205 STEWART, J., dissenting shopping for credit, the TILA as originally drafted did not require disclosure of or otherwise deal with security interests; and the security interest disclosure provision was added to the TILA because of Congress' particular concern about the need to warn consumers of the creditor's acquisition of a particular type of security interest-a second mortgage on the borrower's home. The Board's view that disclosure of a creditor's incidental interest in unearned insurance premiums would not measurably further the TILA's purpose of aiding consumers to shop for credit, and that the term "security interest" as used in the TILA, the 1980 Act, and in Regulation Z should not be construed as including such an interest, is consistent with the underlying purpose of the TILA. This interpretation of the term "security interest" strikes a balance between "meaningful disclosure" and "informational overload." 21 As we emphasized in Milhollin, the task of striking the proper balance is "an empirical process that entails investigation into consumer psychology and that presupposes broad experience with credit practices." Administrative agencies are "better suited than [the] courts to engage in such a process." 444 U. S., at 568-569. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. So ordered. JUSTICE STEWART, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE BRENNAN, and JUSTICE MARSHALL join, dissenting. The Court correctly states that the respondents in this case maintain "that the plain language of the statute and the 21 In Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Milhollin, 444 U. S. 555 (1980), we stressed that the TILA seeks to provide "meaningful disclosure" of credit terms: "Meaningful disclosure does not mean more disclosure. Rather, it describes a balance between 'competing considerations of complete disclosure... and regulation requires the result reached by the court below." Ante, at 211-212. Yet the Court nowhere attempts a direct answer to the respondents' contention. Despite the elementary principle that the starting point in construing a statute is the language of the statute itself, the Court simply ignores the plain language of the TILA and the equally plain language of the only applicable Federal Reserve Board construction of it. Instead, the Court contrives to discover contrary legislative intent in such dubious materials as the legislative history of a subsequent statute which does not cover the transaction at hand, a regulation issued to implement that inapplicable statute, and an unofficial administrative staff interpretation which, by its own express terms, is a mere proposal intended to have no legal effect.1 In my opinion, the statutory language at issue here unequivocally supports the decision of the Court of Appeals, and should itself dispose of this case. See United States v. Wiltberger, 5 Wheat. 76, 95-96 (Marshall, C. J.). But even were the Court justified in leaping over the language of Congress in search of a conflicting indication of congressional intent, the secondary authority on which the Court relies does not withstand examination. As a result, the Court does damage to settled principles of administrative law and statutory construction-damage that could extend to issues of far greater moment than the very narrow question under the Truth in Lending Act at issue here. ... the need to avoid [informational overload].'" Id., at 568, quoting S. Rep. No. 96-73, p. 3 (1979) (accompanying the 1980 Act). 1 The Court does indirectly refer to the plain language of the TILA when it concedes that "[u]naided by an administrative construction of the TILA and Regulation Z, a court could easily conclude, based on the language of the statute and Regulation Z, that the interest in unearned insurance premiums acquired by the creditor in this case should be characterized as a 'security interest' that must be disclosed." Ante, at 222. But the Court does not rely on the one administrative construction that resolves any possible uncertainty in the statutory language, see 12 CFR § 226.2 (gg) (1980), and never explains why any further aid is necessary. 205 STEWART, J., dissenting Section 128 (a)(10) of the TILA requires the creditor to disclose "[a] description of any security interest held or to be retained or acquired by the creditor in connection with the extension of credit, and a clear identification of the property to which the security interest relates." 15 U. S. C. § 1638 (a) (10) (emphasis added).2 The word "any" can only mean exactly what it says, and so the sole question is whether the credit company's right to the consumer's unearned insurance premium is a "security interest." The credit contract requires the consumer to buy physical damage insurance "protecting the interests of Buyer and Seller," and grants to the seller any unearned insurance premiums, to be "applied toward replacement of the Property or payment of the indebtedness hereunder in the sole discretion of Seller." If unaided common sense cannot identify the seller's rights under this clause as a "security interest," the language of the applicable Federal Reserve Board definition of "security interest" under the TILA quickly and unmistakably does so: "Security interest' and 'security' mean any interest in property which secures payment or performance of an obligation. The terms include, but are not limited to, security interests under the Uniform Commercial Code, real property mortgages, deeds of trust, and other consensual or confessed liens whether or not recorded, mechanic's, materialmen's, artisan's, and other similar liens, vendor's liens in both real and personal property, the in 2 Regulation Z virtually duplicates the statutory language, requiring a creditor to disclose "[a] description or identification of the type of any security interest held or to be retained or acquired by the creditor in connection with the extension of credit, and a clear identification of the property to which the security interest relates . . ." 