Opinion ID: 1782143
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: consumer credit code violations

Text: The Kishes maintain that the trial court judgment was inadequate in that it denied them relief pursuant to the Consumer Credit Code for statutory penalties and attorney's fees. They contend that liability arose as a result of Cowboy Pools' failure to obtain a certificate of completion, failure to disclose that the credit life insurance was procured at a premium or rate not fixed or approved by the State Board of Insurance, and failure to deliver the credit life insurance policy to the Kishes within 45 days after the policy's issuance. The Kishes have preserved their right to recover under the Consumer Credit Code only as to Cowboy Pools. The courts below held that recovery under the DTPA precluded recovery based upon any other legal theory. We disagree. Recovery under the DTPA is, as a general rule, cumulative rather than mutually exclusive of other available remedies. (See section 17.43 of the DTPA.) Simultaneous recovery under the DTPA and the Texas Consumer Credit Code is allowed. Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. White, 617 S.W.2d 767, 773 (Tex.Civ.App. Beaumont 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.) The Kishes are therefore entitled by the provisions of the Consumer Credit Code to recover a statutory penalty from from Cowboy Pools in addition to their DTPA damages. American asserts that there was no evidence that the installment contract violated article 5069-6.04(3) of the Consumer Credit Code which required disclosure of the fact that the credit life insurance was procured at a premium or rate not fixed or approved by the State Board of Insurance. American specifically maintains that the Kishes offered no evidence to prove what the applicable premium or rate was. Texas courts are required to take judicial notice of the public statutes of this state. Evans v. American Publishing Co., 118 Tex. 433, 13 S.W.2d 358, 361-362 (1929). Because it is evident from the face of the contract that the required disclosure was not made in this case, the contract was in violation of the statute as a matter of law. The Consumer Credit Code includes a provision prohibiting waiver of the penalties contained therein. TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN. art. 5069-7.10. Article 5069-8.01 of the Code assesses the penalty for a violation as: twice the time price differential or interest contracted for, charged or received but ... not to exceed $4,000 in a transaction in which the amount financed is in excess of $5,000 and reasonable attorneys' fees fixed by the court. Thus, the Kishes are entitled to recover a $4,000 penalty from Cowboy Pools for Consumer Credit Code violations.