Home Savings of America v. United States

51 Fed. Cl. 487, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 14, 2002 WL 70499
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJanuary 16, 2002
DocketNo. 92-620C
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 51 Fed. Cl. 487 (Home Savings of America 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
Home Savings of America v. United States, 51 Fed. Cl. 487, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 14, 2002 WL 70499 (uscfc 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

BRUGGINK, Judge.

Pending in this Wmsior-related1 ease are plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File Notice of Supplemental Authority, defendant’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss Counts II Through IV of Home’s Complaint, and defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment on Home’s Theory of the Cost of Replacement. Oral argument was held on December 21, 2001. For the following reasons, plaintiffs’ motion is granted, defendant’s motion to dismiss counts II, III, and IV is granted, and its motion for summary judgment with respect to count I is denied.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are Home Savings of America, F.S.B. (“Home Savings”) and its holding company, H.F. Ahmanson & Co. (“Ahmanson”). Home Savings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ahmanson. Defendant is the [489]*489United States. The complaint alleges that a series of contracts between the United States and both plaintiffs arising out of the supervised acquisition by plaintiffs of failing depository institutions was breached by the enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”), Pub.L. No. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183, along with related regulations. Count I alleges that FIRREA breached the contracts insofar as it disallowed the recognition of supervisory goodwill that Home Savings had been allowed as part of the assistance contracts. Count II alleges that FIRREA’s restrictions were unauthorized. Count III alleges that FIRREA and associated regulatory changes worked a taking without compensation of plaintiffs’ property interests. Count IV alleges that these changes violated plaintiffs’ due process rights.

Plaintiffs do not contest the dismissal of counts II and IV. In addition, they have limited their theory of recovery under count I to plaintiff Ahmanson’s claim for damage.

In Home Savings of America, F.S.B. v. United States, 50 Fed.Cl. 427 (2001), we held three things: (1) that the government promised plaintiffs that they would be able to count supervisory goodwill gained from their acquisition of failing thrifts towards meeting their regulatory capital requirements until the goodwill was completely amortized, 50 Fed.Cl. at 438; (2) FIRREA’s limitation on plaintiffs’ ability to count supervisory goodwill in meeting the requirements amounted to a breach of the contracts between plaintiffs and the government, id. at 439; and (3) that the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (“FSLIC”) and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (“FHLBB”) lacked authority to promise plaintiffs that supervisory goodwill could be included in meeting the requirements with respect to the acquisition of certain non-federally insured banks in Ohio, id. at 442.

Between 1981 and 1985, Home Savings and/or Ahmanson completed four acquisitions, which we have previously referred to as the “Florida/Missouri,” “Illinois/Texas,” “Century,” and “Ohio” transactions. Id. at 429. The acquisitions were supervised by FSLIC and FHLBB, making each a supervisory merger.

At least three documents were necessary to effectuate the acquisitions: a resolution by FHLBB approving the acquisition by Ahmanson through merger of the target banks into Home Savings; an assistance agreement between Home Savings and FSLIC; and a merger agreement between Home Savings and a target bank. Resolving the government’s motion for summary judgment, insofar as it challenges the standing of Ahmanson to recover the cost of replacement capital, requires a close examination of these documents.

The Florida/Missouri Transaction

On December 17, 1981, FHLBB released Resolution No. 81-803. Resolution 81-803 noted that Home Savings and Southern Federal Savings and Loan Association of Pompano Beach, Florida (“Southern”), had formulated a Merger Agreement pursuant to which Southern would merge into Home Savings following Home Savings’ conversion to a federally chartered association named “Home Savings of America, a Federal Savings and Loan Association,” referred to in the resolution as the “Resulting Association.” The merger was referred to as the “Southern Merger.” The resolution also noted that Southern and Home Savings had applied to FHLBB for approval of the Southern Merger and that Home Savings had applied to FSLIC for an increase in its accounts of an insurable type as part of the merger.

Resolution 81-803 also noted that Home Savings was Ahmanson’s insured subsidiary. Ahmanson had filed an application with FSLIC for approval of its acquisition of Southern by the process of merger with Home Savings following Southern’s acquisition by merger of Hamiltonian Federal Savings and Loan Association of Ladue, Missouri (“Hamiltonian”), and Security Federal Savings and Loan Association of Sikeston, Missouri (“Security”), and Home Savings’ conversion to a federal stock savings and loan association pursuant to the Federal Savings and Loan System Regulations. The Southern Merger was conditioned upon the effectuation of an execution agreement between Home Savings and FSLIC (“Southern [490]*490Assistance Agreement”), by which FSLIC agreed to provide default indemnification to Home Savings in order to prevent the default of Southern, Hamiltonian, and Security.

At the time of the transaction, all three thrifts were insolvent or nearly so on a book basis. Home Savings recorded the Florida/Missouri Transaction using the purchase method of accounting and agreed to amortize goodwill in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). Home Savings did not contribute capital to reduce the thrifts’ net worth deficit.

The Illinois/Texas Transaction

On January 14, 1982, FHLBB executed Resolution No. 82-29. Resolution 82-29 stated that FHLBB appointed FSLIC as receiver for Royal Federal Savings and Loan Association in Dallas, Texas (“Royal”). In that resolution, FHLBB noted that it had considered a proposed acquisition agreement between Home Savings and FSLIC as receiver for Royal (“Royal Acquisition Agreement”), by which Home Savings would purchase nearly all of Royal’s assets and assume nearly all of its liabilities. FHLBB also noted that it had considered a proposed receiver’s agreement between FSLIC, as receiver for Royal, and FSLIC in its corporate capacity by which it would purchase from FSLIC as receiver all assets of Royal not purchased by Home Savings and would assume all liabilities and expenses of FSLIC as receiver.

The resolution further noted that Ahmanson had filed an application with FSLIC for approval of its acquisition, through Home Savings, of Royal and Hyde Park and of its acquisition of El Centro following El Centro’s acquisition of Civic, Republic, and Buffalo. Ahmanson’s proposed acquisition was approved.

Resolution 82-29 also noted that. Home Savings had adopted a plan of merger entitled the “Hyde Park Merger Agreement,” presumptively with Hyde Park Federal Savings and Loan Association (“Hyde Park”), and that it had applied to FHLBB for approval of this merger (the “Hyde Park Merger”) and FSLIC for approval of its accounts of an insurable type as a part of the merger. Home Savings also had adopted a plan of merger entitled the “El Centro Merger Agreement,” presumptively with El Centro Federal Savings and Loan Association (“El Centro”), and applied to FHLBB for approval of this merger (the “El Centro Merger”) and to the FSLIC for approval of its accounts of an insurable type as a part of the merger.

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51 Fed. Cl. 487, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 14, 2002 WL 70499, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-savings-of-america-v-united-states-uscfc-2002.