Davis v. Redstone Federal Credit Union

401 So. 2d 52, 1980 Ala. LEXIS 3227
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 26, 1980
Docket79-96
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 401 So. 2d 52 (Davis v. Redstone Federal Credit Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Redstone Federal Credit Union, 401 So. 2d 52, 1980 Ala. LEXIS 3227 (Ala. 1980).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

This case involves the question of whether federal credit unions are exempt from the provisions of the Alabama Consumer Credit Act (the Mini-Code, §§ 5-19-1, et seq., Code 1975). Specifically, the issue is whether the Mini-Code’s provision which limits recovery of attorney’s fees to 15% of the unpaid debt will apply to a federal credit union loan. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, in Davis v. Redstone Federal Credit Union, 401 So.2d 49 (Ala.Civ.App., 1979), held that the Mini-Code was preempted by the extensive federal regulations which govern federal credit unions. We reverse.

The doctrine of preemption has its application when both state and federal statutes and regulations seek to operate in the same area or to govern the same activity. Preemption is traditionally applied in the following circumstances: When state regulation has been expressly prohibited by Congress, Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 1152, 91 L.Ed.2d 1447 (1947); when Congress has “unmistakably ordained,” either expressly or implicitly, that federal regulations alone will govern an area or activity, Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 1217, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963); or when the state regulations either conflict with or create an obstacle to the accomplishment of a valid congressional purpose, Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941). We will discuss each circumstance as it applies to the facts in the instant case.

The statutory framework creating federal credit unions is both extensive and detailed. See 12 U.S.C. §§ 1751, et seq. Provisions for the creation, organization, operation and liquidation of credit unions have been established. Additionally, procedures for converting state credit unions to federal credit unions, and vice versa, have been outlined. Nowhere in those regulations, however, is there any provision which expressly prohibits state regulation of federal credit unions. Therefore, the application of the Alabama Mini-Code to federal credit unions cannot fall on that basis.

The issue of whether Congress has “unmistakably ordained” that federal regulations alone will govern federal credit unions is similarly disposed of. Clearly, as in the case of an express prohibition, Congress has not expressly ordained that the federal law alone will control. Whether Congress has implicitly ordained that result depends upon the scope of the regulations and the interests or purposes they advance; it has been stated that preemption is in order when “[t]he scheme of federal regulation [is] so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it”, or when “the Act of Congress [touches] a field in which the federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject” Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., supra, 331 U.S. at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152.

The stated purpose for a federal credit union is the promotion of “thrift among its members and [the creation of] a source of credit for provident or productive purposes.” 12 U.S.C. § 1752(1). This is identical to the stated legislative purpose for those credit unions chartered under the laws of Alabama, Code 1975, § 5-17-1, as well as other states. See, e. g., La Caisse Populaire Ste. Marie v. United States, 563 F.2d 505, 509 (1st Cir. 1977); State v. Price, 168 Ohio St. 499, 156 N.E.2d 316, 318 (1959). The promotion of thrift and the creation of sources of credit for productive purposes are interests of great concern on both local and national levels. These concerns are greatest, however, in the local community where the credit union operates as it is within that community that the fruits of the credit union’s operation will be distributed and have their greatest and most direct impact. Because of this significant local interest, we find that the Federal Credit Union Act does not create a circumstance for implicit preemption as the Act does not regulate an activity in which there [54]*54is a “dominant” federal interest to justify the preclusion of all state regulation.

As we have noted, the statutory framework establishing federal credit unions is both detailed and extensive. That fact alone, however, does not give rise to the “inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it.” Quite to the contrary, the court in United States v. State of Alabama, 434 F.Supp. 64 (M.D.Ala.1977), found that the provisions of the Alabama Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act could be applied to records held by a federal credit union. The court in that action stated:

That Congress did not have such a purpose [of preempting all state regulation] in mind when it adopted the Federal Credit Union Act is evident from an examination of the Act. Not only is there lacking a preemptive section as in other acts (e. g., Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, 15 U.S.C. § 751 et seq.), the Federal Credit Union Act specifically authorizes the states to act within this sphere. Title 12, Section 1771, United States Code, provides the procedure whereby a federal credit union may convert to a state credit union, and vice versa. A fortiori, the federal act does not preclude the states from operating in other areas traditionally left to their control. Therefore, this is not a situation where Congress has “unmistakably ... ordained” that its acts alone will regulate a given area of commerce. See Florida Lime and Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, supra.

434 F.Supp. at 67.

The most persuasive evidence that Congress did not intend to preempt all state regulation of federal credit unions is found in the most recent amendments to the Federal Credit Union Act. Regulations concerning the interest rates chargeable by a federal credit union are set out in two sections. Section 1757 outlines the general powers of federal credit unions; Subsection (5)(A)(vi) provides that, without special authorization, the maximum interest a credit union may charge on a loan to a credit union member may not exceed fifteen per centum. Section 1785 set out those regulations applicable to insured credit unions.1 Subsection (g)(1), pertaining to interest rates, provides:

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

Related

Neal v. Redstone Federal Credit Union
447 So. 2d 805 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1984)
Davis v. Redstone Federal Credit Union
401 So. 2d 55 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
401 So. 2d 52, 1980 Ala. LEXIS 3227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-redstone-federal-credit-union-ala-1980.