Jason Lankhorst v. Independent Savings Plan Company , 787 F.3d 1100 ( 2015 )

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[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 14-11449
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 3:11-cv-00390-MMH-JRK
JASON LANKHORST,
RACHELLE LANKHORST,
individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs-Counter Defendants-Appellants,
versus
INDEPENDENT SAVINGS PLAN COMPANY,
a Florida corporation, d.b.a. ISPC,
Defendant-Counter Claimant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
________________________
(May 29, 2015)
Before WILSON and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and VOORHEES,* District
Judge.
_________
* Honorable Richard L. Voorhees, United States District Judge for the Western District of
North Carolina, sitting by designation.
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ANDERSON, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiffs Jason and Rachelle Lankhorst (“Lankhorst”) appeal the district
court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant Independent Savings
Plan Company (“ISPC”). After careful review of the record, and with the benefit
of oral argument, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
Lankhorst moved to Orange Park, Florida at the behest of the United States
Navy in 2010. Immediately upon moving into their newly-purchased home,
Plaintiffs began receiving phone calls from Water Equipment Technologies of
Florida, Inc. (“WET”), soliciting the opportunity to pitch the sale of a residential
water treatment system. The Plaintiffs eventually acquiesced and a WET salesman
visited the home. Pressured by the sales pitch, the Plaintiffs agreed to purchase the
treatment system. On the Purchase Agreement, the Plaintiffs indicated that they
intended “to seek financing for [the] transaction.” The WET salesman told the
Plaintiffs that they would qualify for a very low interest rate.
WET installed the treatment system within twenty-four hours of the sale,
prior to the finalization of any financing agreement. Following the three-day
expiration period of the Purchase Agreement’s cancellation right, ISPC delivered
the Credit Agreement. At that time, the Plaintiffs discovered the interest rate was
actually 17.99%. Plaintiffs effectively had no choice other than to accept the terms
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of the Credit Agreement.
Plaintiffs alleged that ISPC violated the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) by
failing to disclose examples of minimum payments and the maximum repayment
period for this “extension of credit which is secured by the consumer’s principal
dwelling,” 15 U.S.C. § 1637a(a)(9). Plaintiffs also alleged that ISPC failed, in
violation of § 1635(a), to properly delay performance to allow the Plaintiffs to
rescind the contract, as regulations prohibit services from being performed and
material from being delivered until after the rescission period. The district court
granted summary judgment in favor of ISPC concluding that the Credit Agreement
did not convey a security interest in the Plaintiffs’ residence, and thus that there
was not a violation of either § 1635(a) or § 1637a(a)(9), both of which depend on
there having been a security interest in the residence. Furthermore, the district
court concluded that the treatment system was not a fixture, and even if it was,
TILA expressly excludes fixtures from the definition of “security interest.”
II. DISCUSSION
This Court reviews a grant of summary judgment de novo. Royal Ins. Co. of
Am. v. Whitaker Contracting Corp., 242 F.3d 1035, 1040 (11th Cir. 2001). Florida
courts consider “whether property [has] annexed to realty [as] a fixture [to be] a
question of fact, or a mixed question of law and fact.” Cmty. Bank of Homestead
v. Barnett Bank of the Keys, 518 So. 2d 928, 930 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1987).
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Lankhorst argues both that the water treatment system is a fixture and that
the Credit Agreement created an interest in the residence. ISPC counters that it is
not a fixture, and alternatively, even if it is a fixture, it is not a security interest in
the residence and thus neither § 1635(a) nor § 1637a(a)(9) applies.
We are skeptical of the district court’s conclusion that the treatment system
is not a fixture; but, we need not reach that issue. For the sake of this opinion, we
assume arguendo that the water treatment system does constitute a fixture under
Florida law.
