Source: http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/541/02-857/opinion.html
Timestamp: 2013-12-10 06:07:37
Document Index: 254587775

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1601', '§1604', '§1605', '§1637', '§1640', '§1637', '§1637', '§1637', '§1605', '§226']

Household Credit Services, Inc. v. Pfennig - 02-857 (2004) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Justia > US Law > US Case Law > US Supreme Court > Volume 541 > Household Credit Services, Inc. v. Pfennig - 02-857 > Opinion (Justice Thomas)	NEW - Receive Justia's FREE Daily Newsletters of Opinion Summaries for the US Supreme Court, all US Federal Appellate Courts & the 50 US State Supreme Courts and Weekly Practice Area Opinion Summaries Newsletters. Subscribe Now
Household Credit Services, Inc. v. Pfennig - 02-857 (2004)
HOUSEHOLD CREDIT SERVICES, INC. and MBNA AMERICA BANK, N. A., PETITIONERS v.
Congress enacted the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 82 Stat. 146, in order to promote the “informed use of credit” by consumers. 15 U. S. C. §1601(a). To that end, TILA’s disclosure provisions seek to ensure “meaningful disclosure of credit terms.” Ibid. Further, Congress delegated expansive authority to the Federal Reserve Board (Board) to enact appropriate regulations to advance this purpose. §1604(a). We granted certiorari, 539 U. S. 957 (2003), to decide whether the Board’s Regulation Z, which specifically excludes fees imposed for exceeding a credit limit (over-limit fees) from the definition of “finance charge,” is an unreasonable interpretation of §1605. We conclude that it is not, and, accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
TILA regulates, inter alia, the substance and form of disclosures that creditors offering “open end consumer credit plans” (a term that includes credit card accounts) must make to consumers, §1637(a), and provides a civil remedy for consumers who suffer damages as a result of a creditor’s failure to comply with TILA’s provisions, §1640.[Footnote 1] When a creditor and a consumer enter into an open-end consumer credit plan, the creditor is required to provide to the consumer a statement for each billing cycle for which there is an outstanding balance due. §1637(b). The statement must include the account’s outstanding balance at the end of the billing period, §1637(b)(8), and “[t]he amount of any finance charge added to the account during the period, itemized to show the amounts, if any, due to the application of percentage rates and the amount, if any, imposed as a minimum or fixed charge,” §1637(b)(4). A “finance charge” is an amount “payable directly or indirectly by the person to whom the credit is extended, and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor as an incident to the extension of credit.” §1605(a). The Board has interpreted this definition to exclude “[c]harges … for exceeding a credit limit.” See 12 CFR §226.4(c)(2) (2004) (Regulation Z). Thus, although respondent’s billing statement disclosed the imposition of an over-limit fee when she exceeded her $2,000 credit limit, consistent with Regulation Z, the amount was not included as part of the “finance charge.”
On August 24, 1999, respondent filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southe