Essex Home Mortgage Servicing Corp. v. Fritz

740 So. 2d 1224, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 11571, 1999 WL 641819
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 25, 1999
DocketNo. 98-1918
StatusPublished

This text of 740 So. 2d 1224 (Essex Home Mortgage Servicing Corp. v. Fritz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Essex Home Mortgage Servicing Corp. v. Fritz, 740 So. 2d 1224, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 11571, 1999 WL 641819 (Fla. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

STONE, J.

Appellees/cross-appellants’ motion for rehearing is denied. However, we republish our opinion, with the corrections, as follows:

Essex Home Mortgage Corporation appeals the entry of a final judgment wherein the defendants, William and Sandra [1225]*1225Fritz, were awarded $22,000.00 in statutory damages under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., in set-off against Essex’s judgment in foreclosure. We reverse. The trial court erred in awarding Appellees statutory damages for each interest rate change that occurred during the term of.the loan.

In December 1984, Appellees obtained a variable rate loan and mortgage from Appellant’s predecessor in interest, Financial Security Savings and Loan Association, for the purchase of their residence. Financial provided Appellees with a truth in lending disclosure statement which stated that the loan had a variable rate, and that “the annual percentage rate may increase during the term of this transaction if the ‘Index’ increases.” The disclosure statement also provided that the rate would change no more than once per year, the change in rate would not exceed 2.00%, and the index would be determined with reference to the “Weekly Average Yield on United States Treasury securities adjusted to a constant maturity of 1 year, as made available by the Federal Reserve Board.”

Appellees defaulted on the loan, and Appellant sued. Along with other claims not relevant to this appeal, Appellees counter-sued for statutory damages under TILA. After a non-jury trial, the trial court entered a final judgment in foreclosure against Appellees but awarded a set-off in the amount of $22,000.00, finding that the original lender had “misstated the effect of the index on the APR of the variable rate loan,” and that “[e]ach successive change in the interest rate resulted in a new transaction and an additional violation.”

Essex concedes that the statement in the truth in lending disclosure that “the annual percentage rate, may increase during the term of this transaction if the ‘Index’ increases” was a misstatement of the .terms of the variable rate loan and, therefore, a violation of TILA subjecting it to statutory damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)(2) in the amount of $2,000. See also Hendley v. Cameron-Brovm Co., 840 F.2d 831 (11th Cir.1988); 12 C.F.R. P 226 Supp I ¶ 18(f)5.

The essential issue in this appeal relates to the award of statutory damages for each subsequent change in the variable interest rate. The Truth in Lending Act, at 15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)(2), provides that if a lender fails to comply with requirements of TILA, the lender is liable to the borrower for statutory damages equal to twice the amount financed, but not less than $200 nor more than $2,000.1 Section 1640(g) limits statutory damages in cases of multiple failures to disclose in any given transaction to a single recovery unless the lender continues its failure to disclose after recovery has been granted. See 15 U.S.C. § 1640(g). This case does not involve post-recovery disclosure violations, hence, multiple recovery would be available only if subsequent rate changes constituted new transactions.

In determining whether the subsequent rate changes should be deemed new transactions requiring new disclosures we refer to Federal Reserve Board Regulation Z2 and the Official Staff Commentary3, promulgated by the board for implementation of TILA, noting that the views of the administrative agency entrusted with enforcement of TILA have been deemed dis-positive unless demonstrably irrational. See Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Milhollin, [1226]*1226444 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 790, 63 L.Ed.2d 22 (1980).

Section 226.20(a) of Regulation Z, requires subsequent TILA disclosures if there is a refinancing. The Official Staff Commentary provides, in the case of a variable rate loan,

If the variable rate feature was properly disclosed under the regulation, a rate change in accord with those disclosures is not a refinancing ... However, if the variable rate feature was not previously disclosed, a later change in the rate results in a new transaction subject to new disclosures.

12 C.F.R. P 226 Supp. I ¶ 20(a)3.(emphasis added). Therefore, if the lender increases the interest rate in accordance with the previously disclosed terms of the variable rate loan, the interest increases are not considered new transactions and, consequently, do not require subsequent disclosures. Conversely, if the lender increases the interest rate in a manner not previously disclosed, the rate increase4 would constitute a new transaction subjecting it to new disclosure requirements.

In Key Sav. Bank, F.S.B. v. Dean, 695 So.2d 808, 810 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), we held that “increases in interest rates are not considered ‘new transactions’ when a creditor gives prior disclosure that rates are subject to change, the conditions of the changes, and the limits of any possible change.” We further stated that “If [the lender] properly disclosed the variable-rate information, then each rate change would be just a subsequent occurrence.” Id. at 810; accord Hubbard v. Fidelity Federal Bank, 824 F.Supp. 909, 918 (C.D.Cal.1993), ajfd in part and rev’d in part, 91 F.3d 75 (9th Cir.1996) (holding: “Under [12 C.F.R. Part 226, Supp. I, ¶ 20(a)(1984) ] a lender is obligated to provide new disclosures if the variable rate feature was not properly disclosed in accordance with Regulation Z and the lender (1) increases the rate based on a variable rate feature that was not previously disclosed or (2) adds a variable-rate feature to the obligation.”(emphasis added)). It is not merely the initial “mis-disclosure” that triggers the requirement of subsequent TILA disclosures, but the initial violation plus an increase in rate which is not based on the previously disclosed terms of the variable rate loan.

Here, the initial failure to disclose related solely to the effect on the interest rate when the index increased to begin the second year, as the disclosure erroneously advised the borrower that the interest rate may increase when the index increased when, in actuality, the interest rate could also increase in the second year even if the index decreased because of the effect of thé interest rate discount applicable to only the first year. See generally 12 C.F.R. P 226 Supp. I ¶ 18(f)5. However, after the first rate change, the statement that “the interest rate may increase if the index increased” would be correct because the previous year’s interest rate would no longer be a discounted rate. Therefore, we conclude that the initial misinformation did not ipso facto

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740 So. 2d 1224, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 11571, 1999 WL 641819, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/essex-home-mortgage-servicing-corp-v-fritz-fladistctapp-1999.