Gardner v. Montgomery County Teachers Federal Credit Union

864 F. Supp. 2d 410, 2012 WL 1994602, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77062
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJune 4, 2012
DocketCivil No. 1:10-cv-02781-JKB
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 864 F. Supp. 2d 410 (Gardner v. Montgomery County Teachers Federal Credit Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gardner v. Montgomery County Teachers Federal Credit Union, 864 F. Supp. 2d 410, 2012 WL 1994602, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77062 (D. Md. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

In Re: Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 39) Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 40)

JAMES K. BREDAR, District Judge.

Kevin and Joanne Gardner (“Plaintiffs”) brought this putative class-action suit against the Montgomery County Teachers Federal Credit Union (“Defendant”) alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601, et seq. (“TILA”), and the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, Md. Code Ann., Com. Law § 13-101, et seq. (“MCPA”). Now pending before the Court are cross-motions for summary judgment. The issues have been briefed and no oral argument is required. Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons explained below, Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 39) will be GRANTED IN PART (with respect to Counts III and IV of the Amended Complaint) and DENIED IN PART (with respect to Count I) and Plaintiffs’ Cross-motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 40) (with respect to Count I) will be GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

This case involves a dispute between a federally chartered credit union (Defendant) and two of its customers (Plaintiffs) over the legality of the credit union’s practice of using funds from customers’ checking and savings accounts to offset debt that the customers have incurred on their credit card accounts. Plaintiffs, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner, are Maryland consumers who maintain checking, savings, and credit card accounts with Defendant. On October 27, 2009, Defendant withdrew $145.00 from Plaintiffs’ deposit accounts ($49.16 from their checking account and $95.84 from their savings account) in order to satisfy an amount due on their credit card account. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant made these withdrawals without their authorization. They further allege that it is Defendant’s general practice, referred to as the Delinquent Loan Transfer Program (“DLT Program”), to use software to automatically withdraw funds from customers’ deposit accounts to satisfy delinquent credit card balances.

On October 7, 2010, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in this Court alleging violations of the TILA and the MCPA and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. (ECF No. 1). On June 7, 2011, they filed a [413]*413motion to certify a plaintiff class consisting of “[a]ll persons who have had both a deposit account and credit card account with the Defendant in the three years preceding the filing of this complaint.” (ECF No. 14-1). The Court, however, held the motion in abeyance and deferred the issue of class certification until any dispositive pre-trial motions on the substance of Plaintiffs’ claims had been resolved.

On January 14, 2012, Defendant filed a motion for partial summary judgment with respect to Plaintiffs’ claim under the MCPA. The Court granted the motion, finding that Plaintiffs had failed to allege any facts or advance any legal theories suggesting that Defendant had committed unfair or deceptive trade practices under that statute. (Memorandum, ECF No. 37). Specifically, the Court rejected Plaintiffs’ theory that a violation of the TILA was a per se violation of the MCPA. In doing so, the Court also noted that, even if that theory were correct, Plaintiffs had not offered any evidence of a TILA violation either. The Court therefore invited Defendant to file a second motion for summary judgment with respect to Plaintiffs’ remaining claims. (Order, ECF No. 38). The Court set a briefing schedule, giving Defendant until March 9, 2012 to file its motion and giving Plaintiffs until March 19 to file a response. The Court gave Defendant the option of filing a reply no later than March 26.

On March 9, 2012, Defendant filed its second motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 39) per the Court’s order. On March 26, Plaintiffs filed a response in opposition combined with their own cross-motion for partial summary judgment (ECF No. 40). On April 18, the Court issued a letter order apprising the parties that it had reconsidered its previous position, expressed in dicta, that the evidence Plaintiffs had thus far adduced was insufficient to show a TILA violation. Specifically, the Court observed that the law was unclear as to which party bore the burden of proof on the issue of whether Defendant had a valid security interest in the Plaintiffs’ deposit funds, and speculated that the burden might be on Defendant to prove that it did have such an interest. In view of this development, the Court gave each party until May 9, 2012 to file supplemental memoranda on the issue of the burden of proof, in addition to the normal course of responses and replies to the motions for summary judgment. Defendant filed a supplemental memorandum on May 9, but Plaintiffs did not. The Cross-motions for summary judgment are now ripe.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A party seeking summary judgment must show “that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact” and that he is “entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.CivP. 56(a). If a party carries this burden, then the court will award summary judgment unless the opposing party can identify specific facts, beyond the allegations or denials in the pleadings, that show a genuine issue for trial. Fed. R.CivP. 56(e)(2). To carry these respective burdens, each party must support its assertions by citing specific evidence from the record. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1)(A). The court will assess the merits of the motion, and any responses, viewing all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the opposing party. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007); Iko v. Shreve, 535 F.3d 225, 230 (4th Cir.2008).

III. ANALYSIS

A. Count I: Wrongful Offset

Count I of the Amended Complaint (ECF No. 24) alleges that Defendant seized funds from Plaintiffs’ deposit ac[414]*414counts to offset their credit card debt without their authorization, in violation of TILA, 15 U.S.C. § 1666h and Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 226.12(d), which read as follows:

15 U.S.C. § 1666h
A card issuer may not take any action to offset a cardholder’s indebtedness arising in connection with a consumer credit transaction under the relevant credit card plan against funds of the cardholder held on deposit with the card issuer unless—
(1) such action was previously authorized in writing by the cardholder in accordance with a credit plan whereby the cardholder agrees periodically to pay debts incurred in his open end credit account by permitting the card issuer periodically to deduct all or a portion of such debt from the cardholder’s deposit account ...
12 C.F.R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
864 F. Supp. 2d 410, 2012 WL 1994602, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77062, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gardner-v-montgomery-county-teachers-federal-credit-union-mdd-2012.