Even if the treatment system constitutes a fixture, Lankhorst must prove that
ISPC took a security interest in the residence, as both 15 U.S.C. §§ 1635 &
1637a—those provisions upon which Plaintiffs stake their TILA case—require that
the financing be secured by the “principal dwelling.” Lankhorst has cited no
authority to support the assertion that a security interest in a fixture constitutes a
security interest in the real property on which the fixture is installed. Nor has our
research uncovered any such case. Florida law is to the contrary. Fla. Stat.
§679.604(3) provides that a party holding a security interest in a fixture may, after
default, “remove the collateral from the real property.” The security interest in a
fixture does not give the party a security interest in the realty on which it is
installed. In this case the water treatment equipment can be removed in a manner
similar to a hot water heater.
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Florida law dictates that the private contract between the two parties be the
starting point for determining the extent of a security interest. See Dickason v.
Marine Nat. Bank of Naples, N.A., 898 So. 2d 1170, 1174 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App.
2005) (“We are mindful that a financing statement should not be construed to
enlarge the description of the collateral in the security agreement.”). The Credit
Agreement states that the buyer grants to ISPC “a purchase money security interest
in any purchases” made to the account.1 Clearly the “purchase” here is the
treatment system, not the residence. 2
Lankhorst contends that ¶ 23(j) of the Credit Agreement, dealing with a
buyer’s failure to pay, establishes that ISPC has taken a security interest in the
residence. 3 However, the language of this section is couched in terms of a
1
The entire description of the security interest of the Credit Application and Agreement
reads: “11. Security Interest -You hereby grant to ISPC a purchase money security interest in any
purchases you charge to your account. You agree and acknowledge that ISPC has and shall
continue to have a security interest in said purchases as long as your account is open, whether
any of said purchases is a fixture or not, and regardless of the exact nature of the security interest
applicable to any specific purchase. You promise to sign all financing statements and to do all
other things necessary to perfect and protect our security interest when we request you to do so.
Any fees paid to perfect and/or protect our security interest are excluded from finance charges.
You must inform us if you move, change your mailing address, or transfer the purchases subject
to our security interest from your present address.”
2
A note to the “security interest” section of the Credit Agreement reads: “Purchases that
are ‘fixtures’ attach to and are legally treated as part of the house or other real property, and
consequently, under the law, the security interests in ‘fixtures’ likewise are treated and enforced
similarly as liens on the house or other real property.” This language might have estopped ISPC
from now arguing that it takes no interest in Lankhorst’s residence. However, Lankhorst did not
argue estoppel, so such argument is waived.
3
The section titled “23. Failure to Pay” reads in relevant part as follows: “If YOU do not
pay on time; fail to comply with any terms of this Agreement; have made any warranty or
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judgment after default. See ¶ 23(j)[2] (“Judgments resulting from an ‘Event of
Default’ hereunder and/or from any consensual UCC-1/lien/security interest as
described herein, constitute valid enforceable liens against YOUR homestead
property and will be paid in full by YOU upon any sale, conveyance or mortgage
financing of YOUR homestead property[.]”). In other words, it is not the Credit
Agreement or UCC financing statement itself, but the judgment against the debtor,
that gives rise to the potential lien against the home. The Florida statute converts a
judgment to a lien against real property independent of this (or any) contract. Fla.
