Webb Ford, Inc. v. Indiana Department of Financial Institutions ( 2019 )

FILED
Aug 19 2019, 8:39 am
CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Ronald C. Smith Thomas W. Dinwiddie
Joel T. Nagle Allison Wells Gritton
Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC Wooden McLaughlin LLP
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR AMICUS
CURIAE THE INDIANA
BANKERS ASSOCIATION
Libby Yin Goodknight
Brett J. Ashton
Krieg DeVault LLP
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Webb Ford, Inc., August 19, 2019
Appellant-Petitioner, Court of Appeals Case No.
18A-PL-2675
v. Appeal from the
Marion Superior Court
Indiana Department of Financial The Honorable
Institutions, Gary L. Miller, Judge
Appellee-Respondent Trial Court Cause No.
49D03-1801-PL-2762
Vaidik, Chief Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana |Opinion 18A-PL-2675 | August 19, 2019 Page 1 of 15
Case Summary
[1] This case concerns two provisions of the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit
Code (IUCCC): one that requires sellers to disclose finance charges to credit
customers, Indiana Code section 24-4.5-2-301, and one that allows sellers to
impose certain charges on credit customers “in addition to” finance charges,
Indiana Code section 24-4.5-2-202. For a period of time, Webb Ford, a car
dealership in Highland, imposed a finance charge on credit customers but did
not disclose it as such. The Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
initiated an enforcement action against Webb Ford, but it did not treat the
charge as an undisclosed finance charge, i.e., a violation of the disclosure
statute. Instead, DFI treated it as an “impermissible additional charge,” i.e., a
violation of the additional-charges statute. Webb Ford argues that a finance
charge does not cease being a finance charge merely because it is not disclosed
as such. We agree with Webb Ford. Accordingly, we remand this matter to
DFI for further proceedings under the disclosure statute.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] DFI regulates and supervises financial-services providers, including those who
provide motor-vehicle financing. DFI administers the IUCCC, Indiana Code
article 24-4.5. See Ind. Code § 24-4.5-1-201 (setting forth the purposes and
policies of the IUCCC). Among other provisions, the IUCCC incorporates
federal law regarding what sellers must disclose to buyers in consumer credit
sales:
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The seller shall disclose to the buyer to whom credit is extended
with respect to a consumer credit sale . . . the information
required by the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601
et seq.).
Ind. Code § 24-4.5-2-301(2) (“the disclosure statute”).
[3] The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) is contained in Title I of the Consumer
Credit Protection Act. Congress passed TILA “to promote consumers’
‘informed use of credit’ by requiring ‘meaningful disclosure of credit terms,’ 15
U.S.C. § 1601(a), and granted the Board [of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System] the authority to issue regulations to achieve TILA’s purposes, §
1604(a).” Chase Bank USA, N.A. v. McCoy, 562 U.S. 195, 198 (2011). Pursuant
to this authority, the Board promulgated Regulation Z. Id. Regulation Z
requires creditors to make disclosures “clearly and conspicuously in writing, in
a form that the consumer can keep.” 12 C.F.R. § 1026.17. Required written
disclosures include: (1) the “amount financed”; (2) an “itemization of amount
financed”; (3) the “finance charge”; and (4) the “annual percentage rate.” 12
C.F.R. § 1026.18(b)-(e); see also 15 U.S.C. § 1638(a). “Finance charge” is
defined as follows:
The finance charge is the cost of consumer credit as a dollar
amount. It includes any charge payable directly or indirectly by
the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor
as an incident to or a condition of the extension of credit. It does
not include any charge of a type payable in a comparable cash
transaction.
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12 C.F.R. § 1026.4(a); see also 15 U.S.C. § 1605(a).1 It is a violation of the
IUCCC to “fail to make disclosures as required by” TILA and Regulation Z.
Ind. Code § 24-4.5-6-107.5(g).
[4] In 2007, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) began a pilot program
that allowed car dealerships to offer registration and titling services at the time
of the sale, thereby saving customers a trip to the BMV. Appellant’s App. Vol.
