Opinion ID: 1868607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Aldens, Inc.

Text: In Aldens, Inc. v. LaFollette, 552 F.2d 745 (7th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 880, 98 S.Ct. 236, 54 L.Ed.2d 161 (1977), Aldens, an Illinois corporation, was selling merchandise by mail order in Wisconsin. Aldens asserted that Wisconsin's Consumer Act, which protects its residents from abuses in credit transactions, was void in its application to Aldens under the Commerce Clause. 552 F.2d at 746-47. In its analysis of the Commerce Clause issue, the Seventh Circuit distinguished National Bellas Hess, Inc. a tax casefrom the case before itan exercise of the police power. Consequently, the court applied a balancing teststate regulations involving a legitimate state interest are not invalid because they affect interstate commerce unless the burden on such commerce is, on balance, clearly excessive in relation to local benefits. Id. at 749. Because it concluded that under the balancing test the Wisconsin Consumer Act was not an undue burden on interstate commerce, it upheld the Act. Id. at 753. The facts of the Aldens case are very similar to those presented here. Aldens had no Wisconsin office nor any representative or tangible property there. Aldens mailed catalogs to Wisconsin residents four times a year and also mailed them supplemental advertisements six to eight times a year. Merchandise sold by Aldens to Wisconsin customers was sent to them by mail or common carrier from outside Wisconsin. Aldens did not advertise in the Wisconsin media and had no Wisconsin telephone listing. Further, Aldens was not required to collect and remit the Wisconsin use tax. Id. at 747-48. It would be difficult to find a factual situation more analogous to the facts here.