Bowles

This is an appeal from the lower court’s dismissal of an action for statutory damages brought by the Administrator of the Office of Price Administration, the appellant, for the sale of a used tractor in violation of Maximum Price Regulation No. 136.

The lower court proceeded on the theory that one Earl Gilmore purchased the used Allis-Chalmers tractor from the appellee as an ultimate consumer and the sale was made to him for use or consumption not in the course of trade or business within the meaning of the Emergency Price Control Act. The court placed the right of action in Gilmore and not with the Administrator.

Section 205(e) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 1 provides that any person who buys a commodity for use or consumption other than in the course of trade or business in violation of any maximum price regulation may bring an action against the seller on account of the overcharge and collect $50 or treble the amount of the overcharge plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The subsection further provided that if “any person selling a commodity violates a regulation, order, or price schedule prescribing a maximum price or maximum prices, and the buyer is not…