Opinion ID: 1284689
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Liberal Construction of Statute

Text: Having found West Virginia Code § 46A-5-101(1) ambiguous with regard to applicable statute of limitations periods because it is susceptible of differing interpretations, we may proceed to construe it pursuant to the legislative intent. In Scott Runyan, this Court specified that West Virginia Code § 46A-5-101(1) should be construed liberally as a remedial statute. We explained: Where an act is clearly remedial in nature, we must construe the statute liberally so as to furnish and accomplish all the purposes intended. 194 W.Va. at 777, 461 S.E.2d at 523. The purpose of the CCPA is to protect consumers from unfair, illegal, and deceptive acts or practices by providing an avenue of relief for consumers who would otherwise have difficulty proving their case under a more traditional cause of action. Id. Furthermore, this Court explained in Appalachian Power Co. v. State Tax Dept. of West Virginia, 195 W.Va. 573, 466 S.E.2d 424 (1995), that absent explicatory legislative history for an ambiguous statute, a court construing such a statute must consider the overarching design of statute. Id. at 587, 466 S.E.2d at 438, quoting Scott Runyan, 194 W.Va. at 777, 461 S.E.2d at 523. In construing the statute liberally to protect all consumers from unfair, illegal, or deceptive action, and in considering the overarching design of the statute, we are compelled to resolve the issue this ambiguity has created by concluding that the credit sale utilized in this transaction is included within the four-year statute of limitations applicable to consumer credit sales or consumer loans made pursuant to revolving charge accounts or revolving loan accounts, or from sales.... W. Va.Code § 46A-5-101(1). While such determination admittedly does not effectively answer the myriad of hypotheticals raised by the parties with regard to various types of credit sales utilized by consumers and the issue of into which statutorily-designated category such transactions may fall, the liberal construction to which this statute is entitled compels our conclusion that any doubt about this particular transaction's inclusion within the more liberal four-year statute of limitations period be resolved in favor of such inclusion. Similarly, a consumer who is party to a longer-term, closed-ended transaction is also entitled to maintain an action within one year of the due date of the last payment.