Puckett v. Georgia Homes, Inc., Civ. A. No. 73-671.

• Decision Date: 28 January 1974
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 73-671.
• Citation: 369 F. Supp. 614
• Parties: William M. PUCKETT, Plaintiff, v. GEORGIA HOMES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina

369 F. Supp. 614

William M. PUCKETT, Plaintiff, v. GEORGIA HOMES, INC., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 73-671.

United States District Court, D. South Carolina, Aiken Division.

January 28, 1974.

George B. Snelling, Jr., Aiken, S. C., Tony J. Foss, Augusta, Ga., for plaintiff.

Douglas Garvin, Peter J. Neussle Aiken, S. C., for defendant.

SIMONS, District Judge.

Plaintiff brought this suit to recover statutory damages of $1,000.00, plus attorneys' fees and costs, from the defendant for alleged failure to make proper credit disclosures in connection with plaintiff's purchase from defendant of a used "New Moon" mobile home. Plaintiff alleges that such a failure to disclose was a violation of Title I of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1601 et seq. (1973 Supp.), popularly known as the Truth in Lending Act. The matter was tried before me without a jury at Aiken on November 27-28, 1973.

Plaintiff testified that he is a resident of Augusta, Georgia, and a barber by trade. Prior to the transaction complained of, plaintiff owned a mobile home which he was renting to a tenant. When this original mobile home was destroyed by fire, plaintiff negotiated to buy the "New Moon" for the purpose of refurnishing his tenant with a home. He testified that although he bought the second mobile home to replace his rental home which had burned, he intended to eventually live in the replacement himself, though he did not indicate when he planned to carry out this intention. Plaintiff further testified that he does not own a trailer park, that he is not "in the business of renting mobile homes," that he owns no other mobile homes, and that he has never owned more than one at a time.

According to plaintiff, the transaction whereby he purchased this mobile home from defendant at its place of business in North Augusta, South Carolina, was consummated on January 12, 1973, when he signed what he referred to as a "sales contract." The copy of this document which he received was admitted into evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 1. It bears defendant's name and address and is titled, "Customer's Purchase Agreement for Mobilehome, Travel-Trailer or Add-A-Room." The document bears plaintiff's signature, but no signature appears in the blank provided for the dealer, and under this blank is printed, "Not Valid Unless Signed and Accepted by an Officer of the Company." This document is not dated although plaintiff testified that he executed it and received a copy on January 12. Plaintiff also testified that the trailer was delivered by defendant to Key's Trailer Park on January 15.

A printed and executed form entitled "Retail Installment Contract" was admitted into evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 3. Typed-in blanks on this document list plaintiff as buyer and defendant as seller and include a description of the mobile home. A "Record of Transaction" on this document, purporting to include "disclosures required by Federal Law," reflects statements of cash price, cash down payment, unpaid balance of cash price, other charges (including in this instance mobile home insurance and credit life insurance), amount financed, finance charge, total of payments, deferred payment price, annual percentage rate, and payment schedule. The blanks corresponding with these terms were filled in by typewritten figures. In bold-face print, of a larger sized type than the remainder of the contract, and in all capital letters, the following statements are printed:

"Notice to the buyer: 1. Do not sign this contract before you read it or if it contains any blank spaces. 2. You are entitled to an exact copy of the contract you sign.

"Buyer acknowledges receipt of a true copy of this contract and certifies that the terms of the transaction are correctly stated herein."

Immediately beneath these slogans is the typed-in date of January 16, 1973, plaintiff's signature, and the signature of Glenn E. Fox as an officer of defendant. In his testimony, plaintiff admitted to signing this document, but stated that the blanks had not been filled in when he signed it. This assertion is the crux of plaintiff's suit.

Mrs. Frances L. Bone testified that she accompanied plaintiff to defendant's place of business on January 12, that she observed him sign only one document that day, that plaintiff's Exhibit 1 was the document he signed, and that the mobile home was delivered on January 15.

