Calhoun v. USDA Farm Service Agency

920 F. Supp. 696, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3890, 1996 WL 142666
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedMarch 12, 1996
DocketCivil Action 4:95cv365-D-B
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 920 F. Supp. 696 (Calhoun v. USDA Farm Service Agency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Calhoun v. USDA Farm Service Agency, 920 F. Supp. 696, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3890, 1996 WL 142666 (N.D. Miss. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DAVIDSON, District Judge.

Presently before the court is the motion of the plaintiff for preliminary injunctive relief pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 65, and the defendant’s motion to dismiss or for summary judgment on the plaintiffs claims. Finding that the plaintiff has failed to demonstrate a substantial likelihood that he will prevail on the merits of this action, based upon his failure to exhaust available administrative remedies, the motion for preliminary injunctive relief shall be denied, and the motion to dismiss or for summary judgment shall be granted.

Factual Background

Most of the basic facts surrounding this case are not in dispute between the parties. The plaintiff in this cause, Mr. John C. Calhoun, III, borrowed approximately $410,-000.00 in loan assistance from the United States of America, Department of Agriculture, through the Farmers Home Administration 1 , during the period of May 1974 to May of 1982. Mr. Calhoun defaulted on the repayment of these loans, and the Federal Land Bank of New Orleans foreclosed upon the 587 acres of land in Carrol County, Mississippi, which stood as partial security for the debt. The FmHA bought the 587 acres at the foreclosure sale, and title was transferred to the United States by deed dated December 20,1983.

After the purchase of the property by FmHA, there were numerous communications between FmHA officials and Mr. Calhoun. In 1990, Mr. Calhoun made an offer to buy the property contingent upon FmHA financing. FmHA declined the offer by letter dated November 2, 1990. FSA 2 then offered the property to the public for sale on February 16, 1995, and Calhoun again made an offer to purchase the property. This time, however, Calhoun had obtained private financing for the purchase. Calhoun was placed in a class with several other prospective purchasers, and “straws were drawn” to determine which prospective buyer would be permitted to purchase the property. Mr. Calhoun was not chosen.

Mr. Calhoun filed this action to challenge his placement with other potential purchasers of the property for purposes of the 1995 offer to sell the property. His contention is *699 that pursuant to 7 U.S.C. § 1985(e)(1)(C)(i), FSA is required to give him preference over all other persons seeking to purchase this property, and he seeks injunctive relief from this court to prevent the transfer of the title of this property from the United States to the successful bidder. 3

DISCUSSION

I. STANDARD FOR THE GRANTING OF A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

In making its ruling on the propriety of a preliminary injunction, this court is bound by the considerations contained in the decision of Canal Authority of Florida v. Callaway and its progeny. Canal Authority of Florida v. Callaway, 489 F.2d 567, 572 (5th Cir.1974). Pursuant to this authority, the plaintiff in this matter has the burden of demonstrating to this court four specific criteria:

(1) a substantial likelihood that plaintiff will prevail on the merits;
(2) a substantial threat that plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury if the injunction is not granted;
(3) that the threatened injury to plaintiff outweighs the threatened harm the injunction may do to defendant; and,
(4) that granting the preliminary injunction will not disserve the public interest.

Rodriguez v. United States, 66 F.3d 95, 97 (5th Cir.1995) (citing Canal Authority, 489 F.2d at 572); Cherokee Pump & Equip. v. Aurora Pump, 38 F.3d 246, 249 (5th Cir.1994) (same). It is incumbent upon the plaintiff to demonstrate all of the four factors, and the failure to demonstrate any one of the four is sufficient to the court to deny the issuance of an injunction. “A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy. It should only be granted if the movant has clearly carried the burden of persuasion on all four Callaway prerequisites. The decision to grant a preliminary injunction is to be treated as the exception rather than the rule.” Cherokee Pump, 38 F.3d at 249 (quoting Mississippi Power & Light v. United Gas Pipe Line Co., 760 F.2d 618, 621 (5th Cir.1985) (emphasis added)).

II. LIKELIHOOD OF PREVAILING ON THE MERITS

A) THE EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES

At the time that the defendant offered the property for public sale, Mr. Calhoun had available to him an organized appeal process within which to challenge his status among the prospective purchasers. Further, FSA informed him of such an appeal process at the time they informed Calhoun that he was being categorized with the other purchasers. Mr. Calhoun had previously, although unsuccessfully, made similar appeals of prior adverse decisions by the FSA. FSA informed the plaintiff of its decision to place him in “Category V’ 4 along with other persons who wished to purchase the subject property by letter dated May 10, 1995. An attachment to the letter stated that he had thirty (30) days within which to appeal that decision. The plaintiff filed an appeal of his classification on November 22, 1995. On December 5, 1995, the National Appeals Staff denied Calhoun’s appeal as untimely.

The defendant argues that Mr. Calhoun failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, and that therefore his request for injunctive relief should be denied and his ease dismissed. Mr. Calhoun does not dispute that he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, but urges this court to apply an exception to the exhaustion requirement and permit his claim to go forward.

The requirement that a plaintiff exhaust his administrative remedies can be of two types: 1) it can be mandated by federal statute, or 2) it can be imposed through the judicially-created doctrine of exhaustion. “There is a distinct difference between statu *700 torily mandated exhaustion of administrative remedies and the judicially created doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies.” Information Resources, Inc. v. United States, 950 F.2d 1122, 1126 (5th Cir.1992); see also Power Plant Div., Brown & Root, Inc. v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Comm.,

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Bluebook (online)
920 F. Supp. 696, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3890, 1996 WL 142666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/calhoun-v-usda-farm-service-agency-msnd-1996.