III p. 128. The BMV allowed dealerships to charge customers a convenience
fee for this service.2
[5] Thereafter, Webb Ford began charging a $25.00 convenience fee to its credit
customers for electronic titling with the BMV through a third party,
Computerized Vehicle Registration (CVR). Webb Ford charged the $25.00
convenience fee in addition to a $15.00 fee that went to the BMV. Appellant’s
App. Vol. III p. 127. Webb Ford required its credit customers to use electronic
filing because the lenders to whom Webb Ford assigned the retail installment
1
The IUCCC uses the term “credit service charge” instead of “finance charge.” The parties agree that
these terms are synonymous. See Ind. Code § 24-4.5-2-109 (defining “credit service charge” in part as
“all charges payable directly or indirectly by the buyer and imposed directly or indirectly by the seller
as an incident to the extension of credit”). In line with the parties, we use the term “finance charge.”
2
Effective July 1, 2016, the General Assembly enacted Indiana Code section 9-14.1-3-3, which allows car
dealerships to collect a convenience fee for the titles and registrations that they process and requires
dealerships to give notice of the fee to its customers, including that the customer can go to the BMV and
avoid the fee altogether. According to an August 30, 2016 memo from the BMV, the maximum amount of
the fee is $15.00 for titles and $21.35 for registrations. Memo from Ind. Bureau of Motor Vehicles to Ind.
Secretary of State Auto Dealer Servs. Div.,
http://in.gov/sos/dealer/files/convenience%20fee%20memo.pdf (last visited Aug. 5, 2019).
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contracts required the dealership to show the assignee’s name on the title before
they would accept the contract. Id. at 119, 127. Webb Ford, however, did not
require its cash customers to use this service but rather gave them the option.
Approximately 40% of Webb Ford’s cash customers opted to use electronic
filing and pay the $25.00 convenience fee. The remaining 60% went to the
BMV themselves, thereby avoiding the fee altogether.
[6] For several days in December 2015 and January 2016, DFI conducted a routine
examination of Webb Ford’s records for compliance with the IUCCC,
including TILA and Regulation Z. In February 2016, DFI issued a Consumer
Credit Examination Report. Appellant’s App. Vol. II pp. 29-36. In this
examination report, DFI identified “[o]ne violation” from a transaction on July
27, 2015, where Webb Ford did not properly disclose the $25.00 convenience
fee on the retail installment contract. Id. at 32. According to DFI, Webb Ford
should have disclosed the $25.00 convenience fee in the “Finance Charge” box,
as the fee was only mandatory for credit customers and therefore was “a
condition of the extension of credit.” Id. Although Webb Ford did not provide
the retail installment contract from that July 27, 2015 transaction, it did provide
another one from the same time period. According to this retail installment
contract, Webb Ford disclosed the $25.00 convenience fee (referred to as a
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“Filing Fee” on the contract) in the “Itemization of Amount Financed” and
“Amount Financed” boxes, not in the “Finance Charge” box:3
3
As for Webb Ford’s alternate argument on appeal that it properly disclosed the $25.00 convenience fee in
the “Amount Financed” box because of a 2007 letter that DFI sent to the BMV, we disagree with Webb
Ford’s characterization of this letter. DFI’s 2007 letter stated that dealerships could disclose the convenience
fee in the “Amount Financed” box but only if they “assessed [the fee] to cash and credit customers alike in
the same amount.” Appellant’s App. Vol. III p. 128. Webb Ford, however, only made the fee mandatory for
its credit customers.
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Appellant’s Supp. App. Vol. II p. 2.4 As a result of finding this violation, DFI
ordered Webb Ford to conduct a “file search” to “identify and refund all
instances where [the $25.00 convenience fee was] assessed on consumer credit
sales since December 30, 2013.”5 Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 32.
[7] Thereafter, Webb Ford and DFI tried to resolve the matter informally. Webb
Ford told DFI that by April 2016, it had discontinued its practice of “including
the convenience fee in the Amount Financed” box and had started charging
“both credit and cash customers alike the convenience fee charge, which
removed it from the disclosure requirements of TILA.” Id. at 41.
