Hathaway v. First Family Financial Services, Inc.

1 S.W.3d 634, 1999 Tenn. LEXIS 408, 1999 WL 668786
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 30, 1999
Docket01S01-9811-FD-00203
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 1 S.W.3d 634 (Hathaway v. First Family Financial Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hathaway v. First Family Financial Services, Inc., 1 S.W.3d 634, 1999 Tenn. LEXIS 408, 1999 WL 668786 (Tenn. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

DROWOTA, Justice.

Pursuant to Rule 23 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1 this Court accepted certification of the following two questions from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee:

1. In determining the service charge that an' industrial loan and thrift company may charge under Tenn.Code Ann. § 45-5-403(l)(A) (Supp.1998) upon refinancing a loan, is the amount to be subtracted from the “total amount of the loan” (as defined in § 45-5-102(17) (Supp.1998)) the amount of the new loan that is used to pay all or a portion of the outstanding balance of the old loan from such industrial loan and thrift company to the borrower?
2. With respect to a violation of the limitations on loan charges and interest rates that are imposed by the Industrial Loan and Thrift Company Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § § 45-5-101 et seq., are a borrower’s remedies under Tennessee law limited to those remedies prescribed by the general statute pertaining to interest and other charges by lenders, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 47-14-101 et seq.?

We answer the foregoing questions in the affirmative. With respect to the first question we hold that in determining the service charge that an industrial loan and thrift company may lawfully impose under Tenn.Code Ann. § 45-5-403(l)(A), the amount to be subtracted from the “total amount of the loan” (as defined in § 45-5-102(17)) is that portion of the refinancing loan that is used to pay all or any part of the initial loan from the industrial loan and thrift company. However, interest on the initial loan that would have accrued after the date of the refinancing should not be included when computing the balance outstanding on the initial loan. With respect to the second question, we hold that a borrower’s remedies for a violation of the limitations on loan charges and interest rates imposed by the Industrial Loan and Thrift Company Act, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 45-5-101, et seq., are limited to the remedies prescribed by the general statutes pertaining to interest and other charges by lenders, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 47-14-101, et seq.

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The defendant/petitioner, First Family Financial Services, Inc., is registered with the State of Tennessee as an “industrial loan and thrift company” as defined in Tenn.Code Ann. § 45-5-102(8) (Supp. 1998). As such, it is in the business of extending loans.

*636 Plaintiffs/respondents, Joe and Willie Hathaway obtained from the defendant’s predecessor-in-interest a loan that was secured by a lien on their home in Nashville. On September 27, 1995, Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway refinanced their loan with First Family Financial Services, Inc. On that day they executed, in exchange for the second loan, a promissory note in the amount of $196,965 which included the principal amount of the second loan plus pre-computed interest (in the amount of $113,458.25) thereon over the 15-year life of the second loan. As of the date of the second loan, the outstanding balance of the Hathaways’ first loan from the defendant’s predecessor-in-interest was $76,602.85. Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway used proceeds from the second loan to pay this outstanding balance, thereby completely retiring the first loan.

The defendant imposed a service charge which was calculated by subtracting $76,-642.85, the portion of the loan that was used to retire the initial loan balance, from $196,965, the total amount of the refinancing loan. On the remaining sum of $120,-332.14, the defendant assessed a four percent service charge of $4,812.89.

Plaintiff, Clara B. Fulson, also obtained a loan from the defendant’s predecessor-in-interest and subsequently engaged in two refinancing transactions with the defendant. In each of those transactions, the defendant calculated the four percent service charge in the same previously described manner.

Thereafter, the Hathaways and Fulson filed a complaint against the defendant in the Chancery Court for Davidson County, on behalf of themselves and “others similarly situated,” alleging that the method used by the defendant to calculate the four percent service charge had resulted in a charge in excess of the maximum permitted by Tenn.Code Ann. § 45-5-403(l)(A) (Supp.1998). As a result, the plaintiffs sought “the full array of remedies provided in T.C.A. § 47-14-117 (1995).” The complaint also alleged that the excessive service charge constituted fraud, negligence, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and violated the Federal Truth in Lending Act, the Federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.

After removing the case from the Tennessee Chancery Court to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The motion recited the following grounds in support of dismissal:

The service charges at issue in the Complaint are legal pursuant to the Tennessee Industrial Loan and Thrift Companies Act. The other claims of the Complaint — those not based on the Tennessee Industrial Loan and Thrift Companies Act, T.C.A. §§ 45-5-101, et seq. — do not state a claim upon which relief can be granted because the Industrial Loan and Thrift Companies Act provides the Plaintiffs their exclusive remedy. The claims of the Plaintiffs do not fall within the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. Finally, taking the allegations of the Complaint as true, the claims under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of the Plaintiffs Hathaway and Plaintiff Fulson relating to her June 1996 loan are time barred.

As a result of the defendant’s motion to dismiss, the district judge entered an order certifying to this Court the two questions previously stated, and signifying that these questions are dispositive of the defendant’s motion to dismiss. We accepted certification of the questions, and for the reasons hereafter explained, answer both in the affirmative.

II.

LEGAL AUTHORITY AND ANALYSIS

A. Historical Background

Prior to 1978, Article 11, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution provided as follows:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Williams, Kelvin Wayne
Texas Supreme Court, 2014
Thomas Goodman Rutherford v. Melodey Joice Lawson Rutherford
416 S.W.3d 845 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2013)
Doris Hinkle v. Kindred Hospital
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2012
Hong Samouth (Sam) Rajvongs v. Dr. Anthony Wright
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2012
In Re: The Conservatorship of Paul Estil Lindsey
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2011
Patricia Ann Gho Massey v. Gregory Joel Casals
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2011
Danny Jones v. Shelby County Division of Corrections
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2008
Alena Wharton v. Robert Wharton
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2008
Midwestern Gas Transmission Company v. Frank A. Bass
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2006

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 S.W.3d 634, 1999 Tenn. LEXIS 408, 1999 WL 668786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hathaway-v-first-family-financial-services-inc-tenn-1999.