Cash America International Inc. v. Bennett

Decision Date06 July 2000
Docket NumberNo. 99-0041,99-0041
Citation43 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1047,35 S.W.3d 12
Parties(Tex. 2000) Cash America International Inc., Petitioner v. Janola Bennett, Respondent
CourtTexas Supreme Court
On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Justice O'Neill delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Phillips, Justice Enoch, Justice Baker, Justice Abbott, Justice Hankinson, and Justice Gonzales joined.

The Texas Pawnshop Act provides that a pawnbroker must replace lost or damaged pledged goods with like-kind merchandise, subject to the Consumer Credit Commissioner's approval. See Tex. Fin. Code § 371.167(a).1 We must decide whether the Act provides the sole and exclusive remedy for a complainant seeking recovery against a pawnshop for lost pledged property. The trial court granted Cash America's plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed the case. The court of appeals reversed and remanded, holding that the Act merely provides an alternative, not an exclusive, remedy. See 982 S.W.2d 620, 623. We hold that the Commissioner has neither exclusive nor primary jurisdiction over this dispute, and affirm the court of appeals' judgment.

I Background

Janola Bennett pledged her former husband's Masonic ring as security for a three hundred dollar loan from Cash America. She repaid the loan in full and requested the ring's return. Unable to return the ring because it had been stolen, Cash America offered Bennett a like-kind replacement from any of its Houston locations or a cash settlement of $2,500. Contending that the ring was worth at least $5,600, Bennett rejected both offers and sued Cash America for conversion, negligence, and gross negligence.

Cash America filed a plea to the jurisdiction, claiming that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the Texas Pawnshop Act grants the Consumer Credit Commissioner primary and exclusive jurisdiction over disputes between pledgors and pawnbrokers concerning lost goods.2 See Tex. Fin. Code § 371.167(a). The trial court granted Cash America's plea and dismissed the case for want of subject matter jurisdiction.

Bennett appealed, arguing that the Texas Pawnshop Act does not require pledgors to pursue a remedy with the Commissioner before filing suit. The court of appeals agreed, holding that like-kind replacement under the Act provides an alternative, not an exclusive, remedy for a person with a complaint concerning lost pledged property. See 982 S.W.2d at 623. Accordingly, the appeals court reversed and remanded the case to the trial court. See id.

Cash America petitioned this Court for review. We granted Cash America's petition to resolve an apparent conflict among the courts of appeals concerning the Commissioner's jurisdiction over disputes between pledgors and pawnbrokers over lost goods. Compare 982 S.W.2d at 623 (holding that the Pawnshop Act does not require exhaustion of administrative remedies but merely provides the pledgor an alternative remedy), with American Pawn and Jewelry, Inc. v. Kayal, 923 S.W.2d 670, 674-75 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 1996, writ denied) (holding that the Pawnshop Act gives the Commissioner primary and exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes between pledgors and pawnbrokers over lost pledged property). We hold that Bennett is not required to seek a remedy under the Pawnshop Act before filing suit, and that the Commissioner thus does not have exclusive jurisdiction over this dispute. We further hold that the Commissioner does not have primary jurisdiction as there is no reason to defer to the Commissioner's expertise in this area. Accordingly, we affirm the court of appeals' judgment.

II Exclusive Jurisdiction

An agency has exclusive jurisdiction when the Legislature gives the agency alone the authority to make the initial determination in a dispute. See Kenneth Culp Davis, Administrative Law Doctrines of Exhaustion of Remedies, Ripeness for Review, and Primary Jurisdiction: 1, 28 Tex. L. Rev. 168, 171 (1949). When the Legislature vests exclusive jurisdiction in an agency, exhaustion of administrative remedies is required. See id. at 169. Exhaustion of remedies is "designed primarily to control the timing of judicial relief from adjudicative action of an agency." Id. at 168. Exhaustion of remedies requires a party in an administrative proceeding to await that proceeding's completion, thereby securing all available administrative relief before seeking judicial review of the agency's action. See Steven Baron, Judicial Review of Administrative Agency Rules: A Question of Timing, 43 Baylor L. Rev. 139, 155 n.86 (1991). When exhaustion is required, courts may review the administrative action only at the time and in the manner designated by statute. See Davis, supra, at 171.

