Whitaker v. M.T. Automotive, Inc.

855 N.E.2d 825, 111 Ohio St. 3d 177
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 8, 2006
DocketNo. 2005-0331
StatusPublished
Cited by66 cases

This text of 855 N.E.2d 825 (Whitaker v. M.T. Automotive, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whitaker v. M.T. Automotive, Inc., 855 N.E.2d 825, 111 Ohio St. 3d 177 (Ohio 2006).

Opinion

Lanzinger, J.

{¶ 1} We accepted this case as a discretionary appeal to clarify what damages are available under R.C. 1345.09, the private-remedy section of Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practice Act (“CSPA”).

[178]*178Facts

{¶ 2} This dispute, which is between appellant, Craig Whitaker, and appellee, M.T. Automotive, Inc., a car dealership doing business as Montrose Toyota (“Montrose”), arose from Whitaker’s attempt to lease a vehicle from Montrose in October 2001. Whitaker initially intended to purchase a used truck from Montrose. After discussing the maximum monthly payment that Whitaker was willing to make, one of Montrose’s salesmen suggested that Whitaker lease, rather than buy, a truck. The salesman told Whitaker that based on his credit report, the lease should be approved. Whitaker wanted to check with his credit union for financing before signing the lease and gave the salesman a $200 deposit.

{¶ 3} Discovering that his credit union would finance a lease only on a new rather than a used truck, Whitaker called Montrose to tell them he was no longer interested. Montrose’s credit manager asked Whitaker whether he would be interested in leasing the truck if Montrose could find a bank to finance a lease for $230 a month. Whitaker said he would, and later that day agreed to lease the truck for that amount. The credit manager prepared several documents including a “spot delivery”1 agreement, a lease agreement, and a vehicle-service agreement, all of which Whitaker signed. Whitaker informed the credit manager that he would come back in two days to pick up the truck.

{¶ 4} After selling his own truck, Whitaker returned to Montrose. He paid an additional $1,337, which, together with the earlier $200, was his deposit on the lease. Before Whitaker took the leased truck, he arranged to bring it back to Montrose the following Monday for repair of some scratches. He explained that he had already sold his old truck and would need to borrow one of Montrose’s vehicles while the scratches were being fixed. Whitaker then left with the leased truck and had a new stereo installed that weekend.

{¶ 5} The following Tuesday, when Whitaker went to pick up the truck from Montrose following the scratch repairs, he was told that he needed to sign a few more documents. Montrose’s business manager told Whitaker that several banks had refused to approve the lease financing but that the dealership finally had found a bank to finance the truck’s purchase with payments of $297 per month. When Whitaker refused that deal, it was suggested that he find a cosigner on the lease. The next day, Whitaker’s father, as cosigner, was presented with lease papers that increased the monthly payments from $230 to $240 and changed certain favorable terms.

[179]*179{¶ 6} Because Whitaker would not agree to the increased payments, the business manager declared the deal over and took the truck. Whitaker was told that his deposit would not be refunded because he had broken the contract. When Whitaker returned to Montrose a few days later with the duplicate keys and the original truck radio as instructed, the truck’s upgraded stereo that he had installed was missing from the dealership.

{¶ 7} Whitaker tried unsuccessfully to recover his deposit and his radio. He borrowed money from his parents for a down payment on a new truck, which he received approximately ten weeks later, and then sued Montrose for violations of R.C. Chapter 1345, the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (“CSPA”), and for breach of contract, conversion, and fraud. After Whitaker filed the complaint, Montrose returned his deposit.

{¶ 8} The case proceeded to jury trial. Montrose received a directed verdict on the fraud claim, and Whitaker withdrew his claim for breach of contract. The jury returned a verdict for Whitaker in the amount of $367.15 for the conversion of his stereo. It also determined that Montrose had knowingly committed 11 separate violations of the CSPA. For the CSPA violations, the jury awarded Whitaker $105,000 in a general verdict. The trial court, after finding that R.C. 1345.09(B) was satisfied, trebled the CSPA award to $315,000 and awarded $155,056.70 in attorney fees and case expenses.

{¶ 9} Montrose appealed the CSPA damage award, the awarding of treble damages, and the award of attorney fees, but did not appeal the findings of CSPA violations and conversion.2 Focusing on damages, Montrose argued that “Whitaker failed to present evidence that he incurred any ‘actual or real loss or injury’ as a result of any claimed violation” of the CSPA. Whitaker responded that he had presented sufficient evidence of both economic and noneconomic damages. The Ninth District Court of Appeals determined, first, that Whitaker could not recover noneconomic damages under the CSPA and, second, that there was insufficient evidence of economic loss.3 It therefore reversed the trial court’s judgment on the CSPA claim and instructed the trial court to issue a judgment awarding statutory damages pursuant to R.C. 1345.09(B).4

[180]*180Damages under the Consumer Sales Practices Act

{¶ 10} Although we have addressed the CSPA before,5 this is the first time we have accepted an appeal that asks us to explain what damages are available under R.C. Chapter 1345 and, specifically, whether noneconomic damages are included. The CSPA “prohibits suppliers from committing either unfair or deceptive consumer sales practices or unconscionable acts or practices as catalogued in R.C. 1345.02 and 1345.03. In general, the CSPA defines ‘unfair or deceptive consumer sales practices’ as those that mislead consumers about the nature of the product they are receiving, while ‘unconscionable acts or practices’ relate to a supplier manipulating a consumer’s understanding of the nature of the transaction at issue.” Johnson v. Microsoft Corp., 106 Ohio St.3d 278, 2005-Ohio-4985, 834 N.E.2d 791, ¶ 24.

{¶ 11} The CSPA “is a remedial law which is designed to compensate for traditional consumer remedies and so must be liberally construed pursuant to R.C. 1.11.” Einhorn v. Ford Motor Co. (1990), 48 Ohio St.3d 27, 29, 548 N.E.2d 933. One of its purposes is to make “private enforcement of the CSPA attractive to consumers who otherwise might not be able to afford or justify the cost of prosecuting an alleged CSPA violation, which, in turn, works to discourage CSPA violations in the first place via the threat of liability for damages and attorney fees.” Parker v. I&F Insulation Co., Inc. (2000), 89 Ohio St.3d 261, 268, 730 N.E.2d 972.

Private Remedies for Violation of the Consumer Sales Practices Act — R.C. 1345.09

{¶ 12} As part of the overall statutory scheme, R.C. 1345.09 provides the consumer remedies available for a CSPA violation, including rescission, damages, and equitable relief. The customer may rescind the transaction within a reasonable time or seek damages, which, in certain situations, may include treble damages or statutory damages of $200, whichever is greater. R.C. 1345.09(A) through (C). Equitable relief includes declaratory judgment and injunctions. R.C. 1345.09(D). Class actions are possible under R.C. 1345.09(B), and attorney fees may also be awarded, pursuant to R.C. 1345.09(F).

Unrestricted Damages — R.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
855 N.E.2d 825, 111 Ohio St. 3d 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whitaker-v-mt-automotive-inc-ohio-2006.