Court Opinion

ID: 9463650
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:12:17.942567+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:12.713923
License: Public Domain

JONES, Circuit Judge,
dissenting in part:
But for the precedents1 by which I am bound I might have thought that the penal statute here involved should be strictly construed and if so construed would not apply to an insurance premium which was no part of the hire of the money loaned. However stare decisis requires my concurrence in the conclusion that the statute permits the imposition of a penalty for the omission of the insurance premium from the disclosure statement furnished to the appellees.
There was a legal joint and several liability of both the husband and the wife for payment of the single loan made to them as a family unit. They knew, of course, that the insurance premiums had to be paid, but because of the omission from the disclosure the maximum penalty was imposed and then doubled because the husband and wife family unit was composed of two persons.
The legislative history of the statute shows that it was not intended that a double penalty should be imposed. In H. R. Rep. No. 1040, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967) (to accompany H. R. 11601), 1968 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, pp. 1962, 1976 it is said: _
“Any creditor failing to disclose required information would be subject to a civil suit with a penalty equal to twice the finance charge, with a minimum penalty of $100 and a maximum penalty not to exceed $1,000 on any individual credit transaction.”
The cases cited in the opinion of the majority present different theories for imposing dual penalties. Mason v. General Finance Corp. of Virginia, 401 F.Supp. 782 (E.D.Va.,1975), and Allen v. Beneficial Finance Co., 7th Cir. 1976, 531 F.2d 797 rely upon the “any person” language found in Sec. 1640(a), and hold that since both a husband and wife are technically obligors who deserve disclosure both qualify as a “person” to whom the creditor has failed to fulfill the disclosure requirements, entitling each to a penalty. Simmons v. American Budget Plan, Inc., 386 F.Supp. 194 (E.D.La.,1974), and Gillard v. Aetna Finance Co., Inc., 414 F.Supp 737 (E.D.La.,1976) hold that when the loan involves a security interest in the principal residence of the obligors each is entitled to receive a disclosure statement and therefore each has been harmed by the failure of the creditor. Riv*974ers v. Southern Discount Co., 4 CCH Consumer Credit Guide, Sec. 98,796 (N.D. Ga.,1973) justifies dual penalties as a sort of quid pro quo for the creditor’s obtaining two signatures on the loan. The only unifying thread running throughout these cases is that the liability of both husband and wife justifies recovery by both. In these cases consideration was not given to the proposition that a single loan to a single family to finance repairs to a single home constituted an “individual credit transaction” with only a single penalty permitted.
It is conceded in the majority opinion that some courts have allowed only a single penalty recovery in such cases as this. In St. Marie v. Southland Mobile Homes, Inc., 376 F.Supp. 996 (E.D.La.,1974) it is recognized that both husband and wife are technically separate obligors, but it is held that where a single transaction creates an indebtedness of a single family, the unitary nature of the transaction and harm to the husband and wife as a family is best remedied by a single penalty.
The framers of the legislation intended to limit the penalty to $1000 in any individual credit transaction. This decision permits that maximum to be multiplied by the number, however many, of joint and several obligors. I would limit recovery to a single obligor.
The insertion of footnote 3 in the majority opinion, after the foregoing portion of this dissent was submitted, requires the comment that none of the dictionaries to which I have access indicate that, prior to this decision, the word “individual” has been regarded as ambiguous.

. Cited in the opinion of the majority.