Case Name: SOUTHERN DISCOUNT COMPANY OF GEORGIA v. ECTOR
Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1980-05-27
Citations: 246 Ga. 30
Docket Number: 35822
Parties: SOUTHERN DISCOUNT COMPANY OF GEORGIA v. ECTOR.
Judges: All the Justices concur, except Jordan, P. J., Hill and Clarke, JJ., who dissent.
Reporter: Georgia Reports
Volume: 246
Pages: 30–33

Head Matter:
35822.
SOUTHERN DISCOUNT COMPANY OF GEORGIA v. ECTOR.

Opinion:
Per curiam.
Certiorari was granted to determine whether or not division one of the opinion of the Court of Appeals in Southern Discount Co. v. Ector, 152 Ga. App. 244 (262 SE2d 457) (1979), correctly declined to give retrospective operation to Ga. L. 1978, pp. 1033, 1034 (Code Ann. § 25-9903), in a case involving an industrial loan contract made before enactment of the 1978 Act. The decision of the Court of Appeals must be reversed.
1. A majority of this court is of the opinion that Hodges v. Community Loan &c. Corp., 234 Ga. 427 (216 SE2d 274) (1975), was wrongly decided and should be reversed insofar as it authorized forfeiture of the principal of loans under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act. The law correctly is expressed by Justice Ingram's dissent, viz: "the lender shall forfeit all interest and other charges, but not any of the principal sum advanced to the borrower." 234 Ga. at 434.
2. Remaining for decision is the question of whether or not the forfeiture of interest and other charges may be avoided in the present case by proof under Code Ann. § 25-9903 (c) that the loan contract was made in good faith in conformity with an interpretation of the Georgia Industrial Loan Act (1) by the appellate courts of this state or (2) in a rule or regulation officially promulgated by the commissioner after public hearings. This question was answered in the negative by the Court of Appeals upon the basis that retrospective application of the 1978 Act (Code Ann. § 25-9903) was not intended by the General Assembly because of the absence of language in the 1978 Act imperatively requiring, such application. 152 Ga. App. at 246. This court disagrees and reverses. Forfeitures and penalties are not favored. Courts should construe statutes relieving against forfeitures and penalties liberally so as to afford maximum relief. Such a construction of the Act does not bring it into conflict with our constitution since a person has no vested rights to a forfeiture or penalty. Summerour v. Cartrett, 220 Ga. 31, 32 (136 SE2d 724) (1964); Roby v. Newton, 121 Ga. 679, 682, (49 SE 694) (1904); Renfroe v. Colquitt, 74 Ga. 618 (2a) (1885); O'Kelly v. Athens Mfg. Co., 36 Ga. 51 (1867); 36 AmJur2d 629, Forfeitures & Penalties, § 26; 37 CJS 8, Forfeitures, § 4 (b). Cf. Maynard v. Marshall, 91 Ga. 840 (18 SE 403) (1893), in which the penalty merely was ameliorated rather than lifted by the subsequent legislation.
Argued March 10, 1980
Decided May 27, 1980
Rehearing denied June 17, 1980.
John E. Tomlinson, J. Lamar Nix, for appellant.
Ralph Goldberg, for appellee.
W. Rhett Tanner, Joe Ck Davis, Jr., John C. Porter, Jr., Charles M. Baird, amici curiae.
Judgment reversed.
All the Justices concur, except Jordan, P. J., Hill and Clarke, JJ., who dissent.