Illinois Association of Mortgage Brokers v. Office of Banks and Real Estate

ARGUED SEPTEMBER 17, 2002 The Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982, 12 U.S.C. §§ 3801-06, provides that state-chartered lenders may make variable- interest home mortgage loans (called ""alternative mortgage transactions"") on the same terms as federally-chartered lenders, ""notwithstanding any State constitution, law, or regulation."" 12 U.S.C. §3803(c). The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994, codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1602(aa), 1610, 1639, and 1640, forbids lenders from using particular terms in home mortgage transactions. The question presented by this appeal is whether the 1994 Act's regulation of all home mortgage lenders repeals the 1982 Act's rule of parity between state and federal institutions in alternative mortgage transactions. The district court answered yes and held that, as a result, regulations imposing extra restrictions on state-chartered lenders in Illinois are valid. Illinois Ass'n of Mortgage Brokers v. Office of Banks & Real Estate, 174 F. Supp. 2d 815 (N.D. Ill. 2001). We answer no. The 1994 Act does not repeal the 1982 Act in so many words, and implied repeal occurs only when the statutes are irreconcilable. See J.E.M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., 534 U.S. 124, 141-44 (2001) (collecting authority). All the district court concluded, however, is that the 1982 and 1994 Acts concern the same subject matter. That is not, and never has been, enough to show that the most recent statute repeals its predecessors. Substantive rules in one law are not logically incompatible with an equal-treatment rule in another, so both remain effective.