Aldens, Inc. v. Ryan, 76-1731
| Decision Date | 13 February 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-1731,76-1731 |
| Citation | 571 F.2d 1159 |
| Parties | ALDENS, INC., Appellant, v. Patrick C. RYAN, Administrator of Consumer Affairs for the State of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Jap W. Blankenship of Fellers, Snider, Blankenship & Bailey, Oklahoma City, Okl. (James D. Fellers, Oklahoma City, Okl., and Raymond N. Friedlander, Chicago, Ill., of counsel, with him on the brief), for appellant.
Larry C. Brawner, Gen. Counsel, Oklahoma Dept. of Consumer Affairs, Oklahoma City, Okl., for appellee.
Randolph R. Mahan, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Kathleen G. Smith, Staff Atty., Columbia, S. C., on the brief for amicus curiae, Irvin D. Parker, Administrator for the S. C. Dept. of Consumer Affairs, Columbia, S. C.
Before SETH, Chief Judge, and HOLLOWAY and BARRETT, Circuit Judges.
This is a challenge to the Oklahoma Consumer Credit Code, 14A Okl.Stats. §§ 1-201(5)(a) and 1-201A, as it applies the maximum interest rates to credit sales, and which does not permit actions in Oklahoma to collect balances where the interest rates exceed the Code maximum. It is brought by a mail-order house doing business in Illinois.
The plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment that the application of the Code provisions to its mail-order business was contrary to the Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause. The defendant Ryan as Administrator of Consumer Affairs for Oklahoma counterclaimed for damages on behalf of Oklahoma residents asserted to have been charged interest rates above the Code maximum, and also sought an injunction to prevent the collection in the future of excess charges.
The trial court found the Act to be constitutional, and entered judgment for the defendant for damages and for injunctive relief. The case was heard on stipulated facts.
The credit transactions between Aldens and Oklahoma residents are within the Oklahoma UCCC definition of consumer credit transactions. The number of such transactions and the dollar totals are substantial. Aldens solicits by mailing its catalogues and flyers to Oklahoma residents. Its place of business is in Illinois, and it has no agents in Oklahoma, no telephone listings there. Its advertising is done only by mail. Aldens is not required to collect and remit the Oklahoma use tax, and is not required to qualify to do business in Oklahoma. The material for credit purchases and applications for credit are also sent by mail only. The credit agreement recites that it is an Illinois contract, and all orders are accepted in Illinois. Applications for credit from Oklahoma residents for the most part are checked with national credit agencies and a few are checked directly with Oklahoma sources by Aldens.
The finance or credit charges made by Aldens conform with the Illinois statutes and the transactions are also in conformance with Regulation Z. However, the interest rates as computed by Aldens exceed the maximum provided in the Oklahoma Code.
As to past due accounts Aldens attempts to make collection by mail, by phone, and ultimately turns them to a collection agency. The stipulation of facts shows that if Aldens were required to comply with the Oklahoma Code, its reduction in finance charges, and the special processing costs directed to Oklahoma separately would amount to some $160,500.00 per year. Gross sales in Oklahoma amount to some $2,250,000.00, of which eighty-one percent is on credit. There are about 13,800 credit customers in Oklahoma.
The mail-order transactions here concerned come within the provisions of the Oklahoma Code, as above mentioned. The Code is worded expressly to include mail-order solicitations, sales, and the extension of credit.
The same issues and contentions of the parties have been considered by the Third Circuit in Aldens, Inc. v. Packel, 524 F.2d 38 (3d Cir.), and by the Seventh Circuit in Aldens, Inc. v. LaFollette, 552 F.2d 745 (7th Cir.), and we reach the same conclusion as did those two courts.
An extended discussion in this opinion is not called for. It is sufficient to point out that the...
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...Inc. v. Miller, 610 F.2d 538, 539 (8th Cir.1979), cert. denied 446 U.S. 919, 100 S.Ct. 1853, 64 L.Ed.2d 273 (1980); Aldens, Inc. v. Ryan, 571 F.2d 1159 (10th Cir.), cert. denied 439 U.S. 860, 99 S.Ct. 180, 58 L.Ed.2d 169 (1978); Aldens, Inc. v. LaFollette, 552 F.2d 745 (7th Cir.), cert. den......
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...F.2d at 48–49. The Eighth and Tenth Circuits in Aldens, Inc. v. Miller, 610 F.2d 538, 539–40 (8th Cir.1979), and Aldens, Inc. v. Ryan, 571 F.2d 1159, 1162 (10th Cir.1978), upheld substantially similar laws under Pike. See also Silver v. Woolf, 694 F.2d 8 (2d Cir.1982) (in rejecting a Commer......
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