Tower Loan of Mississippi, Inc. - Page 13

                                       - 13 -                                         
          Dixieland [i.e., the loan company] from its sale of insurance is            
          in violation of the Miss. Code Ann. section 83-17-105”.  Id.                
          Because of the reliance placed on the Department of Insurance               
          regulations, the court made its ruling prohibiting an unlicensed            
          agent from collecting commissions prospective to cases arising on           
          and after July 1, 1989.  Id. at 673.  The court chose a                     
          prospective date to allow the Legislature and Executive                     
          Departments to deal with the inconsistencies noted.  Id.7                   
               Petitioner argues that the prospective language in Tew                 
          relates only to the private cause of action asserted by the                 
          defendant against the loan company, not to the legality of the              
          loan company’s actions.  Thus, petitioner argues, it would have             
          been illegal for it to receive commissions even prior to July 1,            
          1989.  We agree.  The Mississippi Supreme Court clearly held that           
          the receiving of commissions by the loan company from the sale of           
          credit insurance was in violation of Miss. Code Ann. sec 83-17-             
          105, which required it to be a licensed agent to receive                    
          commissions.  Id.                                                           
               Neither party disputes the rule of Commissioner v. First               
          Security Bank, 405 U.S. 394 (1972), wherein the Supreme Court               
          held that the Commissioner’s allocation of income to a taxpayer             

               7    The statutes in question were not amended after Tew v.            
          Dixieland Finance, Inc., 527 So. 2d 665 (Miss. 1988).  However,             
          on July 1, 1989, the Department of Insurance promulgated Ins.               
          Dept. Reg. 89-102 to specifically allow an unlicensed creditor              
          which sells credit insurance through its licensed employees to              
          receive commissions.                                                        




Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011