Atwood-Leisman v. United States

72 Fed. Cl. 142, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 141, 2006 WL 1529206
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 5, 2006
DocketNo. 98-815C
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 72 Fed. Cl. 142 (Atwood-Leisman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atwood-Leisman v. United States, 72 Fed. Cl. 142, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 141, 2006 WL 1529206 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

In this housing contract case, plaintiffs and defendant have both moved for partial summary judgment respecting plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim.1 Plaintiffs entered into mortgage contracts with the Farmer’s Home Administration (“FmHA”), a federal government agency, to provide low- and moderate-income rural housing.2 These mortgage contracts, which were entered into between 1974 and 1981, contained a provision that allowed the property owners to prepay their loans at any time and convert their property to market rents.3 The implementation of the contracts was affected by the subsequent enactment of the Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act of 1987, Pub.L. No. 100-242, Tit. II, 101 Stat. 1815, 1877-91 (Feb. 5, 1988) (“ELIHPA”), and the Housing and Community Develop[144]*144ment Act of 1992, Pub.L. No. 102-550, 106 Stat. 3672 (1992) (“HCDA”), which among other things restrained pre-payment of plaintiffs’ FmHA loans. In 1997 and 1998, plaintiffs tendered payment in an attempt to prepay their mortgages under the terms of the contract, but the government refused to accept the tenders or to release its liens encumbering the properties. The property owners claim that the government’s refusal to accept prepayment represented a breach of the contract terms. See Plaintiffs’ Memorandum in Support of Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Breach of Contract Claim (“Pis.’ Mem.”) at 3-14. Defendant responds that plaintiffs’ prepayment rights were susceptible to regulation and imposition of conditions by the government, and that the government’s refusal to accept prepayment did not represent a material breach of the contracts. See Defendant’s Response to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (“Def.’s Cross-Mot.”) at 10-17.4

For the reasons set out below, plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on their breach of contract claim is granted, and defendant’s cross-motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

A. History and Development of the FmHA Loan Program 5

Plaintiffs each entered into, or assumed the rights and obligations under, a loan agreement with mortgage loans issued by FmHA, an agency within the United Stated Department of Agriculture, pursuant to Sections 515 and 521 of the Housing Act of 1949, Pub.L. No. 81-171, 63 Stat. 413, as added by Pub.L. No. 87-723, § 4(b), 76 Stat. 670, 671-72 (1962), and Pub.L. No. 90-448, § 1001, 82 Stat. 476, 551 (1968) (codified, as amended, at 42 U.S.C. §§ 1485, 1490a).6 Under Sections 515 and 521, FmHA makes direct loans to private entities to develop or construct rural housing designed to serve elderly and low- or middle-income individuals and families. In securing Section 515 loans, the borrower executes a loan agreement, a promissory note, and a mortgage or deed of trust.

By 1979, Congress found that many participants in the Section 515 program were prepaying their mortgages, potentially threatening the availability of affordable rural housing. See H.R.Rep. No. 96-154, at 43-44 (1979), reprinted in 1979 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2317, 2359. In response, Congress passed the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1979, Pub.L. No. 96-153, 93 Stat. 1101 (1979), and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, Pub.L. No. 96-399, 94 Stat. 1614 (1980). The 1979 statute prohibited FmHA from accepting prepayment of any loan made before or after the date of enactment unless the owner agreed to maintain the low-income use of the rental housing for a 15-year or 20-year peri[145]*145od from the date of the loan. Pub.L. No. 96-153, § 503, 93 Stat. at 1134-1135. That requirement could be avoided if FmHA determined that there was no longer a need for the low-cost housing. Id., 93 Stat. at 1135. The 1980 Act provided that the prepayment restrictions would apply only to loans entered after December 21, 1979. Pub.L. No. 96-399, § 514, 94 Stat. at 1671-1672.7

In 1987, Congress passed ELIHPA, which amended the Housing Act of 1949 to restrict the prepayment of Section 515 mortgages that were entered into before December 21, 1979. ELIHPA required that before FmHA could accept an offer to prepay a mortgage entered before December 21, 1979, FmHA had to “make reasonable efforts to enter into an agreement with the borrower under which the borrower will make a binding commitment to extend the low income use of the assisted housing” for at least an additional 20 years. Pub.L. No. 100-242, § 241, 101 Stat. at 1886 (codified, as amended, at 42 U.S.C. § 1472(c)(4)(A)). ELIHPA further provided that FmHA could offer incentives to persuade an owner to keep its property in the program. 42 U.S.C. § 1472(c)(4)(B). These incentives included an increase in the rate of return on investment, reduction of the interest rate on the loan, and an additional loan to the borrower. Id. Under ELIHPA, if FmHA determined after a “reasonable period” that an incentive agreement could not be reached with a borrower who sought to prepay, the Secretary “shall” require the owner to offer to sell the housing to “any qualified nonprofit organization or public agency at a fair market value determined by 2 independent appraisers.” 42 U.S.C. § 1472(c) (5)(A) (I). If an offer to buy were not made by a nonprofit organization or agency within 180 days, FmHA could accept the borrower’s offer to prepay or request refinancing. Id. § 1472(c)(5)(A)(ii). The requirement for an offer-for-sale to a non-profit buyer did not apply if FmHA determined that housing opportunities for minorities “w[ould] not be materially affected” by prepayment and either: (I) the tenants would not be displaced by prepayment or (ii) there was an “adequate supply” of “affordable” housing in the market area and “sufficient actions ha[d] been taken to ensure” that such housing “will be made available” to displaced tenants. Id. § 1472(c)(5)(G)(ii). FmHA promulgated regulations to implement ELIHPA on April 22,1988, and the regulations became effective on May 23, 1988. See Rural Rental Housing Displacement Prevention, 53 Fed. Reg. 13,245 (Apr. 22, 1988) (codified at 7 C.F.R. pts. 1944 and 1965).

In 1992, Congress passed the HCDA. That legislation extended ELIHPA’s restrictions to loans that were made from December 21, 1979, through December 15,1989. 42 U.S.C. § 1472(c). Thus, beginning in 1992, loans made after December 21, 1979, but before December 15, 1989, were subject to the same provisions of ELIHPA that applied to older complexes. In 1993, FmHA promulgated RD Instruction 1965-E, see Pis.’ App. 3 at 700-800, describing the requirements of ELIHPA, HCDA, and the implementing regulations, and including detailed instructions regarding the procedures to be followed when processing a prepayment request.

B. The Loan Agreements and Plaintiffs’ Tenders of Prepayments

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Bluebook (online)
72 Fed. Cl. 142, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 141, 2006 WL 1529206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atwood-leisman-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.