Plaintiff called Glenn E. Fox, president of defendant, as a witness. Fox testified that credit sales to consumers constituted a substantial part of defendant's business. He stated that the "Retail Installment Contract" form, such as Plaintiff's Exhibit 3, was furnished defendant by Midland-Guardian Co., to which defendant discounted its commercial paper. In describing the usual procedure by which a contract is executed, Fox said that a salesman for defendant prepares a worksheet with a customer, the secretary types the installment contract based on the worksheet, and that the completed contract is then brought to Fox for his signature.

Defendant's only witness was Jimmy T. Tanner, who was employed in January, 1973, as a lot manager and mobile home salesman for defendant. It was Tanner who negotiated the sale to plaintiff. He identified Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 as a worksheet, and he produced another worksheet (admitted as Defendant's Exhibit A) which he had prepared during negotiations with plaintiff. Tanner testified that these worksheets are used as a basis for discussion with a prospective customer, that several may be prepared before an agreement is reached, that they are used to give the customer a general idea of the terms of the contemplated transaction, and that they are not used as final contracts themselves. Tanner compared the worksheet kept by plaintiff (Plaintiff's Exhibit 1) with the worksheet produced by Tanner (Defendant's Exhibit A) and noted a difference of some $242.15 in the "Delivered Price Total." Tanner explained that most of this difference was accounted for by a charge of $205 assessed for removing plaintiff's burned mobile home from the lot and setting up the replacement home.¹ With minor variations, the figures from Defendant's Exhibit A were eventually transferred and used on the final installment contract, Plaintiff's Exhibit 3, which Tanner said was the only contract entered into between the parties.²

As to the date the contract was consummated, Tanner referred to a credit application (admitted as Defendant's Exhibit C) signed by plaintiff on January 12. The defendant's procedure called for the credit information to be telephoned to the "finance people" (presumably Midland-Guardian Co. in Atlanta, Georgia), and not until the purchaser's credit was approved was the final contract prepared. In plaintiff's case Tanner noted that the credit application was signed on January 12, a Friday; the information would have been relayed to the finance company on the same day, but, according to Tanner, credit approval would not have been forthcoming until the next business day, Monday, January 15. Defendant contends that this usual mode of procedure indicates that the final contract could not have been signed on January 12, as plaintiff contends.

More specifically, Tanner testified that he recalled seeing plaintiff sign the contract (Plaintiff's Exhibit 3), that it was completely filled out at the time he signed it, and that it was not signed until January 16 or later. Tanner further testified that, although he could not recall the exact day the mobile home was delivered, it would have been after January 16, because the defendant required that a contract be executed before a unit was delivered. Tanner also stated that he never allowed anyone to sign a blank installment contract, and that his "bosses were very strict on that."

In reply plaintiff called Virginia Partin, manager of Key's Trailer Park, who testified that she was at the park when the trailer was delivered, and that the delivery date was January 15.³

Based upon the foregoing summary of testimony, and the exhibits introduced at trial, the court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Rule 52, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. In January, 1973, plaintiff entered into negotiations with defendant, a mobile home dealer, to purchase a used mobile home. As part of these negotiations plaintiff applied for credit to finance the unpaid balance of the purchase price of the mobile home.

2. The negotiations between the parties culminated in a contract, embodied on a form entitled "Retail Installment Contract" (Plaintiff's Exhibit 3), on January 16, 1973. In making this finding I note the recital of the contract itself, which states that it was "Signed this 16th day of January, 1973, at North Augusta, South Carolina." I credit the testimony of the witness Tanner, defendant's salesman, who stated that he recalled the contract being signed on January 16 or thereafter. I also credit Tanner's description of defendant's operating routine, including the procedures followed for application for credit, approval of credit, preparation of worksheets, preparation of contract, and execution of contract. Applying the uncontradicted evidence that plaintiff applied for credit on January 12 (Defendant's Exhibit C) to these procedures, I find it incredible that the final contract was consummated on the same day plaintiff applied for credit. Plaintiff sought to prove that the contract was signed on January 12 by showing that the mobile home was delivered on January 15. However, I do not credit the testimony of plaintiff's two witnesses who claimed to recall the home being delivered on January 15.

3. The "Retail Installment Contract" (Plaintiff's Exhibit 3) was the sole contract entered into between the parties. It is the only document of a contractual nature introduced into evidence which is signed by both parties. The standard language printed on the reverse of the form contract...