of the $5,500, $4,216.59 was given directly to Herbert and Annabelle in the form of a check made out to the two of them. In addition, $1,008.34 was charged as an "origination fee": $990 as prepaid finance charges and $18.34 as prepaid interest. Finally, $257.07 was used to record the fact that the title to Annabelle Smith's house was clear and for other related costs. Among the $257.07 charges, was a charge of $13. This $13 was to be used to pay the filing fee to clear Smith's title of record and establish that Troy Acceptance Corporation, which previously held a lien on Smith's property, no longer had a lien on Smith's property. Fidelity, however, was never able to obtain the necessary release from Troy and the filing was never made; the $13 was not returned to Annabelle Smith.

In May, 1986, Annabelle Smith sought to rescind the transaction pursuant to TILA but Fidelity refused. Annabelle Smith then brought this action seeking both rescissory relief and monetary damages under TILA. Specifically, Smith claims, and the district court found, that Fidelity violated TILA (1) by failing to disclose the $13 fee as a finance charge; and (2) by failing to properly itemize in its disclosure form the amount financed. On appeal, Smith continues to rely on the above bases for TILA liability found by the district court as well as several other grounds for imposing liability. The district court did not consider the merits of these additional grounds. Fidelity challenges each of the findings of liability and asks us in the exercise of our discretion not to review the additional grounds.

a. $13 Filing Fee

Finance charges are defined at 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1605(a) as "the sum of all charges, payable directly or indirectly by the person to whom credit is extended, and is imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor as an incident to the extension of credit." Failure to disclose the total finance charge not only affords the consumer a remedy of statutory damages but also constitutes a material violation entitling the consumer to rescind the loan. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1640(a); 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226.23(a)(3) n. 48.

In the Smith transaction, Fidelity withheld certain money from the loan proceeds distributed to Smith in order to pay for filing fees to clear title to Smith's house. Under 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226.4(e)(2) "[t]axes and fees prescribed by law that actually are or will be paid to public officials for determining the existence of or for perfecting, releasing or satisfying a security claim" are not finance charges. In this case, however, Fidelity was unable to obtain a signed release from Troy Acceptance because Troy was no longer in business and Fidelity simply retained the money, i.e., $13, which it had planned to use to clear Smith's title of Troy's lien. On these facts the district court found that the $13 was an undisclosed finance charge because the funds were never used to release a security interest.

We conclude, on the facts of this case, that the $13 charge cannot properly be considered a "finance charge." The effect of subsequent events on the accuracy of disclosures is dealt with in 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226.17(e) which states:

If a disclosure becomes inaccurate because of an event that occurs after the creditor delivers the required disclosures, the inaccuracy is not a violation of this regulation.

The purpose of this regulation is to relieve creditors from making disclosures regarding every contingency which might arise. Cf. Greer v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 505 F.Supp. 692, 694 (N.D.Ga.1980). Indeed, the Official Staff Interpretation of Sec. 226.17(e) states:

Inaccuracies in...