Stat. § 55.10(1) (“A judgment, order, or decree becomes a lien on real property in
any county when a certified copy of it is recorded in the official records or
judgment lien record of the county, whichever is maintained at the time of
recordation . . . .”). So, this contractual provision stating that a judgment
representation which is false or misleading; YOU die; sell or convey the real property on which
Purchased equipment is installed; dispose of, assign, transfer or encumber the Purchases subject
to our security interest; or if in our exclusive judgment WE deem ourselves insecure as to the
prospects for repayment by YOU, then YOU will be deemed in default. In such ‘Event of
Default’, YOU agree as follows: . . . (b) WE can require that YOU make immediate payment of
YOUR entire balance, including principal, FINANCE CHARGE, and all other charges, subject
to any right YOU have by state law to correct YOUR non-payment; . . . (j) Pursuant to F.S. 222
et seq., as amended, YOU agree as follows: [1.] For either post-judgment execution and/or
consensual UCC-1 lien/security interest purposes, ‘Purchases’ made by YOU pursuant hereto are
for ‘labor, services, or materials furnished to repair or improve real property’; and [2.] Judgments
resulting from an ‘Event of Default’ hereunder and/or from any consensual UCC-1/lien/security
interest as described herein, constitute valid enforceable liens against YOUR homestead property
and will be paid in full by YOU upon any sale, conveyance or mortgage financing of YOUR
homestead property; and [3.] YOU waive and deem inapplicable any referenced provision which
may allow a homestead sale or mortgage to be completed free and clear of judgments and/or
consensual UCC-1s/liens/security interests.”
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constitutes a lien against the homestead adds nothing that a judgment does not, by
itself, provide.4 Moreover, the very language of ¶ 23(j)[2] indicates that the lien
“will be paid in full by YOU upon any sale, conveyance or mortgage financing of
YOUR homestead property.” In other words, the judgment lien contemplated by ¶
23(j)[2] is neither a security interest nor is it the usual kind of judgment lien that
can be collected by judicial enforcement; rather, it provides for collection upon
voluntary sale or mortgage financing of the homestead property. 5
At most, the “Failure to Pay” provision of the Credit Agreement might be
deemed to create a security interest in the proceeds of a voluntary sale or
refinancing of the residence. Both the language of ¶ 23(j)[2] discussed above and
the first sentence of ¶ 23 indicate that it is the proceeds of voluntary sale or
mortgage refinancing to which ISPC looks for its security. That first sentence
provides: “If YOU do not pay on time; . . . [or] sell or convey the real property on
which the Purchased equipment is installed; . . . then YOU will be deemed in
default.” However, this does not help Lankhorst because Regulation Z excludes
4
Furthermore, any debt could be reduced to a judgment, and any debt could become a lien
on real property under Fla. Stat. § 55.10(1). So under Plaintiffs’ reasoning, any debt could
become an interest in a residence and subject to these TILA protections. We do not believe that
was what Congress intended.
5
It is true that ¶ 23(j)[1] – “‘Purchases’ made by YOU pursuant hereto are for ‘labor,
services, or materials furnished to repair or improve real property’” – is a blatant attempt to
predetermine the nature of the judgment lien such that it will be deemed one that would hinder
any sale or mortgage of the homestead without either the consent of ISPC or full payment to
ISPC. Whether or not Florida courts would so interpret ¶ 23(j)[1] is doubtful, and need not be
addressed here. The relevant point for our purposes is that a judgment lien is not a security
interest.
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proceeds from the definition of “security interest” in 15 U.S.C. §§ 1635 & 1637a.
12 C.F.R. § 1026.2(a)(1), (a)(25) (“Security interest means an interest in property
that secures performance of a consumer credit obligation and that is recognized by
state or Federal law. It does not include incidental interests such as interests in
proceeds, accessions, additions, fixtures, insurance proceeds (whether or not the
creditor is a loss payee or beneficiary), premium rebates, or interests in after-
acquired property.”).
The Court recognizes that this transaction between Lankhorst, WET, and
ISPC may be subject to the sort of abuse of consumers that Congress sought to
prevent through TILA. If so, rather than stretch the statutory language or the
language of the written agreements entered into by the parties, the appropriate
remedy is to refer the matter to the proper agency for study and to ascertain if
modification of 12 C.F.R. § 1026.2(a)(25) is desirable.
III. CONCLUSION
ISPC did not take the requisite interest in the Plaintiffs’ primary residence to
trigger the TILA protections on which Lankhorst relies. Therefore, the district
court did not err in granting summary judgment to the Defendant.
AFFIRMED.
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