Kovalik v. Delta Investment Corp.

611 P.2d 955, 125 Ariz. 602, 1980 Ariz. App. LEXIS 456
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 20, 1980
DocketNos. 1 CA-CIV 4460, 1 CA-CIV 4786
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 611 P.2d 955 (Kovalik v. Delta Investment Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kovalik v. Delta Investment Corp., 611 P.2d 955, 125 Ariz. 602, 1980 Ariz. App. LEXIS 456 (Ark. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

OPINION

EUBANK, Presiding Judge.

Appellant Delta Investment Corporation questions whether its contract with Russell and Nancy Kovalik (appellees) was subject to the Federal Truth In Lending Act (15 U.S.C. § 1635), and asks us to determine the proper remedy for a creditor’s failure to comply with the section.

Appellees entered into a written contract to purchase a lot in appellant’s mobile home park on April 24, 1974. They made a down payment and the balance was due in monthly installments. Appellant retained a lien against the lot, and title was to pass to appellees only upon payment of the full purchase price. After attempting unsuccessfully to sell the lot in November 1974, appellees served a notice of rescission on appellant on January 13, 1975. However, appellees sent and appellant received a monthly payment check, subsequent to the notice of rescission, on January 27. This was the last payment appellees made. On February 13, 1975, appellees’ attorney sent appellant a letter affirming the notice of rescission. Despite these communications, appellant never returned appellees’ contract payments, and never terminated its security interest in the lot. Instead, it forfeited appellees’ contract rights by a Notice of Election and Declaration of Forfeiture dated April 5, 1975.

In June 1975, appellees filed a complaint against appellant in the Superior Court. Counts I and II allege that appellant violated 15 U.S.C. § 1635 by failing to return appellees’ contract payments, and by forfeiting their interest in the lot.1 On May [604]*60430, 1978, the trial court granted appellees’ motion for partial summary judgment on Counts I and II. The judgment states that the following material facts are uncontroverted:

1. Defendant [appellant] failed to give notice to plaintiff of the right to rescind the transaction as described in 12 C.F.R. 226.9(b).
2. Defendants’ failure to comply with the provisions of 12 C.F.R. 226.9(d) upon receiving notice of plaintiffs’ desire to cancel the transaction.
3. Defendant was a creditor as defined in 15 U.S.C. 1602(f).
4. Plaintiffs intended to use the real property as a principal residence.

See Rule 56(d), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S. The judgment reserved the question of damages for trial.

During the trial to the court on damages, the parties stipulated that appellees had paid $2,523.55 for the lot, and that its fair market value was $9,395. In the December 19, 1978 judgment, the trial court awarded appellees both amounts as damages, plus interest and costs. Appellant appealed separately from each judgment and they have been consolidated in this Court.

The Truth In Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., gives certain debtors a right to rescind within three days after the sale, and requires the creditor to notify the debt- or of that right. 15 U.S.C. § 1635. The right in this situation arises only in sales where the creditor obtains a security interest “. . .in any real property which is used or is expected to be used as the residence of the person to whom credit is extended . . . 15 U.S.C. § 1635(a). 12 C.F.R. § 226.9(a) further limits the right to the situation where the security interest is against the debtor’s principal residence.

Appellant first argues that the trial court erred in granting appellees summary judgment because whether the Kovaliks intended to use the lot as their principal residence is a genuine issue of material fact. Summary judgment is proper only if the record contains no disputed issues of material fact, only one inference can reasonably be drawn from the facts, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S.; Livingston v. Citizen’s Utility, Inc., 107 Ariz. 62, 64, 481 P.2d 855, 857 (1971).

When read in a light most favorable to appellant, the record before the trial court showed that when the parties executed the contract the lot was vacant; that the Kovaliks subsequently purchased a mobile home, but never moved it onto the lot, but in fact moved it onto another lot; that the Kovaliks inquired about reselling the property before entering the contract, and did try to sell it approximately eight months after executing the contract; and [605]*605that the Kovaliks never told appellant that they intended to use the lot as their residence. The record also contains the Kovaliks’ affidavit which states that they intended to make the lot their principal residence, and the contract with appellant which provides that the lot only be used for a mobile home. In our opinion, the record supports more than one inference concerning the Kovaliks’ intent to use the lot as their principal residence. The partial summary judgment for appellees is therefore reversed.

Because we are reversing the summary judgment we must answer two legal arguments made by appellant. The first is whether the transaction sub judice is exempt from the Act under 15 U.S.C. § 1685(e). See footnote 1, supra. The subsection exempts the creation or retention of a first lien against a dwelling in order to finance the acquisition of the dwelling. Appellant contends that the mobile home lot is a dwelling for purposes of the Act. The court in Charnita Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, 479 F.2d 684 (3rd Cir. 1973) addressed this issue. It held that a lot is not a dwelling, and that a transaction which creates a first lien against a mere parcel of land is not exempt from the Act. Id. at 687. This conclusion is supported by the legislative history of 15 U.S.C. § 1635(e), which, in part, states:

Any credit transaction which involves a security interest in property must be clearly explained to the consumer as involving a mortgage or lien; any such transaction involving the consumer’s residence — other than in a purchase-money first mortgage for the acquisition of the home —carries a 3-day cancellation right. (Emphasis added)

114 Congressional Record 14388 (1968).

The foregoing conforms with the definition of a dwelling set forth in Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
611 P.2d 955, 125 Ariz. 602, 1980 Ariz. App. LEXIS 456, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kovalik-v-delta-investment-corp-arizctapp-1980.