Court Opinion

ID: 9704373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:33:15.74952+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:01.350409
License: Public Domain

Bashara, P. J.
The appellee brought this action to recover the remainder due on a note in default and obtained summary judgment. Appellants, Howard D. Burlison and Russell E. Davis, seek review.
The appellants entered into an agreement with Harry Altman & Sons for the purchase and installation of bar equipment in a tavern they were renovating. Pursuant to the contract a document entitled "Note and Security Agreement” was executed on October 31, 1966. It contained a "Statement of Transaction” which provided:
Total Cash Purchase Price $45,358.45
Tax (TE 32,857.60) 500.00
Total 45,858.48
Less Allowance for trade _
Unpaid Balance 45,858.48
Cash Down Payment 8,000,00
Deferred Balance • 37,858.48
Credit Life Time Charge 13,250.47
Time Balance $51,108.95
The note and security agreement further provided that the appellants would make 60 monthly installments of $841.81, except for the final installment which would be the balance due to pay off the time balance of $51,108.95.
Prior to default, Harry Altman & Sons discounted the note with the appellee subject to a right of recourse. On December 1, 1970, the appellants paid $378.49 to the appellee, which they *573claimed represented the final payment on the deferred balance of $37,858.48. Appéllants notified appellee that, on advice of counsel, they refused to pay the time charge because it was usurious.
The trial judge granted summary judgment on the ground that there existed no genuine issue of material fact. GCR 1963, 117.2(3). The court ruled that the interest ceiling statute, 1948 CL 438.51,1 did not apply since the transaction was a sale of goods and services, and the appellants were aware that the time charge was necessitated by their inability to pay cash. He further held that the appellee was not estopped from claiming that the time charge represented an increase in sales price for a credit sale.
A seller may charge more for the sale of goods or services on credit than for cash sales without rendering the contract usurious. Hartwick Lumber Co v Perlman, 245 Mich 3, 6; 222 NW 147 (1928), Keefe v Bush & Lane Piano Co, 247 Mich 82, 86-87; 225 NW 585 (1929). However, if the sale of goods or services is merely a pretense to camouflage a usurious transaction, the usurious interest charge is unenforceable. Attorney General v Contract Purchase Corp, 327 Mich 636, 643; 42 NW2d 768 (1950).
The transaction is usurious if the buyer is not given a choice between paying a cash price or paying an additional charge for buying on credit. Matthews v Aluminum Acceptance Corp, 1 Mich App 570, 578; 137 NW2d 280 (1965), lv den 377 Mich 702 (1966), cf. Gramatan National Bank & Trust Co v DeGraff, 374 Mich 148; 132 NW2d 148 (1965). If the negotiations between the buyer and seller involve a bona fide quotation of both a cash *574price and a credit price, from which a buyer exercises a right of choice, the transaction does not involve usury, even though the quoted credit price exceeds the cash price plus lawful interest. Attorney General v Contract Purchase Corp, supra. See 14 ALR3d 1065, § 4, p 1077.
A trier of fact must determine whether a particular transaction is usurious where conflicting evidence appears. Hillman’s v Em 'N Al’s, 345 Mich 644, 652; 77 NW2d 96 (1956). A motion for summary judgment grounded on GCR 1963, 117.2(3), tests for conflicting material issues of fact by resort to affidavits, pleadings, depositions, admissions and documentary evidence. GCR 1963, 117.2, Rizzo v Kretschmer, 389 Mich 363, 371; 207 NW2d 316 (1973).
The deposition of appellant Burlison clearly discloses at the time of negotiation, appellants understood they could have purchased the bar equipment for the cash price of $45,858.48. Burlison admitted that neither he nor Mr. Davis had that much cash, and therefore had to buy on credit. Compare the factual situation presented here with Bird Finance Corp v Lamerson, 303 Mich 422, 434-435; 6 NW2d 732 (1942),2 Gramatan National Bank & Trust Co v DeGraff, supra, Matthews v Aluminum Acceptance Corp, supra.
In light of the admissions contained in Burlison’s deposition, it is unnecessary for a fact-finder to consider those factors mentioned .in appellant’s brief which tend to indicate an interest charge rather than an increase in price due to a time price differential. We find the trial judge correctly granted summary judgment.
Our finding that the transaction was not usuri*575ous negates the necessity to consider the question of estoppel.
Affirmed. Costs to appellee.
T. M. Burns, J., concurred.

 1948 CL 438.51 was repealed by 1966 PA 326, effective March 10, 1967, and was replaced by MCLA 438.31; MSA 19.15(1).

 Although this was a dissenting opinion there was no division in the Court as to the finding that usury was involved. Hillman’s v Em ’N Al’s, 345 Mich 644, 654; 77 NW2d 96 (1956).