Barksdale v. Peoples Financial Corp. of Alpharetta

393 F. Supp. 112, 17 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1342, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13701
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedFebruary 21, 1975
DocketCiv. A. C-74-971-A
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 393 F. Supp. 112 (Barksdale v. Peoples Financial Corp. of Alpharetta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barksdale v. Peoples Financial Corp. of Alpharetta, 393 F. Supp. 112, 17 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1342, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13701 (N.D. Ga. 1975).

Opinion

ORDER

HENDERSON, District Judge.

This is a civil action for statutory damages and attorney’s fees for alleged violations of the Truth in Lending Act (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, 12 C.F.R. § 226.1 et seq., commonly known as Regulation “Z”. Jurisdiction arises under 15 U.S.C. § 1640(e) and 28 U.S.C. § 1337. Pursuant to Rule 250 of the Local Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the case was referred to a special master who recommended that the defendant’s motion for summary judgment be denied, the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment be granted and that judgment be entered accordingly awarding the plaintiff statutory damages in the amount of $144.00 plus court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. Presently pending are the defendant’s objections to those recommendations.

The plaintiff has engaged in three consumer credit transactions with the defendant, respectively dated May 17, 1973, July 16, 1973 and December 20, 1973. The present civil action directly concerns only the December 20, 1973 transaction in which the defendant extended consumer credit to the plaintiff under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act, Ga.Code Ann. § 25-301 et seq. The plaintiff contends that the disclosure statement representing that loan agreement failed to satisfy the requirements of the Act and Regulation “Z” in the following respects: (1) the right of acceleration is not disclosed on the face of the statement as a “charge” in the event of default, (2) the due date disclosures and those relating to the consequences of default were not in close enough proximity to present a “meaningful se *114 quence” of disclosure, and (3) the security interests of the defendant were not properly disclosed. The special master’s recommendations concur with all three of the plaintiff’s contentions.

I. RIGHT OF ACCELERATION UPON DEFAULT

The disclosure statement furnished the plaintiff upon consummation of the loan provided, inter alia, that in the event an installment is not paid within five days of its due date the plaintiff-borrower will pay a “default charge” of 5% of each such installment. However, included in the terms and conditions set forth on the reverse side of the disclosure statement is the additional provision that, upon default, “then all of said note and all installments of principal and earned finance charge then unpaid . shall, at the option of the holder hereof, become immediately due and payable . . . . ” Nowhere on the face of the statement is this right of acceleration disclosed.

The special master concluded that, as a matter of law, a right of acceleration is itself a “charge” that must be revealed on the face of the disclosure statement under Section 129(a)(7) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1639(a)(7), 1 and the corresponding section of Regulation “Z”, 12 C.F.R. § 226.8(b)(4). 2 However, in the interim since the time the special master’s recommendations were filed, a contrary conclusion was reached in a case from this district. See McDaniel v. Fulton National Bank of Atlanta, Civil Action No. C-74-244-A (N.D.Ga. Dec. 18, 1974) (Hill, J.); see also Grant v. Imperial Motors, Civil Action No. 3146 (S.D.Ga. Nov. 20, 1974). In McDaniel, the court observed that, upon exercise by the creditor of the right of acceleration, the debtor can be charged, under Georgia law, only with the principal amount of the loan and the actual earned portion of the finance charge and of the credit life and disability insurance premiums. No additional amount is to be paid by the debtor should the creditor elect to accelerate under such a provision. Therefore:

[A]n acceleration of the loan by the creditor here would not obligate plaintiff [debtor] to pay any additional charge that did not appear on the face of the disclosure sheet.

McDaniel v. Fulton National Bank of Atlanta, supra, at 4. Under the facts of that case, the court concluded that the right of acceleration upon default was not a “charge” under 15 U.S.C. § 1639(a)(7) or 12 C.F.R. § 226.8(b)(4) and, consequently, there was no violation of the Act in the failure to disclose that right on the face of the statement.

Because this court is persuaded by the well reasoned opinion in McDaniel, supra, and since the present action is virtually indistinguishable from that case on material factual or legal grounds, 3 the special master’s recommendation on this particular issue must be overruled. The authorities relied upon by the special master in support of his conclusion were specifically considered and adequately distinguished in the McDaniel ease. Furthermore, although the special master finds support by analogy to certain Opinion Letters of the Federal Reserve Board Staff, those letters deal only with whether a right to charge attorney’s fees upon default must be disclosed and do not confront the acceleration question at all. Accordingly, the court likewise concludes that, as a *115 matter of law, there is no violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1639(a)(7) or 12 C.F.R. § 226.-8(b)(4) in the fact that the defendant’s contractual acceleration remedy in the event of default was not set forth on the front of the disclosure statement.

II. DISCLOSURES IN A MEANINGFUL SEQUENCE

The plaintiff argues, and the special master agrees, that the defendant violated the “meaningful sequence” requirement of Regulation “Z” 12 C.F.R. § 226.6(a) 4 in failing to make disclosures relating to the consequences of default in close proximity to those setting forth the amount and due dates of the monthly installment payments. The court again disagrees with the conclusion of the special master.

Regulation “Z” 12 C.F.R. §§ 226

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Giddens v. Pioneer Credit (In re Giddens)
205 B.R. 349 (M.D. Georgia, 1997)
In Re Felker
181 B.R. 1017 (M.D. Georgia, 1995)
Safeway Finance Co. v. Ward (In Re Ward)
14 B.R. 549 (S.D. Georgia, 1981)
Lincoln First Bank, N. A. v. Salvaterra
106 Misc. 2d 51 (Syracuse City Court, 1980)
Matter of Antuna
4 B.R. 25 (W.D. Missouri, 1980)
Lipson v. Burlington Savings Bank
428 F. Supp. 1073 (D. Vermont, 1977)
GAC Finance Corp. v. Burgess
558 P.2d 1386 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1977)
Williams v. Bill Watson Ford, Inc.
423 F. Supp. 345 (E.D. Louisiana, 1976)
Gennuso v. Commercial Bank & Trust Co.
425 F. Supp. 461 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1976)
Murphy v. BENEFICIAL FINANCE CO. OF CENT. OHIO
443 F. Supp. 463 (S.D. Ohio, 1976)
St. Germain v. Bank of Hawaii
413 F. Supp. 587 (D. Hawaii, 1976)
Burley v. Bastrop Loan Co., Inc.
407 F. Supp. 773 (W.D. Louisiana, 1976)
McDaniel v. Fulton National Bank of Atlanta
395 F. Supp. 422 (N.D. Georgia, 1975)
Barrett v. Vernie Jones Ford, Inc.
395 F. Supp. 904 (N.D. Georgia, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
393 F. Supp. 112, 17 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1342, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barksdale-v-peoples-financial-corp-of-alpharetta-gand-1975.