Allied Home Mortgage Corp. v. Donovan

830 F. Supp. 2d 223, 2011 WL 5553645, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131396
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedNovember 15, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. H-11-3864
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 830 F. Supp. 2d 223 (Allied Home Mortgage Corp. v. Donovan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allied Home Mortgage Corp. v. Donovan, 830 F. Supp. 2d 223, 2011 WL 5553645, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131396 (S.D. Tex. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

MELINDA HARMON, District Judge.

Pending before the Court in the above referenced cause for declaratory and injunctive relief is Plaintiffs Allied Home Mortgage Corporation (“Corp.”) and James C. Hodge’s (“Hodge’s”) motion for a temporary restraining order and expedited preliminary injunction (instrument # 2), [226]*226seeking to enjoin the suspensions of Corp.’s approval to originate and underwrite FHA-insured mortgage loans and Hodge’s right to participate in any FHA-insured lending by the Mortgagee Review Board (“the Board”) of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD” or “the government”), effective November 1, 2011 (Exs. 1 and 2).1 The motion was first heard on November 3, 2011, with Assistant United States Attorney from the Southern District of New York, Jaimie Nawaday, participating by telephone. Because the Court concluded that it needed additional information and evidence, the Court converted the motion to one for a preliminary injunction and set an evidentiary hearing, which took place on November 8, 2011, with counsel for all parties participating in the courtroom.2

Plaintiffs’ instant suit seeks a declaration that HUD’s suspension of Allied Home Mortgage Corporation’s origination and underwriting approval and suspension of Hodge from participation in any FHA-insured lending was arbitrary and capricious and effected without due process of law in violation of the Fifth Amendment. They request permanent injunctive relief in the setting aside or invalidation of the suspensions.

Corp. is a Texas corporation with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. Hodge is its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and a citizen of Texas.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a) requires a court reviewing an application for preliminary injunctive relief to “set forth the findings of fact and conclusions of law which constitute the grounds of the action.”

Relevant Law

When reviewing an administrative agency’s action under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”),3 the court may set aside that ruling “only if it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, not in accordance with law, or unsupported by substantial evidence on the record taken as a whole.” Sun Towers, Inc. v. Schweiker, 694 F.2d 1036, 1038 (5th Cir.1983); 5 U.S.C. § 706 (“[T]he reviewing court [decides] all relevant questions of law.”). Therefore an agency’s determinations or questions of law are reviewed de novo. Marquez-Marquez v. Gonzales, 455 F.3d 548, 554 (5th Cir.2006), citing Alwan [227]*227v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 507, 510 (5th Cir. 2004). The standard of review is highly deferential to the administrative agency, and a court should not substitute its own judgment for that of the agency. Citation Oil & Gas Corp. v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, 2011 WL 5025486, *2 (5th Cir.2011), citing Tex. Clinical Labs., Inc. v. Sebelius, 612 F.3d 771, 775 (5th Cir.2010). An agency’s actions are arbitrary and capricious “if the agency relied on factors which Congress had not intended it to consider, entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem, offered an explanation for its decision that runs counter to the evidence before the agency, or is so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view or the product of agency expertise.” Tex. Oil & Gas Ass’n v. U.S. E.P.A., 161 F.3d 923, 933 (5th Cir.1998), quoting Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm, Mut. Auto. Ins., 463 U.S. 29, 43, 103 S.Ct. 2856, 77 L.Ed.2d 443 (1983). An agency’s action, findings and conclusions should also be set aside if they are unsupported by substantial evidence. 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(E). “Substantial evidence is more than a scintilla, less than a preponderance, and is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Homes v. Heckler, 707 F.2d 162, 164 (5th Cir.1983). Interpretations of circuit law by the agency, however, are reviewed de novo. Williams v. Admin. Rev. Bd., 376 F.3d 471, 476 (5th Cir .2004).

Under the stringent standard for obtaining the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction, the plaintiff must establish “(1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, (2) a substantial threat of irreparable injury if the injunction is not issued, (3) that the threatened injury if the injunction is denied outweighs any harm that will result if the injunction is granted, and (4) the grant of an injunction will not disserve the public interest.” Janvey v. Alguire, 647 F.3d 585, 595 (5th Cir.2011), citing Byrum v. Landreth, 566 F.3d 442, 445 (5th Cir.2009). The plaintiff must carry its burden of persuasion on all four prongs. Canal Authority of State of Fla. v. Callaway, 489 F.2d 567, 576 (5th Cir.1974). “The purpose of a preliminary injunction is always to prevent irreparable injury so as to preserve the court’s ability to render a meaningful decision [after a trial] on the merits.” Callaway, 489 F.2d at 576; DSC Communications Corp. v. DGI Technologies, Inc., 898 F.Supp. 1183, 1187 (N.D.Tex.1995).

For the first element, the plaintiff’s evidence need not prove that plaintiff is entitled to a summary judgment; plaintiff needs only to present a prima facie case, but not demonstrate that he is certain to win. Id. at 595-96, citing id., and Charles Alan Wright, Arthur Miller, Mary Kay Kane, 11 Federal Practice and Procedure § 2948.3 (2d ed. 1995). “[I]t will ordinarily be enough that the plaintiff has raised questions going to the merits so serious, substantial, difficult and doubtful, as to make them a fair ground for litigation and thus for more deliberate investigation.” Sebastian v. Texas Dep’t of Corrections, 541 F.Supp. 970, 975 (S.D.Tex. 1982). To evaluate the likelihood of success on the merits the court considers the “ ‘standards provided by the substantive law.’ ” Janvey, 647 F.3d at 596, citing Roho, Inc. v. Marquis, 902 F.2d 356

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830 F. Supp. 2d 223, 2011 WL 5553645, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allied-home-mortgage-corp-v-donovan-txsd-2011.