Opinion ID: 1210758
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Ruling of the District Court

Text: We summarize the district court's conclusions: (1) The definition of amount financed is not ambiguous; it includes the entire amount of credit extended when a loan is refinanced or consolidated with another loan. (2) Calling a loan origination fee a prepaid finance charge is not deceptive. (3) Associates had no obligation to explain the terms of the loan in any more detail or in any different manner than it did. The Truth-in-Lending provisions of the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act and Regulation Z of the Federal Reserve Board, which implements that Act, prescribe the elements of a consumer credit transaction deemed material by law for disclosure purposes. When a lender gives accurate Truth-in-Lending disclosures, as Associates did in this case, the lender has no obligation to provide additional disclosures. (4) The relationship between Gonzales and Associates was debtor/creditor, not a fiduciary relationship. (5) Associates' conduct was not unconscionable. Every loan requires clerical work and takes time, as did Gonzales' loans. A $100 origination fee is not an excessive charge under the facts here. (6) It is not the court's or a jury's province to overrule the legislature's determination. (7) The remedy for a consumer who contends that the charges permitted by the statute are too high lies with the legislature. (8) Gonzales discharged in bankruptcy the more than $4,000 he owed Associates, and in effect never paid the loan origination fees.