Agostine v. Sidcon Corp.

69 F.R.D. 437, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 329, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14980
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 5, 1975
DocketCiv. A. No. 74-3157
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 69 F.R.D. 437 (Agostine v. Sidcon Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Agostine v. Sidcon Corp., 69 F.R.D. 437, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 329, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14980 (E.D. Pa. 1975).

Opinion

OPINION

BECHTLE, District Judge.

This action involves alleged violations of the Truth in Lending Act (“Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601-1681t, and Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 226 et seq. (1974) ,1 concerning certain transactions whereby defendants attempted to collect the balance due on an original loan. Presently before the Court are plaintiff’s motion to dismiss defendant’s counterclaims and motion for class action certification.

On July 13, 1970, plaintiff obtained a loan of $3,191.49 from Domestic Consumer Discount Company (“Domestic”) and simultaneously executed an installment note. Under the terms of the note, plaintiff was to repay the loan in monthly installments of $102.41. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff defaulted on the note by failing to pay as the installments became due. In October of 1973, Domestic referred plaintiff’s account to defendant Sidcon Corporation (“Sid-con”) for collection. Sidcon requested from plaintiff the full amount due under the loan. Negotiations followed which, in January, 1974, resulted in an agreement whereby plaintiff was to repay the original loan in installments of $25.00 per week and an initial payment of $100.00. After the initial $100.00 payment was made, plaintiff failed to make any further payments.

In May of 1974, Domestic contacted plaintiff and informed her that it would handle her account directly. A new agreement was entered into requiring plaintiff to pay the original remaining debt in monthly installments of $55.00 per month. As of December 13, 1974, [441]*441the date of the complaint, plaintiff had continued to make the $55.00 monthly payments.

Plaintiff then commenced this action alleging that the defendants, in connection with the January, 1974, and May, 1974, agreements, had not given her proper disclosures, as required by the Act and Regulation Z.2 The class which plaintiff seeks to represent would consist of all persons in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania: (1) who have entered into consumer credit transactions with defendants or others, or have had their payments accelerated upon default by defendants or others; (2) who have subsequently agreed to repay the accelerated debt under a modified payment schedule, which contains a finance charge or is payable in more than four installments; and (3) who have not been given the disclosures required by the Act and Regulation Z. Plaintiff is asking for damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs for herself and for other class members in accordance with 15 U. S.C.A. § 1640(a)(3), as amended (Supp. I 1975).

In its answer to the complaint, Domestic sets forth two allegedly compulsory counterclaims pursuant to Rule 13(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The first is against plaintiff for all sums expended in connection with attempts to collect under the original July 13, 1970, loan agreement, including collection fees, court costs and applicable interest. The second, alternatively and in the event a class action is certified, is against all class members who have defaulted for the full amount of the defaulted payment, for interest and/or payment penalty, and for counsel fees. Plaintiff contends that the counterclaims alleged are state law claims, over which this Court has ancillary jurisdiction only if they are compulsory counterclaims under Rule 13(a). See Moore v. New York Cotton Exchange, 270 U.S. 593, 46 S.Ct. 367, 70 L.Ed. 750 (1926) ; 6 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 1414 n.55 (1971). If the counterclaims are permissive under Rule 13(b), then there is no federal jurisdiction over them unless they can be supported by separate and independent jurisdictional grounds. United States v. Heyward-Robinson Company, 430 F.2d 1077,1080 (2d Cir. 1970).

A counterclaim is said to be compulsory when “it arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the opposing party’s claim.” Most courts have not attempted to define the phrase “transaction or occurrence,” but have suggested standards by which the compulsory or permissive nature of counterclaims, can be determined: (1) Are the issues of fact and law raised by the claim and [442]*442counterclaim largely the same? (2) Would res judicata bar a subsequent suit on defendant’s claim absent the compulsory counterclaim rule? (3) Will substantially the same evidence support or refute both plaintiff’s claim and defendant’s counterclaim? (4) Is there any logical relation between the claim and the counterclaim? Pipeliners Local Union No. 798 v. Ellerd, 503 F.2d 1193, 1198-1199 (10th Cir. 1974); Great Lakes Rubber Corporation v. Herbert Cooper Co., 286 F.2d 631, 634 (3d Cir. 1961); Wright & Miller, supra, § 1410 at 42 and cases cited therein. With these standards in mind, we turn to the facts as presented.

It is obvious that the issues of fact and law are quite different. Plaintiff’s claims, based upon the Truth in Lending Act, will require a determination of whether a consumer credit transaction took place without the requisite disclosures, while Domestic’s counterclaims seek to recover default payments on the outstanding debt obligations. Res judicata would not bar Domestic from asserting its counterclaims against the named plaintiff or other class members in a later state court suit, because by this Court’s holding them to be permissive, the counterclaims cannot be barred. The evidence in support of plaintiff’s claim would be geared to the statutory requirements of the Act. Domestic, in order to support its counterclaims, would be required to set forth the underlying debt obligation and proof of a default, while plaintiff and members of the class could assert numerous possible defenses, such as fraud, modification and unconscionability.

Even under the “logical relation” test, which is the most widely used by the' courts, Domestic’s counterclaims cannot be said to be compulsory under Rule 13(a). Great Lakes Rubber Corporation v. Herbert Cooper Co., supra, 286 F.2d at 634; Wright & Miller, supra, § 1410 at 48. The two claims are distinct in nature; one involves a federal statute, while the other consists of state contract claims. Domestic vigorously contends that a finding by this Court that it has violated the Act will enable plaintiff, in a subsequent state court suit, to assert the violation as an absolute defense, rendering Domestic incapable of collecting for default payments and for expenses incurred. Domestic does not cite any authority holding that a Truth in Lending violation can void an underlying debt obligation. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1640, as amended (Supp. I 1975), sets out with specificity the damages which are available if there is a violation of the Act. To accept Domestic’s theory would be to set plaintiff’s damages at the entire amount of the debt, thus granting more relief than was provided for by Congress. This Court will not follow such a course.

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Bluebook (online)
69 F.R.D. 437, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 329, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/agostine-v-sidcon-corp-paed-1975.