Aun-rm. TB:XAS 7~3711 

February 28, 1972 

Hon. Sam Kelley, Commissioner 

Office of Consumer Credit 

1011 San Jacinto 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Mr. Kelley: 

Opinion No. ~-1082 

Re: Acre the charges specified 

in Art. 5069-3.15(8), V.C.S. 

authorized by Art. 5069-3.16 

V.C.S., both statutes pertaining to consumer credit 

loans? 

You have requested an opinion from this office as to whether the 

charges authorized in Article 5069-3.15(8), Vernon’s Civil Statutes, are 

authorized charges under Article 5069-3.16. 

The statutory provisions, relevant to your request, state in part 

the following: 

Article 5069-3.15(l) 

“Every licensee may contract for and receive on any loan 

made under this chapter. . . an add-on interest charge computed 

on the cash advance for the full term of the loan contract in accordance with the following schedule: 

“Eighteen Dollars per One Hundred Dollars per annum on that 

part of the cash advance not in excess of Three Hundred Dollars, 

and Eight Dollars per One Hundred Dollars per annum on that part 

of the cash advance in excess of Three Hundred Dollars but not in 

excess of Twenty-Five Hundred Dollars.” 

A~rticle 5069-3.15(8) 

“In addition to the authorized charges provided in this chapter 

no further or other charge or amount whatsoever shall be directly 

or indirectly, charged, contracted for, or received. This includes 

(but is not limited by) all charges such as fees, compensation, 

bonuses, commissions, brokerage, discounts, expenses, and every 

other charge of any nature whatsoever, whether of the types listed 

herein or not. Without limitation of the foregoing, such charges may 

be any form of costs or compensation whether contracted for or not, 

received by the licensee, or any other person, in connection with (a) 

the investigation, arranging, negotiation, procuring, guaranteeing, 

-5293- 
Hon. Sam Kelley, page 2. (M-1082) 

making, servicing, collecting, or enforcing of a loan; or (b) 

for the forbearance of money, credit, goods or things in action; 

or (c) for any other service or services performed or offered. 

However, the prohibitions set out herein shall not apply to 

amounts actually incurred by a licensee as court costs; attorney 

fees assessed by a court; lawful fees for filing, recording, or 

releasing in any public office any security for a loan; the reasonable cost actually expended for repossessing, storing, preparing 

for sale, or selling any security; or fees for noting a lien on or 

transferring a certificate of title to any motor vehicle offered 

as security for a loan made under this Chapter, or premiums or 

identifiable charge received in connection with the sale of insurance 

authorized under this Chapter. ” 

Article 5069-3.16(l) 

“On loans having a cash advance of One Hundred Dollars 

or less, a licensee may charge, in lieu of charges specified 

in Article 3.15, the following amounts: (Emphasis added) 

1, 

. . . 

“On any cash advance of an amount in excess of Seventy 

Dollars but not in excess of One Hundred Dollars, there shall 

be allowed an acquisition charge for making the advance not 

in excess of one-tenth of the amount of the cash advance. In 

addition thereto, an installment account handling charge shall 

be allowed not to exceed Four DoIlars per month. ” 

Article 5069-3.16(3) 

“On such loans under this Article, no insurance charges or 

any other charges of any nature whatsoever shall be permitted.” 

(Emphasis added) 

Article 5069-3.16(4) 

“The acquisition charge. . . shall not be subject to refund 

on the prepayment of any loan under this Article; the installment 

-5294- 
, 

Hon. Sam Kelley, page 3 (M-1082) 

account handling charge shall be subject to the provisions 

of Article 3.15 as it relates to refunds, Provisions of 

Article 3.15 relating to default charges on loans and the 

deferment of loans shall apply to loans made under this 

Article. ” 

It is the opinion of this office that the charges authorized by 

Article 5069-3.15(g) do not apply to those loans made pursuant to Article 

5069-3.16. 

Article 5069-3.16 ($100 or less) differs from Article 5069-3.15 

($2,500 or less) in several respects: Loans made pursuant to the former 

produce a considerably higher interest yield to the licensee; the maximum 

term of the loan is less; and the acquisition charge is not subject to refund. 

Article 5069-3.16(4) makes reference to Article 5069-3.15 and the applicability thereof regarding refunds of the account handling charge [Article 

5069-3.15(6)] and default charges and the deferment of loans [Article 5069-3.15(S)]. 

Article 5069-3.16(3) makes no reference whatsoever to Article 5069-3.15(8), 

and likewise, Article 3.15(g) contains no language indicating that its provisions 

are applicable to Article 3.16. 

Article 5069-3.16 has no language which would authorize a licensee 

to charge a borrower those actually incurred expenses of Article 5069-3.15(g) 

in the making or collecting of a loan made pursuant to its high rate provisions. 

Subsection (3) of Article 5069-3.16 is unambiguous in its language 

that loans made pursuant to its provisions shall not include insurance charges 

or any other charges of any nature whatsoever. 

You have advlised that, “It has long been the policy of this office that 

Article 3.15 and 3.16 are mutually exclusive and that the Article 3.16 prohibition against ‘any other charges of any nature whatsoever’ applies to 

’ Theseand 3.16 as enacted by the Leg. (Acts 60th. Leg., R.S., 

1967, ch. 274, p.* 608) are codified by Vernon as Articles 5069-3.15 and 

5069-3.16, V. C. S., respectively. 

-5295- 
Hon. Sam Kelley, page 4 (M-1082) 

and prohibits the imposition on Article 3.16 loans of those charges 

enumerated in Article 3.15(a)“. We are in agreement with your construction, 

which is entitled to great weight before the courts if there be any doubt 

or ambiguity and should be followed unless clearly erroneous. Armco Steel 

Corp. v. Texas Employment Commission, 386 S. W. 2d 894 ( Tex. Civ. App. 

1965, error ref. , n. r. e. ) 

SUMMARY 

The charges authorized in Article 5069-3.15(8), 

V.C. S. , are not authorized charges under Article 5069-3.16, 

V.C.S. 

ey Genera1 of Texas 

Prepared by Ray McGregor 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Wayne Rodgers 

Scott Garrison 

Jack Sparks 

Harriet Burke 

SAMUEL D. MCDANIEL 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assistant 

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