Knight v. International Harvester Credit Corp.

627 S.W.2d 382, 25 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 135, 1982 Tex. LEXIS 272
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 13, 1982
DocketC-329
StatusPublished
Cited by186 cases

This text of 627 S.W.2d 382 (Knight v. International Harvester Credit Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Knight v. International Harvester Credit Corp., 627 S.W.2d 382, 25 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 135, 1982 Tex. LEXIS 272 (Tex. 1982).

Opinion

POPE, Justice.

James Knight filed suit against Etex International, Inc., hereafter referred to as Etex, and International Harvester Credit Corporation, hereafter referred to as IHCC. Knight purchased a used International dump truck from defendant Etex in March, 1978. He asserted violations of Chapter 7 1 and Chapter 14, 2 Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5069, Consumer Credit — Consumer Protection Act. Knight also alleged that the defendants violated § 17.46(b)12 of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices — Consumer Protection Act. 3 The trial court granted a *384 summary judgment in favor of both defendants, and the court of civil appeals affirmed that judgment. 613 S.W.2d 531 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1981). We affirm that part of the summary judgment that Knight recover nothing on his claim under Chapter 14 of the Consumer Credit— Consumer Protection Act. We reverse the summary judgment that Knight take nothing on the other two claims.

Chapter 14 of the Consumer Credit Act

Knight alleged that the installment contract provided by Etex and IHCC violated various provisions of Chapter 14 of the Consumer Credit Act. The contract was signed and became effective on March 23, 1978, and suit was filed in the district court on October 24 of the same year. The Texas Legislature repealed Chapter 14 effective August 27, 1979. The question thus presented is whether the repeal terminated Knight’s right to seek recovery under Chapter 14 when his suit was then pending. The courts below held that it did in the absence of a savings clause as to pending suits.

This court has frequently held that if a cause of action is based on a statute, the repeal or amendment of that statute without a savings clause for pending suits is given immediate effect. As stated in Dickson v. Navarro County Levee Improvement District No. 3, 135 Tex. 95, 99-100, 139 S.W.2d 257, 259 (1940):

It is almost" universally recognized that if a statute giving a special remedy is repealed, without a saving clause in favor of pending suits, all suits must stop where the repeal finds them; and, if final relief has not been granted before the repeal goes into effect, it cannot be granted thereafter. A like general rule is that if a right to recover depends entirely upon a statute, its repeal deprives the court of jurisdiction over the subject matter.

This rule was restated in National Carloading Corp. v. Phoenix —El Paso Express,

Inc., 142 Tex. 141, 152, 176 S.W.2d 564, 568 (1943):

[I]f final relief has not been granted before the repeal goes into effect it cannot be granted thereafter, even if a judgment has been entered and the cause is pending on appeal. The general rule is that when such law is repealed without a saving clause, it is considered, except as to transactions past and closed, as though it had never existed.

See also Ciminelli v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 612 S.W.2d 671, 672 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi), rev’d on other grounds, 624 S.W.2d 903 (Tex.1981); Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. Gibbens, 608 S.W.2d 706, 712-13 (Tex.Civ.App.— San Antonio 1980, writ ref’d n. r. e.); Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Zapata, 605 S.W.2d 362, 364 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1980), rev’d on other grounds, 615 S.W.2d 198 (Tex.1981); Aetna Insurance Co. v. Richardelle, 528 S.W.2d 280, 284 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1975, writ ref’d n. r. e.).

The cardinal rule to be observed in any case involving statutory interpretation is that a court must look to the intent of the legislature and must construe the statute so as to give effect to that intent. State v. Terrell, 588 S.W.2d 784, 786 (Tex.1979); Calvert v. Texas Pipe Line Co., 517 S.W.2d 777, 780 (Tex.1975). The legislature could have included a savings provision in favor of pending Chapter 14 suits had it intended that such suits be preserved. Absent such a clause, we cannot presume that the legislature intended to alter the general rule that a repeal terminates existing statutory causes of action.

Knight maintains that his Chapter 14 cause of action is preserved by the general savings provision of the Code Construction Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5429b-2 (Vernon Supp.1980-81). Section 3.11 of that Act provides:

(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section, the reenactment, revi *385 sion, amendment, or repeal of a statute does not affect
(1) the prior operation of the statute or any prior action taken under it;
(2) any validation, cure, right, privilege, obligation, or liability previously acquired, accrued, accorded, or incurred under it;
(3) any violation of the statute, or any penalty, forfeiture, or punishment incurred in respect to it, prior to the amendment or repeal ....

According to Knight, Chapter 14 is part of a “code” subject to these rules of construction.

It is true that the Texas Consumer Credit and Consumer Protection Act, of which Chapter 14 is a part, is commonly referred to as the “Texas Consumer Credit Code.” In fact, the Declaration of Legislative Intent preceding that legislation refers to it as a “comprehensive code of legislation.” Even if the Consumer Credit and Consumer Protection Act is properly called a “code,” however, it is not the type code to which the Code Construction Act was intended to apply. Section 1.01 of the Construction Act states that the purpose of the Act is to provide “rules to aid in the construction of codes (and amendments to them) enacted pursuant to the state’s continuing statutory revision program.” Section 1.02 adds that the Act applies to “each code enacted by the 60th or a subsequent legislature as part of the state’s continuing statutory revision program.” The preceding statute, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5429b-l (Vernon Supp.1980-81), created the Texas Legislative Council, and authorized the Council to “plan and execute the statutory revision program.” We conclude, therefore, that the codes to which the Code Construction Act was intended to apply are those enacted pursuant to the state’s continuing statutory revision program.

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Bluebook (online)
627 S.W.2d 382, 25 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 135, 1982 Tex. LEXIS 272, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knight-v-international-harvester-credit-corp-tex-1982.