Wallen v. Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n (In re Wallen)

15 B.R. 559, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 2517
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California
DecidedNovember 24, 1981
DocketBankruptcy No. 81-07569(CA)13; Adv. No. 81-3573
StatusPublished

This text of 15 B.R. 559 (Wallen v. Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n (In re Wallen)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallen v. Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n (In re Wallen), 15 B.R. 559, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 2517 (Cal. 1981).

Opinion

[560]*560MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

CALVIN K. ASHLAND, Bankruptcy Judge. .

The facts in this case are not in dispute. Debtors (Wallens) purchased a certain piece of residential real property which stood as security for a promissory note executed by the previous owners in favor of Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan Association (Fidelity) as beneficiary, and Gateway Mortgage Corporation, a subsidiary of Fidelity, as Trustee. Fidelity is a private mutual savings and loan chartered under the federal Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933. This deed of trust contained a “due-on-sale” clause. When the property was transferred to the Wallens without Fidelity’s knowledge or consent, Fidelity declared the entire note to be due and payable pursuant to this clause. When the accelerated balance was not paid, Fidelity caused Gateway to commence foreclosure proceedings. The Wal-lens then filed an action in the state court to enjoin the foreclosure. Subsequently, the Wallens filed for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. This action was removed to the bankruptcy court by Fidelity on August 7, 1981 in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1478 and Interim Rule R.7004.

The parties agree that the issue presented here is solely an issue of law: whether federal regulations permitting due-on-sale provisions in deeds of trust held by federally chartered savings and loan associations preempt state law prohibiting enforcement of due-on-sale clauses under certain conditions as embodied in Wellenkamp v. Bank of America, 21 Cal.3d 943,148 Cal.Rptr. 379, 582 P.2d 970 (1978), and subsequent related eases.

Each party filed a motion for summary judgment.

Preemption of state law by federal enactment and regulation may be explicit or implicit. In either ease, it is a matter of congressional intent. Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977).

The source of the federal preemption argument in this case is the Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933 (HOLA) and regulations promulgated by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. 12 U.S.C. §§ 1461 et seq. (1933). The Act itself makes no mention of due-on-sale clauses. Congress made no explicit determination on this subject at all.

Although Congress has given broad authority to the Bank Board to promulgate regulations “to provide for the organization, incorporation, examination, operation and regulation of” federally chartered savings and loan associations, it is by no means clear that this rulemaking authority includes the power to supplant these individual debtors’ rights under state substantive law. 12 U.S.C. § 1464(a).

A congressional intention to preempt a certain field of law may be implied from the very pervasiveness of an enactment and its regulations or the federal interests at stake may be so dominant that it may be implied that Congress meant federal law to occupy the field. Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947). But in this case, the debtors’ claim has its source in an area of the state law which has traditionally been the exclusive province of the state: real property and mortgage rights. The bulk of the applicable law in this area remains state law and is unchallenged by federal regulations. In practice, the activities and rights of federal savings and loan associations are governed in part by state law and in part by federal regulations.

Preemption may also be implied when the state law is in conflict with the federal requirements. Jones v. Rath Packing Co., supra. In this case, there is no actual conflict. The federal regulation is permissive. It allows but does not require the federal savings and loan associations to insert a due-on-sale clause into their contracts with borrowers. 12 C.F.R. § 545.8-3(f) (1980). California law also allows due-on-sale clauses. It merely restricts their enforcement to those cases in which “the lender can demonstrate that enforcement is reasonably necessary to protect against im[561]*561pairment to its security or the risk of default.” Wellenkamp, 21 Cal.3d at 953, 148 Cal.Rptr. 379, 582 P.2d 970.

Furthermore, the California law is not in conflict with the purpose of the federal scheme. The Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933 was enacted at a time when relief for homeowners was a primary concern. It created federal savings and loan associations but it was the homeowners who were the primary beneficiaries of this legislation. The Bank Board was authorized to oversee and provide for the regulation of the associations. 12 U.S.C. § 1464(a). The California law of due-on-sale clauses does not have a regulatory or supervisory purpose. It does not encroach upon the internal management of federal savings and loan associations which the Bank Board is authorized to regulate. See, e. g., People v. Coast Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n, 98 F.Supp. 311 (S.D.Cal.1951) [supervisory and regulatory authority not shared with state agencies]; Conference of Federal Savings & Loan Ass’ns v. Stein, 604 F.2d 1256 (9th Cir. 1979), aff’d, 445 U.S. 921, 100 S.Ct. 1304, 63 L.Ed.2d 754 [regulatory controls over credit discrimination]; DeSimone v. Warwick Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n, 482 F.Supp. 1190 (D.R.I.1980) [internal management distinction explicitly recognized]; Gulf Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n v. Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 651 F.2d 259 (5th Cir. 1981) [internal management distinction explicitly recognized].

In the Ninth Circuit several cases presenting a question of preemption by the Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933 have been removed to federal court. In Meyers v. Beverly Hills Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n, 499 F.2d 1145 (9th Cir. 1974), the state law of prepayment penalties was found to be preempted by federal regulations under the HOLA. The applicability of this case to the present question is doubtful. This is particularly so in view of the Ninth Circuit’s later treatment of Meyers in Conference of Federal Savings & Loan Ass’ns v. Stein, in which the state regulatory control was preempted but the question of individual substantive rights was expressly reserved. (604 F.2d at 1260). With this one arguable exception these removal cases have dealt with truly internal matters and have been remanded for lack of jurisdiction to be decided according to state law.1

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Related

Erie Railroad v. Tompkins
304 U.S. 64 (Supreme Court, 1938)
Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp.
331 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1947)
Jones v. Rath Packing Co.
430 U.S. 519 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Wellenkamp v. Bank of America
582 P.2d 970 (California Supreme Court, 1978)
PEOPLE, ETC. v. Coast Federal Sav. & Loan Ass'n
98 F. Supp. 311 (S.D. California, 1951)
DeSimone v. Warwick Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n
482 F. Supp. 1190 (D. Rhode Island, 1980)
De La Cuesta v. Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n
121 Cal. App. 3d 328 (California Court of Appeal, 1981)
Panko v. Pan American Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n
119 Cal. App. 3d 916 (California Court of Appeal, 1981)
Conference of Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Stein
604 F.2d 1256 (Ninth Circuit, 1979)
Ford v. Harris County Medical Society
429 U.S. 980 (Supreme Court, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
15 B.R. 559, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 2517, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallen-v-fidelity-federal-savings-loan-assn-in-re-wallen-cacb-1981.