Heaton v. Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia

818 So. 2d 240, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 1415, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 1529, 2002 WL 1000943
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 10, 2002
DocketNo. 2001-CA-1415
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 818 So. 2d 240 (Heaton v. Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heaton v. Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia, 818 So. 2d 240, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 1415, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 1529, 2002 WL 1000943 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

| PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment denying the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) leave to intervene in a class action lawsuit instituted by Patricia Heaton against Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia (“Monogram”). The trial court denied the intervention on the grounds that the intervention would delay the progress of the case and that the FDIC does not have a “justiciable right” in the case. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND BACKGROUND

The facts of this case are summarized as follows in Heaton v. Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia, 231 F.3d 994 (5th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 533 U.S.915, 121 S.Ct. 2520, 150 L.Ed.2d 693 (2001):

Monogram, a Georgia credit card bank, issued a credit card to Patricia Heaton (“Heaton”) to finance purchases from a retail store called Campo Appliances. Heaton brought a class action lawsuit in state court, alleging that Monogram charged late fees on the card in excess of the limit provided under the Louisiana Consumer Credit Law (“LCCL”), La. R.S. 9:3527. Heaton also alleged breach of contract.
Monogram removed the suit. It argued that there was a basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction because Hea-ton’s claims were completely preempted by Section 27 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”), 12 U.S.C. § 1831d. Section 27 of the FDIA authorizes federally-insured “state banks” (as defined under Section 3(a)(2) of the FDIA, 12 U.S.C. § 1813(a)(2)) to charge late fees permitted by [ j>the laws of their home states. Georgia law provides for a higher late fee limit than the LCCL. Monogram also argued that the parties were diverse and; pursuant to In re Abbott Laboratories, 51 F.3d 524 (5th Cir.1995), Heaton’s demand for attorney’s fees under the LCCL caused the amount in controversy to exceed $75,000.
Heaton sought remand, arguing that Monogram could not invoke complete preemption because it was not a “state bank” under the definition contained in Section 3(a)(2) of the FDIA. Section 3(a)(2) defines state banks as those which are “engaged in the business of receiving deposits” and which are incorporated under state law. Part of Hea-ton’s argument was that because Monogram accepts deposits only from its parent company and not from its customers, it could not be engaged in the business of receiving deposits. She also contended that In re Abbott Laboratories was inapplicable, and therefore the court lacked diversity jurisdiction.
Judge Porteous denied Heaton’s motion, concluding that under the plain language of the FDIA, Monogram was a “state bank.” He also cited a letter from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) in which the FDIC stated that it considered Monogram to be a state bank. Therefore, Heaton’s claims were completely preempted. Less than a week after the denial of remand, the case was re-assigned to Judge Barbier. Judge Barbier denied Heaton’s petition for an interlocutory appeal of the denial of remand, finding that there was no “substantial ground for difference of opinion as to whether the defendant is a state bank.” Heaton v. Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia, No. 98-1823, 1998 WL [242]*242832582 (E.D.La. Nov. 25, 1998) (minute entry denying permission to appeal).
Thereafter, Heaton moved to amend her petition to assert a federal claim under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), specifically 15 U.S.C. § 1637(c)(3)(B). This claim was not related to the credit card late fees. A magistrate judge denied this motion, but Judge Barbier vacated the magistrate judge’s order and allowed Heaton to assert the TILA claim.
Later, Heaton discovered that Monogram had participated in the preparation of the FDIC letter that Judge Porteous had cited in his order denying the motion to remand. Heaton then moved for a reconsideration of her motion. Judge Barbier granted the motion and remanded the case to state court, citing 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). The judge rejected Monogram’s argument that Heaton had waived her objection to the earlier denial of remand by amending her petition to add the TILA claim. On the same day that he signed the remand order, Judge Barbier granted Heaton’s voluntary motion to dismiss that claim with prejudice, and noted the dismissal in a footnote in the remand order.
lain granting the motion to remand, Judge Barbier concluded that Monogram was not a “state bank” because it was not “engaged in the business of receiving deposits” under Section 3(a)(2). He reasoned that because Monogram only receives deposits from its parent company, under a plain reading of the FDIA, it could not be engaged in the business of receiving deposits from its customers. As a result, the judge concluded that “this Court does not have federal question jurisdiction, and there is no federal preemption.” Heaton v. Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia, No. 98-1823, 1998 WL 832582 (E.D.La. Nov. 25, 1998) (minute entry ordering remand). The judge also found diversity lacking, and noted that “if there is any doubt as to federal subject matter jurisdiction, the court should resolve the doubt in favor of remand.” Id.
Monogram appealed. Heaton moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

Id. at 995-96 (footnote omitted).

After reciting the facts set forth above and reviewing the applicable law, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded that it lacked jurisdiction in the case. Mongram’s appeal was dismissed. The FDIC had filed an amicus curiae brief with the Fifth Circuit arguing for Monogram’s position. (On November 22, 1999, prior to the issuance of the minute entry ordering remand of the case to the state court, the FDIC moved to intervene in the federal court case, but the motion was dismissed two days later as moot because of the remand order.)

After the Fifth Circuit dismissed Monogram’s appeal and the case was back in state court, Monogram again removed the case to federal court based on a Truth in Lending Act claim that Monogram thought was still pending. The case was again assigned to Judge Barbier. The FDIC again moved to intervene in the federal court case. Ms. Heaton sought to remand the case back to state court for the second time, and the remand was granted, because Ms. Heaton had already requested and been granted a dismissal of her Truth in Lending claim by the state court. The LFDIC’s motion to intervene was denied as moot. The FDIC appealed the federal district court’s order, and the appeal is pending before the Fifth Circuit. When the appeal was taken, the FDIC sought from the federal district court and the [243]*243Fifth Circuit a stay of the remand order, which was denied.

On April 3, 2001, shortly after the stay was denied, the FDIC filed a motion for intervention with the state trial court. The trial court denied the FDIC’s motion in a judgment rendered on May 18, 2001.

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818 So. 2d 240, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 1415, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 1529, 2002 WL 1000943, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heaton-v-monogram-credit-card-bank-of-georgia-lactapp-2002.