Gibbons v. Interbank Funding Group

208 F.R.D. 278, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8394, 2002 WL 959414
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedApril 23, 2002
DocketNo. C-00-3888 PJH
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 208 F.R.D. 278 (Gibbons v. Interbank Funding Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gibbons v. Interbank Funding Group, 208 F.R.D. 278, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8394, 2002 WL 959414 (N.D. Cal. 2002).

Opinion

[280]*280ORDER1

HAMILTON, District Judge.

Defendant PSB’s motion for summary-judgment and plaintiffs motion for class certification came on for hearing on April 3, 2002, before this court, the Honorable Phyllis J. Hamilton presiding. Defendant PSB appeared by its counsel Gregory S. Cavallo, and plaintiff appeared by his counsel Jeff Pollack. Having read the parties’ papers and carefully considered their arguments and the relevant legal authority, the court hereby rules as follows for the reasons stated at the hearing.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff brings this suit under the Truth In Lending Act (“TILA”), alleging that he was presented with loan documents that did not inform him of his right to rescind as required by TILA, and seeking to represent a class of similarly situated class members.

On January 9, 1998, plaintiff and his wife signed documents to obtain a loan from defendant Interbank Funding Group (“Interbank”)2 in the amount of $40,000. Complaint, H 9. According to the complaint, the loan proceeds were to be used “primarily for personal, family and household purposes” and the loan was secured by a second deed of trust on plaintiffs home. Id. Plaintiff mailed the documents referenced above to Interbank the same day that he signed them (January 9). At some point, the loan was consummated, plaintiff received the funds3, and began making payments on the loan. Plaintiff never attempted to rescind the loan.

One of the documents plaintiff received on January 9 was a Notice of Right to Cancel form, which advised plaintiff of his rescission rights under TILA. The form that plaintiff received was identical to model form H-9, promulgated pursuant to TILA by the Federal Reserve Board. Form H-9 is meant for consumers who are entering into loan transactions with the creditor who financed a previous loan secured by the borrower’s home. Since Interbank was not the lender who made the first loan secured by plaintiffs home, defendant PSB concedes that H-9 was not the correct form. Plaintiff contends that he should have received a notice that included the information found in model form H-8, which is intended for loans from a lender who does not already hold a security interest in the borrower’s home. The H-9 form received by plaintiff states, in relevant part:

You are entering into a new transaction to increase the amount of credit previously provided to you. We acquired a mortgage or security interest on your home under the original transaction and will also acquire a mortgage or security interest on your home in the new transaction. You have a legal right under Federal law to cancel the new transaction, without cost, within three business days from whichever of the following events occurs last:
1) the date of the new transaction, which is H9l984 or
2) the date you received your Truth in Lending disclosures; or
3) the date you received this notice of your right to cancel.
If you cancel the new transaction, your cancellation will only apply to the increase in the amount of credit. It will not apply to the amount you presently owe or the mortgage or security interest we have on your home to secure that presently owed amount. If you cancel, the mortgage or security interest solely as it applies to the increased amount is also cancelled, but we will retain a mortgage or security interest in your home to secure the amount you presently owe, which will remain repayable according to the terms of your existing credit transaction.

[281]*281Plaintiffs H-9 form further provided that if plaintiff wished to rescind by mail, he had to mail the notice no later than midnight of January 13, 1998 (three business days after January 9). Plaintiff received two copies of this form, and he and his wife signed one of them to acknowledge receipt and sent it back to Interbank.5

' Also among the disclosure documents received by plaintiff on January 9 was a form entitled “Acknowledgment.” This form, which included a signature line for the borrower, confirmed the borrower’s understanding that the requested loan was “still conditioned” upon the review and investigation of the information provided by the borrower, including credit history. The acknowledgment form further states:

Applicant(s) acknowledge that by receiving the loan application and agreeing to review all such subjective and objective factors and making a determination as to whether or not it will make a loan to applicant(s), that Lender is not bound to make a loan to the apphcant(s), that Lender is not bound to make any loan, nor has it agreed to do so. Until such time, applicants’ status is that of an individual seeking a loan and the receipt of the application is not an obligation upon Lender to make the applicants) a loan. I/We have read the above acknowledgment, and understand and agree that until such time as we are notified that our loan application has been reviewed, approved, and accepted, Lender is not obligated to make us a loan.

Plaintiffs complaint alleges two defects in the Notice of Right to Cancel. First, plaintiff argues that the H-9 form included “misleading and objectively false information about the nature of plaintiffs right to rescind” and that he should have received the H-8 form instead.

The second alleged defect is that the date of the rescission deadline written on the Notice (January 13) is incorrect. This contention is based on the argument that the language in the acknowledgment form quoted above establishes that as of January 9, there was no agreement to make a loan, and that the rescission period could not begin until there was such an agreement. Thus, whenever the rescission period began, it was at some point later than January 9.

DISCUSSION

A. PSB’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

PSB moves for summary judgment on the grounds that the rescission notice given to plaintiff satisfied TILA as a matter of law. As will be seen, PSB fails to make that showing.

1. Legal Standard.

Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue as to material facts and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. Material facts are those that might affect the outcome of the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248,106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute as to a material fact is “genuine” if there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Id. The court may not weigh the evidence, and is required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id.

A party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion, and of identifying those portions of the pleadings and discovery responses that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,

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Bluebook (online)
208 F.R.D. 278, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8394, 2002 WL 959414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibbons-v-interbank-funding-group-cand-2002.