Dantus v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n

502 F. Supp. 658, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17265
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedDecember 11, 1980
DocketCiv. A. No. 80-Z-920
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 502 F. Supp. 658 (Dantus v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dantus v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n, 502 F. Supp. 658, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17265 (D. Colo. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

WEINSHIENK, District Judge.

Plaintiffs initially brought this action in state court requesting a declaratory judgment that § 38-30-165, C.R.S. 1973, as amended,1 applies to a federal savings and loan association. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a), defendant First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Denver (First Federal) removed the case to this Court. Subject matter jurisdiction exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a) and under 28 U.S.C. § 1337. Defendant Public Trustee is a nominal party and does not have any substantive interest in these proceedings.

The matter is now before the Court on the parties’ Cross Motions for Summary Judgment. Briefs have been filed by the parties. In addition, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Savings and Loan League of Colorado, Inc., have filed amici curiae briefs. The parties have also filed a stipulated statement of facts which indicates the following: First Federal is a federally chartered savings and loan association, subject to regulations promulgated by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and is generally engaged in the practice of lending money which sums are secured by Colorado real estate. The plaintiffs Crane and Munoz-Hernandez executed a deed of trust with First Federal as the lender; the deed contained a “due-on-sale” clause. Without prior written approval of defendant First Federal, Crane and Munoz-Hernandez conveyed the property to plaintiff Dantus by general warranty deed. Defendant consented to the transfer of the property on condition that Dantus would agree to pay an interest rate on the remaining indebtedness due in an amount greater than a 1% increase in the previous contract rate. When Dantus refused to agree to the increased interest rate, First Federal exercised its rights under the due-on-sale clause, declared the note in default, and proceeded to commence foreclosure proceedings. This Court issued a preliminary injunction against the foreclosure proceedings.

Plaintiffs contend that the state statutory 1% limitation on real estate transfers such as the one described above applies to federal savings and loan associations. Defendant First Federal argues that federal law pre-empts the applicability of § 38-30-165.

[660]*660Having considered the briefs, the relevant statutory and case law, and the stipulated facts, the Court is now fully informed and prepared to rule on the Motions.

I.

Plaintiffs contend that Congress, by enacting 12 U.S.C. § 1425,2 subjected the Federal Home Loan Banks and their affiliates to state regulation of interest rate. They urge this Court to find that 12 U.S.C. § 1425 expressly requires defendant to comply with § 38-30-165 because the latter is a law setting a “lawful contract rate of interest” within the meaning of the federal statute. Defendant argues that the pertinent language of 12 U.S.C. § 1425 is limited to state usury statutes and that § 38-30-165 is not a usury statute because it does not set a specific maximum rate of interest.

The legislative history of 12 U.S.C. § 1425 indicates congressional intent to preserve the effectiveness of state usury laws in the regulation of federal savings and loan associations. This policy was expressed in the Conference Report accompanying the 1969 Amendment to § 1425: “When the basic statute creating the Federal home loan bank system was enacted more than 35 years ago, Congress required members of the Federal home loan bank system to comply with state usury laws .. . . ” [1969] U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News, pp. 1524, 1559 (emphasis added).

Manifestly, § 38-30-165 is not a state usury law. It does not fix a specific maximum interest rate as do usury laws. Rather, it limits the increase on a pre-existing interest rate which a real estate lender may exact upon the assumption of the loan.

Therefore, the Court concludes that 12 U.S.C. § 1425 is inapplicable in this case. In light of this determination, the Court need not consider whether the Automatic Transfer Accounts Act, P.L. 96-161 § 105, 93 Stat. 1233 (1979) pre-empts § 38-30-165 and implicitly repeals 12 U.S.C. § 1425.

II.

Defendant contends that, in exercising its rights under the due-on-sale clause, it is not subject to the limitations of § 38-30-165 because § 5(a) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933, as amended, (HOLA), 12 U.S.C. § 1464(a), and its implementing regulations, pre-empt the state law.

In considering whether state legislation is pre-empted by federal statutes and regulations under the Supremacy Clause, U.S.Const. art. VI, cl. 2, the Court must begin by assuming that the historic police powers of the States are not to be superseded by any federal laws or regulations unless that congressional purpose is clearly shown. Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947). Yet, where the federal regulatory scheme is so comprehensive as to support the inference that there can be no place for state regulation, implicit pre-emption may exist. Ray v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 435 U.S. 151, 98 S.Ct. 988, 55 L.Ed.2d 179 (1978).

Numerous courts have found that the regulatory authority of the Home Loan Bank Board granted by 12 U.S.C. § 1464(a) is so pervasive in controlling lending practices of federal savings and loan associations that state action is wholly pre-empted. See, e. g., Conference of Federal Savings and Loan Associations v. Stein, 604 F.2d 1256 (9th Cir. 1979), aff’d mem., 445 U.S. 921, 100 S.Ct. 1304, 63 L.Ed.2d 754 (1980); Meyers v. Beverly Hills Federal Savings & Loan Association, 499 F.2d 1145 (9th Cir. 1974); Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Assoc. v. Fox, 459 F.Supp. 903 (C.D.Cal.1978); Haugen v. Western Federal Savings and Loan Association of Denver, No. 79CV4680 (Colo.Dist.Ct. June 18, 1980). The Glendale case contains a thorough dis[661]*661eussion of the legislative history of the HOLA.

This Court does not have to reach the question of total pre-emption, however.

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502 F. Supp. 658, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dantus-v-first-federal-savings-loan-assn-cod-1980.