[8] When Webb Ford and DFI could not resolve the matter informally, DFI issued
a Notice of Charges, Order to Cease and Desist, and Make Restitution in
November 2016. DFI did not charge Webb Ford with violating the disclosure
statute for not disclosing the $25.00 convenience fee in the “Finance Charge”
box, as one might have expected it to do. Rather, DFI charged Webb Ford
with violating a different part of the IUCCC, Indiana Code section 24-4.5-2-202
(“the additional-charges statute), for assessing “impermissible additional
4
For this particular contract, Ford Motor Credit was offering a sales incentive of 0% financing for 72
months. Appellant’s Tender of Supp. App., No. 18A-PL-2675 (May 20, 2019).
5
In the trial court, Webb Ford claimed that refunding the $25.00 convenience fee to all credit customers over
a two-year period could amount to “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Tr. p. 6. Webb Ford noted that
other dealerships were facing “similar enforcement orders” from DFI and were “waiting in the wings . . . to
see how this case plays out.” Id. At oral argument, Webb Ford again noted that there is “uncertainty and
confusion within the industry” and asked us to “give clarity.” See Oral Arg. Video at 10:50, 13:01.
Court of Appeals of Indiana |Opinion 18A-PL-2675 | August 19, 2019 Page 7 of 15
charges” in the form of the $25.00 convenience fee. Id. at 56, 57. The
additional-charges statute provides, in pertinent part:
In addition to the [finance] charge permitted by this chapter, a
seller may contract for and receive any of the following
additional charges in connection with a consumer credit sale:
(a) Official fees and taxes.
(b) Charges for insurance as described in subsection (2).
(c) Notwithstanding provisions of the Consumer Credit
Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) concerning
disclosure, charges for other benefits, including insurance,
conferred on the consumer, if the benefits are of value to
the consumer and if the charges are reasonable in relation
to the benefits, and are excluded as permissible additional
charges from the credit service charge. With respect to
any additional charge not specifically provided for in this
section, to be a permitted charge under this subsection the
seller must submit a written explanation of the charge to
the department indicating how the charge would be
assessed and the value or benefit to the consumer.
Supporting documents may be required by the department.
The department shall determine whether the charge would
be of benefit to the consumer and is reasonable in relation
to the benefits.
(d) A charge not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) for
each returned payment by a bank or other depository
institution of a dishonored check, electronic funds transfer,
negotiable order of withdrawal, or share draft issued by the
consumer.
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(e) Annual participation fees assessed in connection with a
revolving charge account. . . .
(f) A charge not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) for a
skip-a-payment service . . . .
(g) A charge not to exceed ten dollars ($10) for an optional
expedited payment service . . . .
(h) A charge for a GAP agreement, subject to subsection
(4).
Ind. Code § 24-4.5-2-202(1). According to DFI, because Webb Ford did not
“treat the $25.00 [convenience fee] as a part of the” finance charge, it
“attempt[ed] to treat the fee as an additional charge,” but such a fee was not
authorized pursuant to the additional-charges statute. Appellant’s App. Vol. II
p. 32. Accordingly, DFI ordered Webb Ford to (1) “Cease and Desist charging
a mandatory $25 electronic vehicle registration fee[] to credit customers only
when such fees are not also charged to cash customers” and (2) “search its files
from December 30, 2013 to the present to identify and to refund all
impermissible additional charges that were assessed to consumer credit buyers
but not to cash buyers.” Id. at 58.
[9] Webb Ford sought review of DFI’s order, and DFI appointed an administrative
law judge (ALJ). The ALJ issued her findings and conclusions in November
2017. They provide, in part:
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17. The question is, then, what is the convenience charge? There
is no question that the fee was the same amount for both credit
and cash customers. However, the fee was optional for cash
customers and mandatory for credit customers, therefore, leading
to the conclusion that the fee was incidental to the extension of
credit and thus, a finance charge.
*****
20. . . . In this case, the fee was mandatory for credit customers,
but optional for cash customers. Webb did not disclose the fee as
a finance charge, however. Because it was required for credit
customers, it was incidental to the extension of credit and was
not part of the cash price. As it was not disclosed as a finance
charge, then it must be an additional charge. Under I.C. § 24-
4.5-2-202, a seller may contract for certain specified additional
charges. If a charge is not listed, then the seller may ask DFI to
approve any additional charge not specifically provided for in
this section. In this case, there is no question that the
convenience fee is not one of the specified charges nor was it an
additional charge which DFI had approved.
