Aple Auto Cash Express, Inc. of Oklahoma v. State of Oklahoma, ex rel. Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit

Summary

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that Auto Cash Express's vehicle sale-and-leaseback transactions were disguised consumer loans rather than bona fide rental-purchase agreements. The court concluded that the transactions were subject to Oklahoma's Uniform Consumer Credit Code and supervised-lender requirements, not solely the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act. The court vacated the Court of Civil Appeals opinion and affirmed the trial court's order.

Holdings

1. When considered as a whole, Aple's transactions were disguised loans rather than bona fide sales or rental-purchase agreements.
2. Aple's transactions were supervised consumer loans and therefore were subject to the licensing, disclosure, and finance-charge requirements of the Oklahoma Uniform Consumer Credit Code rather than solely the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act.
3. The court declined to limit its ruling to prospective application and applied it to the transactions at issue.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Aple's purchase of customers' vehicles at reduced prices followed by lease-back and repurchase-option agreements constituted bona fide rental-purchase transactions under the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act.
2. Whether the transactions were instead disguised supervised consumer loans governed by the Oklahoma Uniform Consumer Credit Code.
3. Whether the court should apply its ruling only prospectively.

Disposition

vacated