Carpenter v. United States

69 Fed. Cl. 718, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 42, 2006 WL 337522
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedFebruary 10, 2006
DocketNo. 04-1740 C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 69 Fed. Cl. 718 (Carpenter 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
Carpenter v. United States, 69 Fed. Cl. 718, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 42, 2006 WL 337522 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GEORGE W. MILLER, Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) or for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(6). Plaintiff has requested leave to file an amended complaint should the Court conclude that it otherwise lacks subject matter jurisdiction. For the following reasons, defendant’s motion to dismiss is DENIED and plaintiffs request, treated as a motion, for leave to file an amended complaint is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND1

In 1962, Congress added section 5152 to the Housing Act of 1949 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans to private entities “to provide rental housing and related facilities for elderly persons and elderly families of low or moderate income in rural areas----” Pub.L. No. 87-723, § 4(b), 76 Stat. 670, 671 (1962); Def.’s Mot. Dismiss. (“Def.’s Mot.”) at 4. The loan program was administered by the Farmers Home Administration (“FmHA”)3 of the Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). In 1966, Congress expanded the section 515 loan program to encompass rental housing for “other persons and families of low income.” Pub.L. No. 89-754, § 804, 80 Stat. 1255, 1282 (1966).4

In 1979, Congress found that many participants in the FmHA program had begun to prepay their loans. Def.’s Mot. at 4. Fearing that the prepayment of FmHA loans would threaten the availability of rural low and moderate-income housing, Congress amended the National Housing Act to prevent the loss of low-cost rural housing due to prepayments.5 Id. at 4 — 5. This amendment prohibited the FmHA from accepting prepayment of any FmHA loan made before or after the date of the enactment of the amendment unless the owner agreed to maintain the low-income cost of the rental housing for either 15 or 20 years from the date the loan originated. Id. at 5. In 1980, Congress eliminated the retroactive application of the 1979 amendment.6 Id. Henceforth, the prepay[721]*721ment restrictions in the 1979 amendment would apply only to loans entered into after the enactment of that amendment on December 21,1979. Id.

By 1987, Congress had again become concerned that prepayment of FmHA loans would threaten the availability of low and moderate income housing. See Compl. 1122. In response to these concerns, Congress enacted the Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act of 1987 (“ELIHPA”),7 which again imposed restrictions on prepayment of pre-1979 FmHA loans. See Compl. ¶¶ 22-27. Plaintiff alleges that this legislation contained provisions which were designed to “place the pre-1979 FmHA contract holders ‘on the same playing field’ as the post-1979 FmHA contract holders already subject to a restrictive-use clause.” Compl. ¶ 24. In 1992, Congress enacted the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992.8 Compl. ¶ 28. (“HCDA” hereinafter refers to this legislation, rather than the 1980 legislation of the same name.) This legislation extended the prepayment restrictions that ELIHPA had imposed upon pre-1979 loans to all loans made before 1989. Compl. ¶ 29.

Under this framework, Harlan Carpenter and Maxine Carpenter (“the Carpenters”), parents of plaintiff, jointly entered into three separate loan agreements with the FmHA with respect to three properties located in Montana. See Compl. ¶¶ 9, 15; Pl.’s Opp’n Def.’s Mot. Dismiss (“PL’s Opp’n”) at 3.9 The Carpenters and FmHA executed the first such agreement on October 7, 1975 (“Sage Apartments”),10 the second agreement on March 10, 1976 (“Project I Apartments”),11 and the third agreement on December 18, 1980 (“Project II Apartments”).12 Compl. ¶ 9. Although certain terms varied, each loan agreement required the Carpenters:

(i) to construct and maintain housing in accordance with FmHA’s specifications;
(ii) to use [the] FmHA projects for the purpose of housing people eligible for occupancy as provided by Section 515 and appropriate FmHA regulations; (in) to charge no higher rents than those permitted by FmHA; (iv) to make timely payments on [the] mortgages; and (v) to maintain certain cash reserves.

Compl. ¶ 17.

The Carpenters and FmHA entered into promissory notes and real estate mortgages for each property contemporaneously with the loan agreements, and the notes and mortgages were referenced in the agreements. Compl. ¶ 16. Each of these promissory notes provided, inter alia, that “[prepayments of scheduled installments, or any portion thereof, may be made at any time at the option of Borrower.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that the Carpenters, therefore, were permitted “to terminate their participation in the Government’s housing programs ... upon prepayment of each housing project’s federally made or insured mortgage.” Compl. ¶ 2. Plaintiff alleges that pursuant to the promissory notes, the optional right to terminate participation in the section 515 program could be exercised at any time prior to the expiration of the agreements’ 50-year terms. Compl. ¶ 2.

The Carpenters operated and maintained the properties jointly until Harlan Carpenter’s death in February 1991, whereupon the property passed to his wife, Maxine Carpenter. PL’s Opp’n. at 4. Maxine Carpenter remained the sole owner of the property until August 2000, at which time she learned that she was terminally ill. Id. Upon learning of [722]*722her illness, Maxine Carpenter “took immediate action to ensure that title to the property-along with all the rights and obligations related to the property-would pass directly to her daughter by operation of law upon her death.” Id. Maxine Carpenter deeded title to the three properties to herself and to plaintiff as joint tenants with right of surviv-orship. Id. Upon Maxine Carpenter’s death in September 2000, plaintiff became the sole surviving joint tenant.

In Count 1 of her complaint, plaintiff alleges that ELIHPA, HCDA, and FmHA’s implementing regulations constituted án anticipatory repudiation of FmHA loan holders’ contractual right to prepay their loans and thereby terminate their contracts with FmHA at their option. Compl. ¶¶ 38, 50. Plaintiff further alleges that, but for defendant’s repudiation of plaintiffs right to prepay FmHA loans, plaintiff and Maxine Carpenter, the deceased joint tenant, would have exercised their option of prepaying their loans at a date such that they would have maximized the return on their investment. Compl. ¶ 36.

In Count 2 of her complaint, plaintiff alleges that ELIHPA, HCDA, and FmHA’s implementing regulations resulted in a taking of property for public use without just compensation. Compl. ¶¶ 39, 53. Plaintiff argues that defendant has conscripted her properties for public use, physically invaded her properties, and deprived her of distinct investment-backed expectations with regard to her properties without providing just compensation. Id.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 Fed. Cl. 718, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 42, 2006 WL 337522, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carpenter-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.