Id. at 26-27 (emphasis added). The Members of DFI later adopted the ALJ’s
order as their final order. Id. at 19. Webb Ford then filed a petition for judicial
review. Following a hearing, the trial court affirmed DFI’s final order,
concluding that “Webb Ford has failed to meet its burden of showing it was
prejudiced by an agency decision that was arbitrary, capricious or otherwise
contrary to law.” Id. at 17.
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[10] Webb Ford appealed the trial court’s order. The Indiana Bankers Association
appears as amicus curiae in support of DFI. We held oral argument in this case
on July 22, 2019.
Discussion and Decision
[11] Webb Ford challenges the trial court’s order upholding DFI’s administrative
decision. Under Indiana’s Administrative Orders and Procedures Act, we may
set aside an agency’s action if it is:
(1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not
in accordance with law; (2) contrary to constitutional right,
power, privilege, or immunity; (3) in excess of statutory
jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right;
(4) without observance of procedure required by law; or (5)
unsupported by substantial evidence.
Ind. Code § 4-21.5-5-14(d). Webb Ford bears the burden of showing us that
DFI’s action is invalid. Id. at (a).
[12] Our “review of agency action is intentionally limited, as we recognize an
agency has expertise in its field and the public relies on its authority to govern
in that area.” Moriarity v. Ind. Dep’t of Nat. Res., 113 N.E.3d 614, 619 (Ind.
2019) (quotations omitted)). We do not try the facts de novo but rather “defer
to the agency’s findings if they are supported by substantial evidence.” Id.
(quotation omitted). “On the other hand, an agency’s conclusions of law are
ordinarily reviewed de novo.” Id. (quotation omitted). While “[w]e are not
bound by the [agency’s] conclusions of law, . . . ‘[a]n interpretation of a statute
Court of Appeals of Indiana |Opinion 18A-PL-2675 | August 19, 2019 Page 11 of 15
by an administrative agency charged with the duty of enforcing the statute is
entitled to great weight, unless this interpretation would be inconsistent with
the statute itself.’” Id. (quotations and citation omitted). “In fact, if the
agency’s interpretation is reasonable, we stop our analysis and need not move
forward with any other proposed interpretation.” Id. (quotation omitted).
[13] Webb Ford concedes that the $25.00 convenience fee was a finance charge
because it was mandatory for its credit customers but not its cash customers.6
See Oral Arg. Video at 7:31-7:45, 9:18-9:21. Indeed, cases from other courts
across the country hold that a charge that is mandatory for credit customers but
not cash customers is incident to the extension of credit and therefore must be
disclosed as a “finance charge.” See, e.g., Alston v. Crown Auto, Inc., 224 F.3d
332, 334 (4th Cir. 2000) (holding that because the car dealership’s general
practice was to charge a fee to both cash and credit customers, the fee was not a
“finance charge” and therefore there was no TILA violation in failing to
6
As noted above, by April 2016, Webb Ford had changed its practice and was charging the convenience fee
to both its cash and credit customers. In December 2018, after Webb Ford filed the Notice of Appeal in this
case, DFI issued Advisory Letter 2018-02. According to this letter, car dealerships must now “present the
convenience fee to the customer as optional.” Ind. Dep’t of Fin. Insts., General Information, Policies and
Guidance, Advisory Letter 2018-02,
https://www.in.gov/dfi/files/REVISED%20AL%20on%20convenience%20fee%20v2%20Dec%202018%20
FINAL.pdf (last visited Aug. 7, 2018). As DFI explained in the letter:
When a fee is assessed uniformly to cash and credit customers alike, (i.e. the fee is either
required of all cash and credit customers, or is optional for all cash and credit customers) then it
is not required to be classified as a finance charge. This means the fee is permissible as part of
the cash price. In essence, the service and fee must be presented to all consumers in the same
manner.
Id. (footnotes omitted).
