CopyCited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...TUTIONALLY APPLY THE LOAN BROKER ACT, SECTION
687.14-687.148, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO AN OUT-OF-STATE RETAIL INSTALLMENT SELLER WHICH, UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE, MAY NOT BE COMPELLED TO BE LICENSED IN FLORIDA AS A RETAIL INSTALLMENT SALES COMPANY UNDER SECTION
520.32, FLORIDA STATUTES? Id. at 382, 388. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1),(4), Fla. Const. [1] We answer the first certified question in the affirmative and uphold section
520.32, Florida Statutes (1995)....
...265 (1946)("The task of scrutinizing is a task of drawing lines."); see also Fulton Corp. v. Faulkner, ___ U.S. ___, ___,
116 S.Ct. 848, 854,
133 L.Ed.2d 796 (1996) (outlining constitutional tests for "state regulatory measures" versus "state taxation"). Accordingly, central to a Commerce Clause analysis here is whether section
520.32 constitutes (1) a general revenue tax, or (2) a regulatory measure enacted pursuant to this state's police power....
...Unless some measure of *752 local control is permissible, it must go largely unregulated.
659 So.2d at 381 (citations omitted). CHAPTER 520 Chapter 520, Part II, Florida Statutes (1995), contains an extensive regulatory scheme governing retail installment contracts. Section
520.32 provides in material part: (1) A person may not engage in or transact the business of a retail seller engaging in retail installment transactions as defined in this part or operate a branch of such business without a license, except that a license is not required for a retail seller whose retail installment transactions are limited to the honoring of credit cards issued by dealers in oil and petroleum products licensed to do business in this state. Section
520.32(2) requires a retail installment seller to pay a $200 fee for obtaining this license. After two years, a retail installment seller must renew its license by paying another $200 fee. Id. §
520.32(3)....
...censing provisions in chapter 520 constitute permissible regulation and are not violative of the Commerce Clause. On this issue we agree with the district court: The instant case is analogous to the above regulatory cases. The licensing provision in section 520.32 involves a local concern that the state has the power to regulate, that has not been regulated by Congress, and that does not discriminate against, or in any respect unnecessarily obstruct, interstate commerce....
...1154 (1950) (Blue Sky laws)."
504 U.S. at 298,
112 S.Ct. at 1904.
659 So.2d at 381. It would appear that the United States Supreme Court has itself limited the law of Bellas Hess to tax cases. We follow Justice Scalia's lead here. We find that the licensing provision in section
520.32 involves a local concern that the state has the power to regulate, that has not been regulated by Congress, and that does not discriminate against, or in any respect unnecessarily obstruct, interstate commerce....
...nue unabated and without sanction. We do not believe that Congress, or the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Commerce Clause, has mandated such an outcome. Accordingly, we answer the first certified question in the affirmative and hold that section 520.32 is a regulatory measure and, because of its evenhanded application to all retail installment sellers, is not violative of the Commerce Clause. We quash the decision of the district court on the constitutionality of section 520.32. By answering the first certified question in the affirmative and upholding section 520.32, we have mooted the second certified question. Accordingly, we decline to answer the second certified question. We recognize that our opinion is contrary to the district court's conclusion as to the validity and application of section 520.32 and that our holding may impact the resolution of the other issues raised in the district court....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 7535, 20 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 1639
...erved as its vice-president, treasurer and secretary prior to becoming the company’s president after Rheinfrank’s departure. Appellants were specifically charged with violating the licensing provisions for retail installment contractors found in section
520.32, 2 Florida Statutes, and the loan broker provisions in section
687.141, 3 Florida Statutes....
...xchange for its services as a loan broker and making misleading representations or omissions in connection with the offer or sale of its services. The Department also alleged that Credieorp was an unlicensed retail installment seller in violation of section 520.32(1)....
...nstitutionally applied to Credicorp because they constitute a flat-sum licensing tax which, according to the above eases, violates the Commerce Clause. If we were writing on a clean slate, we would hold otherwise. Although the licensing provision in section 520.32(2) requires each retail installment seller to pay a “non-refundable application fee not exceeding $200” and section 520.32(3) further requires payment of a “renewal fee not exceeding $200,” the licensing provision is, in our view, not merely a tax....
...Finally, the court observed that when the burdens imposed by local legislation become too great, Congress may legislate to secure uniformity or to protect the national interest as this is a legislative, not a judicial, function. Id. The instant case is analogous to the above regulatory cases. The licensing provision in section 520.32 involves a local concern that the state has the power to regulate, that has not been regulated by Congress, and that does not discriminate against, or in any respect unnecessarily obstruct, interstate commerce....
...certify this issue as a question of great public importance, we reach Credicorp’s additional contention that it may not be regulated under chapter 520 because it does not enter retail installment contracts in Florida. The licensing requirement of section
520.32(1) is applied to “a retail seller engaging in retail installment transactions.” A retail installment transaction means “a contract to sell or furnish or the sale of or the furnishing of goods or services by a retail seller to a retail buyer pursuant to a retail installment contract_” §
520.31(11), Fla....
...Department of Prof. Reg.,
603 So.2d 8 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; question certified. BARFIELD, J., concurs. ALLEN, J., concurs in part & dissents in part with written opinion. . Mr. Rheinfrank died on October 25, 1993. . Section
520.32, Florida Statutes, provides in material part: (1)A person may not engage in or transact the business of a retail seller engaging in retail installment transactions as defined in this part or operate a branch of such business without a...
