Federal Deposit Insurance v. Chase Mortgage Finance Corp.

42 F. Supp. 3d 574, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122504
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 2, 2014
DocketNo. 12 Civ. 6166(LLS)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 42 F. Supp. 3d 574 (Federal Deposit Insurance v. Chase Mortgage Finance Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federal Deposit Insurance v. Chase Mortgage Finance Corp., 42 F. Supp. 3d 574, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122504 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LOUIS L. STANTON, District Judge.

This action is brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), as receiver for Colonial Bank (“Colonial”), for violations of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77a et seq. (the “1933 Act”), based on alleged misstatements made in connection with Colonial’s purchase of securities issued or underwritten by defendants.

Under the 1933 Act, “In no event shall any such action be brought to enforce a [575]*575liability created under section 77k or 77£(a)(l) of this title more than three years after the security was bona fide offered to the public, or under section 77i(a)(2) of this title more than three years after the sale[,]” 15 U.S.C. § 77m.

The securities at issue in this action were offered to the public in 2006 and 2007, and purchased by Colonial in the summer and fall of 2007. Colonial subsequently failed, and the FDIC was appointed receiver on August 14, 2009. The FDIC filed the instant complaint on August 10, 2012.

The FDIC maintains that its claims are timely under the following provision of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (“FIRREA”), 12 U.S.C. § 1821 etseq.:

(14) Statute of limitations for actions brought by conservator or receiver

(A) In general
Notwithstanding any provision of any contract, the applicable statute of limitations with regard to any action brought by the Corporation as conservator or receiver shall be—
(i) in the case of any contract claim, the longer of—
(I) the 6-year period beginning on the date the claim accrues; or
(II) the period applicable under State law; and
(ii) in. the case of any tort claim (other than a claim which is subject to section 1441a(b)(14) of this title), the longer of—
(I) the 3-year period beginning on the date the claim accrues; or
(II) the period applicable under State law.
(B) Determination of the date on which a claim accrues
For purposes of subparagraph (A), the date on which the statute of limitations begins to run on any claim described in such subparagraph shall be the later of—
(i) the date of the appointment of the Corporation as conservator or receiver; or
(ii) the date on which the cause of action accrues.

12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(14) (hereinafter refeired to as the “FDIC Extender Statute”).

Defendants contend that the FDIC Extender Statute only extends the 1933 Act’s statute of limitations (otherwise one year, see p. 11 below), and does not alter its three year statute of repose (quoted on p. 1 above). They moved to dismiss the amended complaint, arguing (among other things) that the FDIC’s claims are time-barred.

While that motion was pending, the Second Circuit decided Federal Housing Finance Agency v. UBS Americas, Inc., 712 F.3d 136 (2d Cir.2013), which seemed to resolve the statute of repose dispute in the FDIC’s favor in a case involving a similar extender act.1 Defendants withdrew their argument about the 1933 Act’s statute of repose, reseiving the right to reassert it at a later date, see Ds.’ Reply in Fxxrther Support of Ds.’ Mot. To Dismiss Am. Compl. at 4 n. 4. This Court subsequently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss, on grounds which did not consider the 1933 Act’s statute of repose, see Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Chase Mortgage Fin. Corp. et al., No. 12 Civ. 6166(LLS), 2013 WL 5434633 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 27, 2013) [Dkt. No. 86],

[576]*576Now, relying on the recent United States Supreme Court decision CTS Corp. v. Waldburger, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2175, 189 L.Ed.2d 62 (2014), defendants renew their argument that the FDIC’s claims are barred by the 1933 Act’s statute of repose, and move for judgment on the pleadings.

For the reasons discussed below, defendants’ motion is granted.

Waldburger

In Waldburger, the Supreme Court was presented with the question whether section 9658 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”),2 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq., which pre-empts state law statutes of limitations in certain tort actions, also pre-empts the state law statute of repose that would otherwise bar the plaintiffs’ claims.

The Supreme Court stated:
Statutes of limitations and statutes of repose both are mechanisms used to limit the temporal extent or duration of
liability for tortious acts. Both types of statutes can operate to bar a plaintiffs suit, and in each instance time is the controlling factor. There is considerable common ground in the policies underlying the two types of statute. But the time periods specified are measured from different points, and the statutes seek to attain different purposes and objectives. And, as will be explained, § 9658 mandates a distinction between the two.
In the ordinary course, a statute of limitations creates a time limit for suing in a civil case, based on the date when the claim accrued. Measured by this standard, a claim accrues in a personal-injury or property-damage action when the injury occurred or was discovered. For example, North Carolina, whose laws are central to this case, has a statute of limitations that allows a person three years to bring suit for personal injury or property damage, beginning on the date that damage becomes apparent or ought reasonably to have become apparent to the claimant, whichever event first occurs.
[577]*577A statute of repose, on the other hand, puts an outer limit on the right to bring a civil action. That limit is measured not from the date on which the claim accrues but instead from the date of the last culpable act or omission of the defendant. A statute of repose bars any suit that is brought after a specified time since the defendant acted (such as designing or manufacturing a product), even if this period ends before the plaintiff has suffered a resulting injury. The statute of repose limit is not related to the accrual of any cause of action; the injury need not have occurred, much less have been discovered....
Although there is substantial overlap between the policies of the two types of statute, each has a distinct purpose and each is targeted at a different actor. Statutes of limitations require plaintiffs to pursue diligent prosecutions of known claims.

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Bluebook (online)
42 F. Supp. 3d 574, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-deposit-insurance-v-chase-mortgage-finance-corp-nysd-2014.