Consumers Union of United States, Inc. v. Miller

84 F.R.D. 240, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10952
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 17, 1979
DocketCiv. A. No. 78-2188
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 84 F.R.D. 240 (Consumers Union of United States, Inc. v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Consumers Union of United States, Inc. v. Miller, 84 F.R.D. 240, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10952 (D.D.C. 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

GASCH, District Judge.

This is a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging a final rule and interpretation amending section 226.9 of Regulation Z, which was adopted by defendant Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“the Federal Reserve Board” or “the Board”) on July 26,1978 and became effective on August 3, 1978. 43 Fed.Reg. 34111 (1978). The amendment creates an exception to the requirement that in every credit transaction in which a security interest is taken in the consumer’s residence, the consumer shall have three business days from completion of the trans[242]*242action in which to rescind.1 The amendment exempts open end credit transactions in which the seller and creditor are not the same or related persons if the creditor gives the consumer appropriate disclosure at specified times.

Plaintiff Consumers Union (“CU”), a consumer information and education group, has brought suit alleging that the Board in promulgating this regulation exceeded its statutory authority under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq. (1976). Plaintiff also alleges that the regulation was promulgated in violation of the requirements under the TILA for creating exceptions and in violation of the procedural requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq. (1976).

Presently before the Court is defendants’ motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for a stay. Defendants seek dismissal or a stay because on February 15, 1979 the Board published notice of proposed rulemaking concerning whether to suspend- or modify the regulation in question. 44 Fed.Reg. 9761 (1979).2 Public comments were solicited on this proposal and accepted until May 31, 1979. After reviewing the comments received, the Board must decide whether to suspend or to modify the amendment or to leave the regulation in its present form. Defendants contend that dismissal is required because none of the issues raised in the Complaint is ripe for judicial resolution given the pending proposal to suspend the amendment. They also suggest that plaintiff lacks standing to maintain this action. For the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that neither argument is well-taken and therefore denies defendants’ motion to dismiss.

MERITS

A. Ripeness and Exhaustion.

Defendants argue that the Court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of this lawsuit because of the proposal currently pending before the Board to suspend or modify the challenged amendment. They contend that none of the issues raised in the complaint is ripe for judicial resolution because the agency might grant the requested relief or otherwise alter the issues presented. In either event defendants suggest that judicial resources would be needlessly expended and that plaintiff would suffer no hardship from withholding judicial review at this time. Defendants also argue that judicial review should be denied because plaintiff is required to exhaust the available administrative remedies presented by the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to rescind. Finally, they suggest in the alternative that the Court should stay judicial ac[243]*243tion until the Board acts on the pending proposal.

In determining whether a challenge to an administrative regulation is ripe for judicial review a twofold inquiry must be made. First, it is necessary to determine whether the issues presented are appropriate for judicial resolution, and second, the Court must assess the hardship to the parties if judicial relief is denied. Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 149, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 18 L.Ed.2d 681 (1967); Toilet Goods Ass’n. v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 158, 162, 87 S.Ct. 1520, 18 L.Ed.2d 697 (1967). The purpose of this doctrine is

to prevent the courts, through avoidance of premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements over administrative policies, and also to protect the agencies from judicial interference until an administrative decision has been formalized and its effects felt in a concrete way by the challenging parties.

Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. at 148-49, 87 S.Ct. at 1515.

The challenged amendment to Regulation Z was promulgated in a formal manner after notice and evaluation of submitted comments and is a final agency action under section 10 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 704 (1976). Plaintiff’s complaint presents the purely legal question of whether the Federal Reserve Board, in promulgating the regulation, acted in excess of its statutory authority. In Toilet Goods Ass’n v. Gardner, supra, the Supreme Court found that the issues were not ripe because the legal issues had not been placed in a specific factual context and some additional act was required by the agency or by the party claiming to be affected. 387 U.S. at 163-64, 87 S.Ct. 1520. This is not the case here, where the challenged regulation is presently in force.

Defendants contend that the issues are not fit for judicial review because the Board is currently reviewing a proposal to suspend or modify the amendment.3 Although they suggest that the amendment may be rescinded or modified, it is equally probable that it will be retained in its present form. The possibility of recision or modification is not enough to preclude judicial review. While the amendment remains in effect, it presents the legal issues of whether it was properly promulgated and whether creditors are offering home secured credit without the consumer rights secured by the TILA.

Contrary to defendants’ assertion, there would be clear hardship to consumers of credit if judicial review were denied. If the challenged amendment were subsequently rescinded by the Board or enjoined by judicial action, consumers who were deprived of their recision rights under the amendment would have no recourse against creditors for damages.4 Moreover, if CU members presently denied recision rights cannot repay credit drawn on home-secured open-end credit accounts, creditors could foreclose on their homes. These are certainly “effects felt in a concrete way by the challenging parties.” Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. at 148-49, 87 S.Ct. at 1515. Because of these present injuries, judicial review should not be denied and a stay of judicial proceedings is similarly inappropriate.

Defendants also urge that plaintiff should be required to exhaust its availa[244]*244ble administrative remedies by awaiting the Board’s action on the proposal to rescind or modify. CU has filed comments in both the original rulemaking and in the proposal to suspend or modify. But the opportunity to petition an agency to reconsider or modify final agency rules does not permit invocation of the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies. See International Harvester Co. v. Ruckleshaus, 155 U.S.App.D.C.

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Bluebook (online)
84 F.R.D. 240, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/consumers-union-of-united-states-inc-v-miller-dcd-1979.