Opinion ID: 711689
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Waiver of the Right to Rescind

Text: 13 TILA gives the consumer a three-day right to rescind a credit transaction. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1635(a); 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226.23(a) (1995). Under TILA the right to rescind a loan may be waived if a consumer determines that the extension of credit is needed to meet a bona fide personal financial emergency. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1635(d); 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226.23(e). The district court made the following factual findings: 1) On or about September 16, 1990, Herbert Avery hand-wrote a letter to Empire Financial, 4 requesting that the three day rescission period be waived; and 2) In his letter to Empire Financial, Dr. Avery stated that the request to waive the three day rescission period was necessitated by a need of the Averys to refinance their property and to prevent a foreclosure sale scheduled for Friday, September 7, 1990. The district court held that Dr. Avery was acting on his own behalf and as an agent for Mrs. Avery, in executing the waiver letter to Empire Financial. Although the TILA regulation, 12 C.F.R. Sec. 226.23(e), states that a waiver should bear the signatures of all consumers entitled to rescind, we agree with the district court that nothing in the regulation prohibits a consumer who is entitled to rescind from acting through an agent. Therefore, even if TILA applied to the Averys' loan transaction, the Averys waived their right to rescind.