12 CFR § 226.8 (b) (5) (1980) (emphasis added). STEWART, J., dissenting 452 U.S. terest of a seller in a contract for the sale of real property, any lien on property arising by operation of law, and any interest in a lease when used to secure payment or performance of an obligation." 12 CFR § 226.2 (gg) (1980) (emphasis added). Ford's assignment clause clearly meets the Federal Reserve Board definition. First, the assignment clause plainly creates an interest in property. In this case, the annual premium for physical damage insurance was $215, and in other instances it could be considerably higher. The amount of the unearned insurance premium acquired by the creditor will depend on the timing of the cancellation which triggers the creditor's rights under the assignment clause. But except in the rare case in which the repossession of the car precisely coincides with the end of the insurance term, the creditor will be able to recover a refund of some sort, and since repossession might occur right after a new term of insurance begins, the contract essentially represents an interest equal to the value of the premium itself.3 Second, the assignment clause clearly "secure [s] payment or performance of an obligation." The contract expressly 3 The assignment clause may therefore be of more than minor significance to a buyer. It would allow the creditor to attach, without full court procedure, perhaps hundreds of dollars which the buyer has spent on insurance for a car which he no longer possesses. A consumer might well want to avoid giving his creditor such a right, and so disclosure of the assignment might well advance the congressional goal of informed credit shopping by consumers. 15 U. S. C. § 1601. But in any event, where the language of the statute clearly covers this security interest, it is not for the courts to assess the significance of the interest. The Court quotes, apparently with approval, the concurring opinion of Judge Cudahy of the Court of Appeals in this case, which laments that disclosure of the "virtually inconsequential information" about the assignment of the insurance premiums trivializes the disclosure "for no apparent benefit." Ante, at 211, n. 8. Even were Judge Cudahy right about the value of the disclosure at issue here, he, unlike today's Court, did not allow his own appraisal of the question to obscure unequivocal statutory language. 205 STEWART, J., dissenting states that the creditor is to use any refunded premiums for "replacement of the Property or payment of the indebtedness hereunder." Even if Ford is correct in asserting that the purpose of the assignment is to continue the insurance coverage on the car during the life of the loan, see ante, at 208, n. 3, the assignment is still a security interest under Regulation Z, since it will be used to secure performance of the buyer's obligation to maintain insurance coverage. The applicable statute and regulation thus both clearly declare the assignment of unearned insurance premiums to be a security interest which must be disclosed on the face of the credit contract." Virtually ignoring the Federal Reserve Board definition of "security interest" in § 226.2 (gg) of Regulation Z-the applicable administrative pronouncement which effectively settles the issue in favor of the respondents-the Court relies instead on an unofficial staff interpretation which, by its own 4 Even if the comprehensive language with which the applicable version of Regulation Z begins were insufficient to demonstrate that the assignment clause is a security interest under the TILA, the assignment falls within at least two of the nonexhaustive enumerated examples in the definition. Clauses assigning unearned insurance premiums may well qualify as "consensual . . . liens whether or not recorded," 12 CFR § 226.2 (gg) (1980), or "security interests under the Uniform Commercial Code," see Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 26, TT 1-201 (37), 9-102 (2), 9-306, 9-312 (1979). "The Court seeks to find some support for its restrictive reading of the TILA in the legislative history of the Act. Representative Cahill, who introduced the "security interest" provision in the House, stated that the primary reason for the provision was to combat the second-mortgage schemes to which many homeowners had fallen prey, and sponsors of the provision in both Houses appear to have reinforced this view. But the quoted statements from the legislative history do not purport to be explanations of specific statutory language. Rather, they are generalized declarations about the primary purpose of the bill, and so do not preclude other situations clearly covered by the language of the statute. Indeed, the Court seems to agree, recognizing that the narrow focus of the quoted legislative history on the problem of second mortgages on real estate cannot possibly explain the broad language of § 128 (a) (10). Ante, at 222. |