General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Commissioner of Banks

45 N.W.2d 83, 258 Wis. 56, 1950 Wisc. LEXIS 314
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 5, 1950
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 45 N.W.2d 83 (General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Commissioner of Banks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Commissioner of Banks, 45 N.W.2d 83, 258 Wis. 56, 1950 Wisc. LEXIS 314 (Wis. 1950).

Opinions

Broadfoot, J.

The findings of fact made by the trial court are a brief statement of the facts herein, and are as follows:

“1. That at all times material petitioner General Motors Acceptance Corporation, hereinafter referred to as ‘GMAC,’ [58]*58was and is a foreign corporation duly licensed to do business in the state of Wisconsin with its offices at 606 W. Wisconsin avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That at all times mentioned herein all the capital stock of GMAC with exception of directors’ qualifying shares, was and is owned by General Motors Corporation.
“2. That G. M. Matthews, who resides in the city of Madison, Wisconsin, is the duly appointed, qualified, and acting Obmmissioner of Banks of the state of Wisconsin.
“3. That continuously since 1936, GMAC has been and now is licensed in Wisconsin as a sales finance company and is engaged in the business of purchasing conditional sales contracts from automobile dealers holding franchises with General Motors Corporation.
“4. That GMAC purchases the conditional sales contract, signed by said automobile dealer, from the General Motors dealer, at a discount. In arriving at the total time price to a retail buyer under such instalment contract, the dealer adds to the cash-sale price a finance charge and also a charge for the cost of insurance, if there be any. For that purpose the dealer consults a rate chart furnished by GMAC and such chart is on file with the Banking Commission. The finance charge has been designated and is known as the ‘time-price differential.’
“5. That for the past twenty-five years there has been active competition among finance companies for the privilege of piirchasing both the contracts from General Motors dealers as well as other dealers who sell instalment contracts.
“6. That originally GMAC purchased said conditional sales contracts from said General Motors dealers with recourse and such dealers were required to make good to GMAC for any losses sustained in the event the automobile buyer failed to make payments called for by the contract.
“7. That during this time other finance companies were established and competed for the privilege of buying conditional sales contracts both from General Motors dealers and [59]*59other automobile dealers but upon a nonrecourse basis, and such companies were known as ‘nonrecourse companies.’
“8. That to meet this competition the recourse companies, of which GMAC was one, established a practice of setting aside a part of the time-price differential which at stated periods was remitted back to the automobile dealer to reimburse him for any losses he may have sustained by reason of their dealing on a recourse basis; that such part of the time-price differential set aside for the dealer was known as the reserve, or ‘dealer’s reserve’ or ‘dealer’s participation.’
“9. That for many years prior to 1935 the amount so remitted covered more than the losses incurred by such automobile dealers and became a source of profit to them. Shrewd automobile dealers began to shop around and place their business with the finance company that gave them the largest reserve out of a given instalment contract. Because of the keen competition between finance companies, certain abuses grew or developed in trying to obtain these contracts from dealers. These abuses were known as ‘packs’ and ‘rebates’ and became an excessive and a hidden expense to the automobile buyer.
“10. That the 1933 legislature, by resolution, authorized an investigation of finance companies and pursuant to such resolution the Banking Commission and an interim advisory legislative committee conducted such an investigation; that they submitted a report to the legislature of 1935 wherein they found that in many cases there were evils of excessive reserves which in reality were ‘packs’ and ‘rebates.’
“11. That as a result of said report, the 1935 legislature enacted sec. 218.01; that one of the primary purposes of such enactment was to regulate these finance companies so as to protect the automobile buyer from the evils of ‘packs,’ ‘rebates,’ and ‘excessive reserves.’
“12. That by later enactments to sec. 218.01 there was delegated to the Banking Commission the authority to make rules and regulations which would promote the interests of [60]*60retail buyers of motor vehicles and also gave to the Banking Commissioner the power to define tinfair practices in the industry.
“13. That pursuant to such statutory enactment the Banking Commissioner promulgated rules and regulations, one of which purports to regulate ‘dealer’s reserve’ or ‘dealer’s participation,’ and is the rule that is the subject of this litigation. The provisions of the rule that are under attack read as follows:
“ ‘Rule II. Dealer participation.
“ ‘A. “Dealer participation” is defined as that portion of the charge contained in the rate charts on file with the Banking Department which is retained by or remitted or credited to the dealer by the finance company and shall also include any benefit from or part of any amount collected from any retail purchaser as a finance or insurance charge, which shall come to or be retained by a motor vehicle dealer on the sale or transfer, by such dealer, or a retail instalment contract of a motor vehicle. . . .
“ ‘D. Unreasonable dealer participation.
“ T. Any unreasonable or unconscionable dealer participation is hereby declared to be an unfair trade practice. Furthermore, any dealer participation in excess of the following is declared an unfair trade practice and unconscionable.
“ ‘a. Two per cent per annum for a period not to exceed eighteen months of the unpaid balance on any retail instalment contract of a new motor vehicle. A minimum participation of $8 may be given and a maximum participation not to exceed $20.
“ ‘b. Three per cent per annum for a period not to exceed eighteen months of the unpaid balance of any retail instalment contract of a used motor vehicle, the model of which is not over two years old. A minimum participation of $8 may be given, and a maximum participation of not to exceed $20.
“ ‘c. Five per cent per annum for a period not to exceed eighteen months of the unpaid balance of any retail instalment contract of a used motor vehicle, the model of which is over [61]*61two years old. A minimum participation of $8 may be given, and a maximum participation of not to exceed $20.
“14. That since August 1, 1925, GMAC has had many finance plans in effect and since that time has required that insurance in some form be provided all at the expense of the automobile buyer; that through its advertising, both to its dealers and to the public, it has always treated and considered insurance as an integral part of the cost of financing.
“15.

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General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Commissioner of Banks
45 N.W.2d 83 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1950)

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Bluebook (online)
45 N.W.2d 83, 258 Wis. 56, 1950 Wisc. LEXIS 314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-motors-acceptance-corp-v-commissioner-of-banks-wis-1950.