In this case, Cash America argues that Bennett must first exhaust her remedy under the Pawnshop Act before seeking a remedy in court. Bennett's sole remedy under the Pawnshop Act is a like-kind replacement subject to the Commissioner's review. Although Cash America claims that Bennett would be free to pursue other remedies in the district court if dissatisfied with the Commissioner's decision, the Pawnshop Act limits her remedy in the district court to substantial evidence review of the Commissioner's decision. See Tex. Fin. Code § 14.301; Tex. Gov't Code § 2001.174. Thus, requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies in this context would abrogate Bennett's common-law claims and render the Pawnshop Act's like-kind replacement scheme her exclusive remedy. Our review of the Act's language and purposes, and the limited role the statute affords a reviewing court, indicates that this was not the Legislature's intent.

In construing a statute, our purpose is to give effect to the Legislature's intent. See Union Bankers Ins. Co. v. Shelton, 889 S.W.2d 278, 280 (Tex. 1994). To do so, we consider the statute's language, history, and purposes and the consequences of alternate constructions. See id. A statue that deprives a person of a common-law right "will not be extended beyond its plain meaning or applied to cases not clearly within its purview." Satterfield v. Satterfield, 448 S.W.2d 456, 459 (Tex. 1969). Abrogating common-law claims "is disfavored and requires a clear repugnance between the common law and statutory causes of action." Holmans v. Transource Polymers, Inc., 914 S.W.2d 189, 192 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 1995, writ denied); see also Bruce v. Jim Walters Homes, Inc., 943 S.W.2d 121, 122-23 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1997, writ denied) (stating that a statute may be interpreted as abrogating a common-law principle only when its express terms or necessary implications clearly indicate the Legislature's intent to do so); Coppedge v. Colonial Savings & Loan Ass'n, 721 S.W.2d 933, 938 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.) (stating that "repeal of a common-law action and remedy by implication is disfavored and requires a clear repugnance between the common-law and statutory causes of action").

When the trial court dismissed Bennett's claims, section 371.167(a) provided:

A pawnbroker shall replace pledged goods that are lost or damaged while in the pawnbroker's possession with like kind merchandise. The replacement is subject to approval by the commissioner.

Tex. Fin. Code § 371.167(a). This language does not indicate clearly or plainly that the Legislature intended to replace a pledgor's common-law remedies with the exclusive remedy of a like-kind replacement. To the contrary, the statute's language suggests that the Legislature sought to expand the protections afforded consumers, not contract them. Imposing upon pawnbrokers a mandatory duty to replace lost or damaged property with like-kind merchandise and subjecting that replacement to the Commissioner's approval is not inconsistent with a pledgor's common-law remedies. As the court of appeals recognized, the Legislature likely intended to provide a system of recourse for pawn transactions involving small amounts for which the expense of a civil suit would not be economically feasible. See 982 S.W.2d at 622; cf. Juneman v. Franklin, 3 S.W. 562, 563 (Tex. 1887) (holding that statute creating forcible entry and detainer action in justice of the peace court did not impliedly abrogate landlord's common-law remedies, but created additional summary method of regaining possession of premises); Holmans, 914 S.W.2d at 192 (holding that Payday Law provided alternative administrative remedy to enforce wage claims that would often be too small to justify the expense of a civil suit).

We have consistently declined to construe statutes to deprive citizens of common-law rights unless the Legislature clearly expressed that intent. See Satterfield, 448 S.W.2d at 459; see also Hickman v. Finlay, 392 S.W.2d 147, 149 (Tex. Civ. App.-Austin 1965, writ ref'd). Because the language of section 371.167(a) does not expressly limit a pledgor's remedy to a like-kind replacement, we conclude that the Legislature simply intended to create an alternative remedy for pledgors whose property is lost.

Moreover, interpreting section 371.167(a) as providing an alternative rather than an exclusive remedy advances the Pawnshop Act's fundamental purpose, which is to protect consumers by closely regulating the pawnshop industry. See Tex. Fin. Code § 371.002. The bill that added the like-kind replacement language made clear that the primary purpose of the Act is "[t]o prevent frauds, unfair practices, discriminations, impositions, and abuses of the citizens of the state . . . ." See Act of April 27, 1981, 67th Leg., R.S., ch. 99, § 1, 1981 Tex. Gen. Laws 221, 221. Providing consumers with a variety of remedies is consistent with that purpose. It follows then that the Act must be read to constrain pawnbrokers, not to restrict pledgors' remedies.

The limited scope of judicial review afforded under the Act is a further indication that the statutory...

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