Case Title: Itri v. Equibank, NA

Citation: 318 Pa. Super. 268, 464 A.2d 1336

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 1983-08-19T00:00:00Z

Document:
318 Pa. Superior Ct. 268 (1983) 464 A.2d 1336 Henry J. ITRI and Joanne V. Itri, his wife, Appellants, v. EQUIBANK, N.A. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued April 26, 1983. Filed August 19, 1983. *270 Lee R. Golden, Pittsburgh, for appellants. Sidney R. Finkel, Pittsburgh, for appellee. Before ROWLEY, POPOVICH and HOFFMAN, JJ. POPOVICH, Judge: This is an appeal by the appellants, Henry J. and Joanne V. Itri, from the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County sustaining appellee's, Equibank's, preliminary objections (in the nature of demurrers and jurisdictional grounds) to their Complaint in Trespass. We reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this Opinion. Since review is sought of the sustainment of the preliminary objections in the nature of demurrers, the well-pleaded factual allegations set forth in the Complaint are to be regarded as true for purposes of review. Carlino v. Whitpain Investors, 499 Pa. 498, 453 A.2d 1385 (1982). The facts as alleged by appellants' Complaint establish the following: In 1973, appellants' Pennsylvania based corporation, Itri Construction Co., of which Henry Itri was President, began to engage in banking transactions with (Douglas McAdams, William Roderus, H.P. Pernisek and Scott Gray) duly authorized agents of appellee. The transactions consisted of, inter alia, borrowing money with payments to be made in accordance with installment notes and demand notes. *271 On or about September 21, 1975, appellee (in particular William Roderus) became aware that Henry Itri had suffered a heart attack, and, as a result, would not be able to continue operating the construction business. Thereafter, on or about May 27, 1976, a 1975 commercial note drawn on the appellee in the amount of $10,000 was satisfied by the appellants borrowing $12,700 from the same banking institution and executing another note to evidence the debt. This was the first time that the appellant-wife became jointly liable with the appellant-husband to the appellee. After the passage of almost two years (September 9, 1978), appellants paid the outstanding balance owing on the May, 1976 personal loan by securing a new advancement ($10,000), evidenced by a note, from appellee, which was to be used for personal rather than commercial expenses. There was no dispute between the parties that the $10,000 note was the primary obligation of the appellants, as distinguished from the corporation, and was secured by an insurance policy on the life of the appellant-husband, issued by General American Life Insurance and owned by appellant-wife. Lastly, it was agreed that repayment was to be made in monthly installments "and that the full amount of said note was not to be demanded unless [appellants] defaulted in making a monthly payment." (See Appellants' "Complaint in Trespass," Point 19) The last portion of appellants' Complaint consists of sixteen (16) counts which allege, in pertinent part, the following: WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs demand judgment against the Defendant in a sum in excess of $10,000 as follows: We note that the first 15 counts, of appellants' 16-count Complaint, attribute the appellee and/or its agent(s) with the commission of various acts, all of which concluded with the phraseology that the complained of acts were "in violation of 15 U.S.C., Section 1692" of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. (See Appellants' "Complaint in Trespass," Counts I-XV) The last count, "COUNT XVI," asserts both a federal and state cause of action.[1] Nonetheless, the trial court, by Order dated August 4, 1980, sustained appellee's preliminary objections "as to the jurisdiction of the . . . Court [of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Civil Division,] to hear and rule upon the merits of appellants' Complaint." In an accompanying Opinion, the trial judge (Zappala, J.) examined the federal statute in question (15 U.S.C.A. § 1692k(d)) and its counterpart in this Commonwealth (42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931), i.e., in terms of the jurisdictional issue, and concluded: As can be expected, the appellee echoes the sentiments expressed supra and argues that, "As the [trial] court did not have jurisdiction over the claims involving the alleged violations of the Act, the [trial] court necessarily had to dispose of the entire complaint due to the lack of jurisdiction." (Appellee's Brief at 4) Just as predictably, appellants argue to the contrary. However, interestingly enough, neither party to the litigation nor the trial judge cites any case law to substantiate their respective positions. Rather, each merely recites the statutory law in question, gives his interpretation of same and, then, ends his discussion with a conclusionary statement couched in terms supportive of their view. Because of the dearth of relevant information presented to this Court, we have had to rely upon our own research. What we have uncovered undermines the trial court's and appellee's joint stance. To start with, appellants' federal cause of action is premised upon allegations that the appellee and/or its agent(s) has violated various provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). 