Opinion ID: 2225578
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether There Remains Disputed Material Facts as to Whether Bank of the West Violated the ECOA by Requiring Christine's and Phyllis's Personal Guaranties.

Text: In their motions for summary judgment, Christine and Phyllis claim the reason they were required to guarantee Acme's loan was solely that they were the spouses of Randal and John, not because the other parties obligated in the transaction were not sufficiently creditworthy. Randal and John filed affidavits stating the facts contained in the statement of undisputed facts were true and correct. The facts supported by affidavits state the parties to this loan transaction, other than Christine and Phyllis, were qualified under any reasonable standard of creditworthiness for the amount and terms of credit requested. The facts supported by affidavits also state the only reason the bank sought the signatures of Christine and Phyllis was solely because they were the spouses of Randal and John respectively. Additionally, in an answer to an interrogatory attached to the bank's motion for summary judgment, Randal and John stated that a representative of the bank told Randal, at the time the bank requested his spouse's guaranty, that the bank requested the guaranty solely because they were married and that her assets were not necessary to secure the loan. Finally, the facts supported by the affidavits state the loan officer who arranged the transaction told Randal and John that it was the bank's policy to require the signatures of spouses of the principal shareholders of a corporation on the loan documents. In response to the motion, the bank filed a resistance. In its resistance, the bank claimed the issue of whether the lender violated the ECOA is a question of law. The first question of law the court had to answer was whether Christine and Phyllis were applicants under the ECOA. The second question of law the court needed to decide was whether the statute of limitations precluded Christine and Phyllis from asserting ECOA violations. The bank did not file any pleadings or affidavits concerning the issue of whether Acme and/or Christine's and Phyllis's spouses were not sufficiently creditworthy so as to entitle the bank to obtain Christine's and Phyllis's unlimited personal guaranties. The district court answered the legal questions raised by the bank by ruling Christine and Phyllis can assert ECOA violations against the Bank. The court also held that although the statute of limitations precluded an offensive action for damages under the ECOA, Christine and Phyllis could use violations of the act as affirmative defenses. The court then relied on the affidavits, determined there were no genuine issues of material fact as to why the bank required the guaranties, and found the bank required the guaranties in violation of the ECOA. We agree with the district court that at the time it entered its ruling on the motions for summary judgment, the affidavits showed no genuine issue of material fact existed as to the bank requiring Christine and Phyllis to guarantee Acme's loan solely because they were the spouses of Randal and John, not because the other parties obligated in the transaction were not sufficiently creditworthy. After the court filed its ruling, the parties were unclear as to whether this ruling ended the litigation against Christine and Phyllis. Both parties filed motions to enlarge and amend the ruling. The bank also filed a trial brief, raising the creditworthy issue for the first time. The bank did not file any affidavits supporting its creditworthy argument. The court amended its ruling, making it clear that it granted Christine's and Phyllis's motions for summary judgment and dismissed the bank's actions against them. On appeal, the bank alleges a genuine issue of material fact existed as to the creditworthy issue. The flaw in the bank's argument is that it never raised the creditworthy issue in any resistance to the motions for summary judgment or filed any affidavits disputing the facts contained in the affidavits filed on behalf of Christine and Phyllis prior to the court entering its original ruling on the motions for summary judgment. Although the bank did raise the creditworthy issue in its trial brief, the bank filed its trial brief after the court took the motions for summary judgment under advisement and filed its original ruling. Moreover, the bank never presented any affidavits showing a genuine issue of material fact exists as to the issue of creditworthiness in connection with its trial brief. Our rules of civil procedure require that when a motion for summary judgment is filed and supported by affidavits, the resisting party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials in the pleadings, but the response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.981(5). If the resisting party chooses to file affidavits supporting his or her resistance, the party must file the affidavits with the resistance. Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.981(3). The bank never complied with these rules. Instead, the bank sought to rest on its claims that the application of the ECOA was purely a legal question. To resist Christine's and Phyllis's motions for summary judgment on the issue of creditworthiness, the bank was required to set forth specific evidentiary facts showing the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Bauer v. Stern Fin. Co., 169 N.W.2d 850, 853 (Iowa 1969). It failed to do so. Therefore, we affirm the district court's judgment granting Christine's and Phyllis's motions for summary judgment.