Cite as: 523 U. S. 410 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
date of the . . . violation as a matter of defense by recoupment." This quite different treatment of recoupment of damages and rescission in the nature of recoupment must be understood to reflect a deliberate intent on the part of Congress, see Bates v. United States, 522 U. S. 23, 29- 30, and makes perfectly good sense. Since a statutory rescission right could cloud a bank's title on foreclosure, Congress may well have chosen to circumscribe that risk, while permitting recoupment of damages regardless of the date a collection action may be brought. Pp. 415-419. 692 So. 2d 146, affirmed.
Souter, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Bruce S. Rogow argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Beverly A. Pohl and Michael Tankersley.
Carter G. Phillips argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were James A. Huizinga, Michael F. Wasserman, Steven Ellison, and Patricia Lebow.*
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. Under the Truth in Lending Act, 82 Stat. 146, 15 U. S. C. § 1601 et seq., when a loan made in a consumer credit transaction is secured by the borrower's principal dwelling, the borrower may rescind the loan agreement if the lender fails to deliver certain forms or to disclose important terms accurately. See 15 U. S. C. § 1635. Under § 1635(f) of the statute, this right of rescission "shall expire" in the usual case three years after the loan closes or upon the sale of the secured property, whichever date is earlier. The question here is whether a borrower may assert this right to rescind as an affirmative defense in a collection action brought by the lender more than three years after the consummation
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the American Association of Retired Persons by Jean Constantine-Davis and Nina F. Simon; and for Dorothy Botelho et al. by Richard J. Rubin and Gary Klein.
Thomas M. Hefferon, John C. Englander, and Jeremiah S. Buckley filed a brief for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance.
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