15 U.S.C.A. § 1692 et seq. Next, from a historical prospective, we observe that: Staub v. Harris, 626 F.2d 275, 276-277 (3rd Cir. 1980). Furthermore, it must be noted that a plaintiff bears the unquestioned burden of establishing jurisdiction where the question of the sufficiency of his jurisdictional allegations is before the court on a motion to dismiss. See Kizer *279 v. Finance America Credit Corp., 454 F. Supp. 937, 938 (N.D.Miss. 1978). Having established a framework within which to understand the FDCPA, we may now turn our attention to the crux of the case, i.e., whether the court of common pleas has subject-matter jurisdiction over the matter in controversy under subsection (d) of Section 1692k, which reads: 15 U.S.C.A. § 1692k(d). The appellee filed preliminary objections alleging, inter alia, that the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County had no jurisdiction to hear any cause of action under the FDCPA since "[t]he statutes of the Commonwealth d[id] not vest this Court with the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the Complaint of Plaintiffs." (Appellee's "Preliminary Objections," Point 1) This position was embraced by the trial court and reasserted by the appellee before this Court. However, we are not dissuaded by such an argument, especially in the absence of supportive authority, for several reasons. First, those (federal) courts which have had occasion to rule upon the meaning of subsection (d) of Section 1692k have stated that: "The language is to be construed as a concurrent grant of jurisdiction to U.S. district and state courts. See S.Rep. No. 382, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 8 (1977), reprinted in 1977 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 1695, 1702; Peterson v. United States Accounts, Inc., 638 F.2d 1134, 1135-36 (8th Cir. 1981) (dictum)." In re Scrimpsher, 17 B.R. 999, 1004 n. 8 (Bkrtcy.N.D.N.Y. 1982). *280 Second, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in ruling upon the propriety of a Commonwealth court acting as the forum for the enforcement of a federal law (Truth-In-Lending Act)[2] that contained language in its jurisdiction section identical to that in FDCPA, held: Household Consumer Discount Co. v. Vespaziani, 490 Pa. 209, 212 n. 5, 415 A.2d 689, 691 n. 5 (1980). Lastly, we need only look to this Court's decisions to buttress the contention that, in the case here, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1692k(d) would support a suit in either state or federal court. To-wit, in Harrington v. Philadelphia City Employees Federal Credit Union, 243 Pa.Super. 33, 364 A.2d 435 (1976), this Court had the opportunity to remark upon the viability of bringing a suit in either federal or state court under the Federal Credit Union Act. 12 U.S.C.A. § 1751 et seq. We first found that the Act permitted suit to be commenced "in any court of law or equity, State or Federal." 12 U.S.C.A. § 1789(a)(2). Thereafter, we made remarks which are quite appropriate to the case at bar; viz.: Id., 243 Pa.Superior Ct. at 41-42, 364 A.2d at 440. Instantly, as in Harrington, we see no reason, given the federal statute in question and the manner in which it has been construed, to restrict resolution of appellants' claims to the federal forum. For, as stated quite aptly by this Court in Harrington, "There is nothing in the present statute making federal jurisdiction exclusive in all instances, nor is there any particular reason for so restricting jurisdiction." Id. Accord DiAntonio v. Pennsylvania State University, 455 F. Supp. 510, 512 (M.D.Pa. 1978); cf. Salatino v. Pennsylvania Nurses Association, 293 Pa.Super. 336, 439 A.2d 140 (1981) (federal labor act did not preempt subject matter jurisdiction over case involving alleged breach of union's duty of fair representation of its members, and, thus, common pleas court had jurisdiction to hear the dispute). Since neither side presents any evidence to indicate that a cause of action identical to that being appealed from here was instituted in federal court, see Wolgin v. State Mutual Investors, 265 Pa.Super. 525, 402 A.2d 669 (1979), we find the foregoing discussion dispositive of the issue (jurisdictional controversy) before this Court. For the reasons stated above, appellants' Complaint in Trespass is reinstated and the matter is to proceed in the court below as *282 though no preliminary objections were sustained on behalf of the appellee.[3] Order is reversed and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with this Opinion. Jurisdiction is relinquished. [1] Because of the result reached instantly, we find it inappropriate to decide whether either cause of action presents a viable claim entitling appellants to the damages sought. [2] 15 U.S.C.A. § 1601 et seq. The jurisdiction portion of the Truth-In-Lending Act was interpreted by this Court as follows: State courts nevertheless have concurrent jurisdiction to hear disputes relating to the Truth-In-Lending Act. Section 130(e) of the Act provides that, "Any action under this section may be brought in any United States district court, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction . . . ." 15 U.S.C. § 1640(e). See Lewis v. Delta Loans, Inc., 300 So. 2d 142 (Miss. 1974). Household Consumer Discount Co. v. Vespaziani, 255 Pa.Super. 367, 372 n. 4, 387 A.2d 93, 95 n. 4 (1978), rev'd on other grounds, 490 Pa. 209, 415 A.2d 689 (1980). [3] We will not rule upon the other assertions raised by the appellants or appellee in their brief to this Court, in light of the ruling just made, for to do so would be the equivalent of issuing an advisory opinion. As we stated in a similar context, "This Court is not in the practice of rendering advisory opinions on questions which have not been fully briefed and argued below [so as to give the lower court the first opportunity to resolve the dispute]; to do otherwise, would be presumptive of the lower court's determination on remand." Commonwealth v. Hamlin, 302 Pa.Super. 86, 93 n. 2, 448 A.2d 538, 542 n. 2 (1982); see also Mt. Lebanon v. County Board of Elections, 470 Pa. 317, 368 A.2d 648 (1977); Pa. Public Utility Commission v. County of Allegheny, 415 Pa. 313, 203 A.2d 544 (1964). However, we do advise that the following cases, although not an exhaustive list of matters to be reviewed in resolving the issues raised by appellants' Complaint in Trespass, should be examined to ascertain some insight into the scope of, and the remedies afforded by, the FDCPA. See Peterson v. United Accounts, Inc., 638 F.2d 1134 (8th Cir. 1981); Staub v. Harris, 626 F.2d 275 (3rd Cir. 1980); Kizer v. Finance America Credit Corp., 454 F. Supp. 937 (N.D.Miss. 1978). Also, the FDCPA should be read to facilitate a resolution of the controversy.