Douglas v. Beneficial Finance Co. of Anchorage

334 F. Supp. 1166, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11780
CourtDistrict Court, D. Alaska
DecidedSeptember 2, 1971
DocketCiv. A-155-70
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 334 F. Supp. 1166 (Douglas v. Beneficial Finance Co. of Anchorage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Douglas v. Beneficial Finance Co. of Anchorage, 334 F. Supp. 1166, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11780 (D. Alaska 1971).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

PLUMMER, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff, Sandra J. Douglas, instituted this class action on December 10,1970, alleging that defendants Beneficial Fi *1169 nance Company of Anchorage, Beneficial Finance Company of Fairbanks, Beneficial Finance Company of Juneau, Beneficial Finance Company of Kenai, Beneficial Finance Company of Ketchikan, Beneficial Finance Company of Kodiak, and Beneficial Finance Company of Sitka, (hereinafter referred to collectively as Beneficial) had failed to disclose a confession of judgment provision contained in notes signed by members of her class in violation of the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1601 et seq. (Supp.1971) (hereinafter referred to as the Act). On April 1, 1971, a temporary restraining order was issued to maintain the status quo pending hearing on plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction. On April 12, 1971, after hearing defendants’ motion to vacate, the restraining order was extended until April 19, 1971, which time was set for a consolidated hearing on plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction and trial on the merits. On April 13, 1971, defendants filed a second motion to vacate the restraining order, which was denied on April 16, 1971.

On April 12, 1971, defendants moved for summary judgment. On April 19, 1971, plaintiff filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. In the absence of any contested issues of fact, the court reserved judgment on the merits of the case and limited the hearing to matters related to plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction. By order of the court dated April 19,1971, the temporary restraining order was continued in effect until entry of the preliminary injunction on April 20, 1971. The following opinion incorporates portions of the April 12 and April 20 decisions; to the extent that the conclusions reached after considering the cross-motions for summary judgment are inconsistent with prior opinions in this matter the present decision is controlling.

I. PLAINTIFF’S EXHIBITS.

Beneficial has moved to strike plaintiff’s exhibits 2-6 submitted in support of their motion for summary judgment and in opposition to Beneficial’s motion for summary judgment.

Exhibit 5 purports to be an “operating manual” for the “Beneficial Finance System.” With the exception of a 1967 cover letter from one C. M. Benadom, no foundation is laid for the admission of the document. There is nothing to indicate that the manual is current, or that it was in use during the time of the alleged violations of the Act. Under these circumstances the manual would not be admissible at trial and therefore may not be used to support a motion for summary judgment. The exhibit having been stricken, Beneficial’s motion to compel answer to an interrogatory directed to the source of the manual is no longer relevant to this proceeding and is accordingly denied.

Exhibit 6 purports to be a “Transfer Account Transmittal Form.” It suffers from the same deficiencies as the “Operating Manual” and is accordingly stricken.

Exhibits 2-4 are affidavits of three attorneys (including counsel for plaintiff) who attended the deposition of Mr. H. Nicholas, Manager of Beneficial Finance Company of Fairbanks (one of the defendants in this action) in connection with the case of Priest v. Beneficial Finance Co. of Fairbanks, Civil No. 71-158, District Court, Fourth Judicial District, State of Alaska. The affidavits summarize portions of the testimony given by Mr. Nicholas concerning the number of notes transferred for collection to and from his office each month. Beneficial does not specifically challenge the accuracy of the affidavits, but contends that they should be stricken because state rules regarding depositions were abused.

The statements of Mr. Nicholas constitute an admission of one of the defendants in this case and would be admissible under an exception to the hearsay rule. The affidavits are relevant in that they tend to substantiate and define the scope of testimony given by Francis X. Mohan, Field Supervisor for Beneficial Management Corporation of *1170 America, at the hearing on the preliminary injunction. Insofar as the affidavits relate to matters within the personal knowledge of the affiants which would be admissible at trial they will be considered on the cross-motions for summary judgment. 4 Moore’s Federal Practice, If 30.51 at pp. 30-43 - 30-44 (2nd ed. 1970); 6 Moore’s Federal Practice, f[ 56.22 [1] at pp. 2810-2813. In this regard, paragraphs 9-11 of R. Brock Shamberg’s affidavit are not based upon personal knowledge and will be disregarded for purposes of the cross-motions. Automatic Radio Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 339 U.S. 827, 70 S.Ct. 894, 94 L.Ed. 1312 (1950) [affidavits on “information and belief” do not satisfy Rule 56(e)]; Perma Research & Dev. Co. v. Singer Co., 410 F.2d 572 (2d Cir. 1969) (court need not strike entire affidavit).

II. BENEFICIAL’S NOTE VIOLATES THE TRUTH IN LENDING ACT AND REGULATION Z AS INTERPRETED BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD.

The clause of the loan agreement which is the source of the difficulty appears in the third paragraph of the document entitled “Note” signed by the Douglases:

“Undersigned jointly and severally authorize and empower any attorney of law of any court of record of the State of Alaska or elsewhere in the United States to appear for undersigned, or any one of undersigned, on an action on this note in any court of the United States, State of Alaska or elsewhere in the United States at any time after default in the payment of the amount of any instalment of principal and interest thereon, and confess judgment against any one or all of the undersigned for the amount due with interest and charges permitted by said Section 06.20.260, of the Alaska Statutes, all without any benefit of valuation and appraisal laws. All parties hereto severally waive demand and presentment for payment, notice of nonpayment, notice of protest and protest of this note and agree that their liability hereunder shall not be affected by any extension of the time of payment of all or any part of the amount owing hereon at any time or times, and further waive all rights of exemption under the laws of this state. It is understood and agreed that this clause shall not operate to create a lien on any real property owned and occupied by the undersigned as a principal residence at any time during the term of this note.”

15 U.S.C.A. § 1639(a) (8) (Supp.1971) requires that those who extend consumer credit shall disclose to the debtor:

“(8) A description of any security interest held or to be retained or acquired by the creditor in connection with the extension of credit, and a clear identification of the property to which the security interest relates.”

15 U.S.C.A. § 1604 (Supp.1971) gives the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System broad discretion to prescribe appropriate regulations. Pursuant to this authority Federal Reserve Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 226

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Bluebook (online)
334 F. Supp. 1166, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11780, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/douglas-v-beneficial-finance-co-of-anchorage-akd-1971.