Brown v. Investors Mortgage Co.

121 F.3d 472, 97 Daily Journal DAR 9618, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5983, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 19482
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJuly 29, 1997
DocketNo. 96-35477
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 121 F.3d 472 (Brown v. Investors Mortgage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Investors Mortgage Co., 121 F.3d 472, 97 Daily Journal DAR 9618, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5983, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 19482 (9th Cir. 1997).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiff Catherine Brown borrowed $28,-800 on her home. She fell behind in her payments. The lender initiated foreclosure proceedings.

To prevent foreclosure, Brown borrowed another $50,000 on her home from defendant CLS Mortgage, Inc. The debt carried 16% interest, required monthly payments of $666.67 for three years, and was then payable in full. The maximum interest permitted by state usury law was 12.22%. Brown again fell behind, and CLS commenced foreclosure.

To pay off the CLS loan, Brown borrowed $74,000 from defendant Investors Mortgage Company (IMC). The debt earned interest of 15%, exceeding the existing 12% limit under state law. Brown defaulted. IMC commenced nonjudicial foreclosure. Brown filed for bankruptcy and sued the lenders and others to invalidate the loans, alleging violations of state usury law and the Washington Consumer Protection Act. Defendants moved for summary judgment. The bankruptcy court ordered dismissal. The district court affirmed.

I.

The lenders argue Washington’s usury statute has been preempted by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA) of 1980.

A.

Interpretation of a federal statute preempting state law begins with the text and is guided by two presumptions: such statutes are to be interpreted narrowly in light of federalism concerns; and the purpose of Congress is “the ultimate touchstone.” Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, — U.S. -, -, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 2250, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996).

Section 501(a)(1) of DIDMCA exempts mortgages or loans “secured by a first lien on residential real property” from state laws “expressly limiting the rate or amount of interest, discount points, finance charges, or other charges.” 12 U.S.C. § 1735f-7a(a)(l). The statutory language plainly encompasses the loans at issue here. The words are unqualified: state usury restrictions “shall not apply to any loan, mortgage, credit sale, or advance” secured by a first lien. Id. (emphasis added).

Neither the language nor purpose of Section 501(a)(1) supports Brown’s argument that the preemptive effect of the statute is limited to purchase money mortgages. See Smith v. Fidelity Consumer Discount Co., 898 F.2d 907, 911-12 (3d Cir.1990). Congress enacted DIDMCA to promote the stability and viability of financial institutions by allowing them to charge market interest on mortgage loans, and to promote home ownership by increasing the flow of available mortgage money. See id. Exempting deposit accounts from usury ceilings allowed banks to attract deposits, S.Rep. No. 96-368, at 18 (1980), reprinted in 1980 U.S.C.C.A.N. 236, 254; see 12 U.S.C. § 1735f-7a(a)(2), and exempting first mortgage loans from the same ceilings allowed lenders to collect the revenues needed to pay depositors market rates of interest. See Smith, 898 F.2d at 912. Neither purpose would be served by limiting preemption to purchase money mortgages.

B.

Notwithstanding preemption, DIDMCA allows a State to reassert a usury limitation if:

such State adopts a law or certifies that the voters of such State have voted in favor of any provision, constitutional or otherwise, which states explicitly and by [476]*476its terms that such State does not want the provisions of subsection (a)(1) of this section to apply with respect to loans, mortgages, credit sales, and advances made in such State.

12 U.S.C. § 1735f-7a(b)(2) (emphasis added).

We reject Brown’s contention that the State of Washington reasserted its usury limitation in the 1981 enactment of its general usury statute setting an annual interest rate ceiling at the higher of twelve percent or four percentage points above the yield on 26-week T-bills, see Wash. Rev.Code § 19.52.020. The 1981 statute did not state “explicitly and by its terms” that Washington did not want DIDMCA to apply to loans made in Washington.

II.

Brown argues applying DIDMCA to these intrastate loans violates the Commerce Clause as interpreted in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 556-61, 115 S.Ct. 1624, 1629-31, 131 L.Ed.2d 626 (1995) (holding regulation of possession of firearm in school zone violated Commerce Clause because it had “nothing to do with ‘commerce’ or any sort of economic enterprise” and because it contained no jurisdictional element to ensure that each firearm possession affected interstate commerce).

The intrastate loans involved in this case are substantially related to interstate commerce. In contrast to the statute in Lopez, DIDMCA regulates commercial economic activity. Also in contrast to Lopez, Congress made specific findings that modification of state usury laws was necessary for a stable national financial system. See S.Rep. No. 96-368,1980 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 255; cf. Lopez, 514 U.S. at 561-62, 115 S.Ct. at 1631-32 (Congress not normally required to make formal findings as to substantial effect on interstate commerce, but existence of findings in history of Gun-Free School Zones Act would have helped to evaluate effect).

Brown contends intrastate loan transactions are subject to federal regulation only if independently connected to interstate commerce, citing Perez v. United States, 402 U.S. 146, 91 S.Ct. 1357, 28 L.Ed.2d 686 (1971). Perez held Congress could regulate extortionate credit transactions because such transactions were a primary source of revenue for organized crime, which directly affected interstate and foreign commerce. Id, at 154-57, 91 S.Ct. at 1361-62. In this case, the connection to interstate commerce is supplied by the highly interconnected nature of the nation’s home financing system, detailed in Congress’ findings. As the Court observed in Perez, it is the effect on interstate commerce of the class of intrastate activities that determines Congress’ power to regulate, not the effect of an individual loan. Id. at 154, 91 S.Ct. at 1361.

Contrary to Brown’s argument, the Commerce Clause does not require a “jurisdictional element” in the statute. Such an element is required to ensure a connection with interstate commerce on a case-by-ease basis “where Congress seeks to regulate a purely intrastate noncommercial activity that has traditionally been subject to exclusive regulation by state or local government, and where the connection of the regulated activity as a whole to interstate commerce is neither readily apparent nor illuminated by express congressional findings.” United States v. Pappadopoulos, 64 F.3d 522, 527 (9th Cir.1995). Here, the activity is commercial, and the connection to interstate commerce is clear.

III.

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121 F.3d 472, 97 Daily Journal DAR 9618, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5983, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 19482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-investors-mortgage-co-ca9-1997.