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disclose it as such); Compton v. Altavista Motors, Inc., 121 F. Supp. 2d 932, 937
(W.D. Va. 2000) (holding that car dealership violated TILA by not disclosing a
fee that was only charged to credit customers as a “finance charge”); White v.
Diamond Motors, Inc., 962 F. Supp. 867, 871 (M.D. La. 1997) (holding that
when a fee is optional for both cash and credit customers, the fee is not incident
to the extension of credit and therefore not a “finance charge”); see also Hook v.
Baker, 352 F. Supp. 2d 839, 844 (S.D. Ohio 2004).
[14] Despite its concession that the $25.00 convenience fee was a finance charge and
therefore should have been disclosed in the “Finance Charge” box on the retail
installment contract, Webb Ford highlights that DFI did not charge it with
violating the disclosure statute, Section 24-4.5-2-301(2); rather, DFI charged it
with violating the additional-charges statute, Section 24-4.5-2-202. Webb Ford
claims that DFI “acted arbitrarily and capriciously or otherwise not in
accordance with the law” in doing so because “if [a finance charge is] disclosed
improperly, it’s still a finance charge” governed by the disclosure statute.
Appellant’s Br. p. 16; Oral Arg. Video at 18:33-18:38; see also Appellant’s Br. p.
22 (“A finance charge is a finance charge that TILA governs regardless of
whether it was improperly disclosed in the amount-financed box or properly in
the finance charge box.”).
[15] DFI has offered no authority or explanation for why it chose to treat the $25.00
convenience fee—which everyone agrees is a finance charge that should have
been disclosed in the “Finance Charge” box—as an “impermissible additional
charge,” other than this is how it has done things for forty years. See
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Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 14. But as counsel for Webb Ford said at oral
argument, this just “doesn’t make sense.” Oral Arg. Video 18:59.
[16] We agree with Webb Ford. For starters, the IUCCC’s definition of finance
charge “does not include charges as a result of . . . additional charges (IC 24-
4.5-2-202).” I.C. § 24-4.5-2-109. Also, the additional-charges statute provides
that “additional charges” are “[i]n addition to” finance charges. I.C. § 24-4.5-2-
202(1). Therefore, a finance charge—again, which everyone agrees is at issue
here—can’t also be an additional charge. Moreover, although in its brief DFI
defended its decision to charge Webb Ford with violating the additional-charges
statute, it changed its tune at oral argument, admitting that it could have instead
charged Webb Ford with violating the disclosure statute because the remedies
under both statutes are the same—a refund of the $25.00 convenience fee. Oral
Arg. Video at 38:41. In other words, DFI’s counsel said that charging Webb
Ford with violating the additional-charges statute was “the same thing” as
charging it with violating the disclosure statute. Id. at 40:47. Because there is
no authority for DFI’s practice, we hold that a finance charge does not cease
being a finance charge just because it is not disclosed as such.
[17] We acknowledge that this clarification might not make a practical difference in
this case. At oral argument, DFI seemed to think that it doesn’t matter whether
it charged Webb Ford with violating the disclosure statute or the additional-
charges statute, because the remedies under both are the same. But Webb Ford
says that it does matter, because if this case is treated as a disclosure violation
only, then it is entitled to raise certain defenses under TILA, such as tolerances,
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bona fide error, and a shorter statute of limitation. Based on the record before
us, we don’t know who is right; these issues haven’t been developed. See Oral
Arg. Video 5:07-5:20 (Webb Ford’s counsel noting that these issues haven’t
been explored). All we hold today is that a finance charge doesn’t become an
“impermissible additional charge” when it’s not disclosed in the “Finance
Charge” box.
[18] Accordingly, we (1) affirm DFI’s finding that the $25.00 convenience fee was a
finance charge and that Webb Ford failed to disclose it as such; (2) reverse
DFI’s finding that because the fee was not disclosed in the “Finance Charge”
box, “it must be an additional charge,” Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 27; and (3)
remand this matter to DFI for further proceedings under the disclosure statute,
allowing Webb Ford to raise any applicable defenses.7
[19] Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
Kirsch, J., and Altice, J., concur.
7
Webb Ford also argues on appeal that its due-process rights were violated. Given our disposition of this
matter in Webb Ford’s favor, we need not address this issue.
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