In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Thomas in Household Credit Services, Inc. v. Pfennig (Apr. 21, 2004), the Supreme Court has reversed the Sixth Circuit's decision that "over-limit" charges on a credit card account should be included in, and disclosed as part of, the "finance" charge. The plaintiff filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.) alleging that she and a nationwide class of credit card holders had been charged fees for exceeding their credit limits, and that although the over-limit fees had been disclosed on their monthly credit-card statements, they had not been included in the finance charge, thereby "misrepresenting the true cost of credit" and violating the Truth In Lending Act ("TILA"). Judge Sargus dismissed the complaint on the ground that Regulation Z specifically excludes over-limit fees from the definition of a "finance charge." The Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that Regulation Z's exclusion of over-limit charges from the finance charge conflicted with TILA. The Supreme Court disagreed and reversed the Sixth Circuit.

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