Johnson v. United States Department of Housing & Urban Development

911 F.2d 1302, 1990 WL 121419
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 24, 1990
DocketNo. 89-2853
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 911 F.2d 1302 (Johnson v. United States Department of Housing & Urban Development) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. United States Department of Housing & Urban Development, 911 F.2d 1302, 1990 WL 121419 (8th Cir. 1990).

Opinion

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs, low income tenants in the Hill-vale Apartment complex in St. Louis, Missouri, appeal from an order entered by the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granting summary judgment in favor of the owners of the apartment complex, the manager, the mortgagee and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The controversy surrounds the correct interpretation of the Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act of 1987, Pub.L. No. 100-242, 101 Stat. 1877 (1988) (codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1715Z note), which governs the method by which private owners of housing financed under § 221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1715Z (d)(3) (1988), may terminate their obligation to provide low and moderate income housing. The precise question presented is whether the Preservation Act of 1987 covers termination by way of a mutual agreement between the owner of the property and the mortgagee to terminate federal mortgage insurance. We hold that the Preservation Act as originally enacted in 1987 applies to voluntary mortgage insurance termination, and therefore reverse the judgment entered by the district court and order that summary judgment be granted in favor of [1304]*1304the plaintiffs. However, because our holding raises the issue of whether the Preservation Act infringes on Hillvale’s rights under the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution, see infra Part III, we remand the case to the district court for resolution of that issue.

I.

Plaintiffs, Karen Johnson, Dorothy Pearson and Yvonne Edmond, are low-income tenants in the Hillvale Apartment complex. The complex is owned by defendants Hill-vale Associates and Medve-Wald Partnership and managed by defendant Rodan Management Incorporated. Southern Commercial Bank, also a named defendant in the case, is the current holder of a mortgage note on the property.

The Hillvale Apartment complex was financed under Section 221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1715Z (d)(3). Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1715Z(b) and (d)(5), the United States agreed to insure the mortgage on the property against default and to subsidize below-market interest rates in exchange for Hillvale’s promise to abide by low income affordability restrictions set forth in a “regulatory agreement.” See 12 U.S.C. § 1715Z (d)(3). The regulatory agreement governs such aspects of the landlord tenant relationship as the amount of rent a landlord can charge, 24 C.F.R. § 221.530(a)(1) — (2) (1988), rent increases, 24 C.F.R. § 245, subpart D (1988), and eviction procedures, 24 C.F.R. § 247, subpart A (1988). The regulatory agreement remains in effect as long as HUD is the insurer, holder, or reinsurer of the mortgage, and automatically expires when the term of the mortgage expires. 24 C.F.R. § 221.529 (1988).

HUD regulations promulgated pursuant to the National Housing Act of 1961 gave the private owner of section 221(d)(3) housing two ways of terminating the regulatory agreement before the expiration of the mortgage. The owner could either prepay the mortgage, or, with the consent of the mortgagee, terminate federal mortgage insurance. 24 C.F.R. § 207.253(a), (b) (1988). Mortgage prepayment within the first twenty years of the life of the mortgage required HUD’s approval. 24 C.F.R. § 221.524(a)(2) (1988). After twenty years, the owner was free to prepay the remainder of the mortgage balance and release itself from the regulatory agreement without HUD’s consent. 24 C.F.R. § 221.524(a)(1)(h). The owner’s right to terminate federal mortgage insurance after obtaining the consent of the mortgagee was not restricted in the same way. Instead, Title 12 U.S.C. § 1715t (Section 229 of the National Housing Act of 1959) authorized the Secretary to terminate a federal mortgage insurance contract upon the request of the owner or mortgagor and the lender or mortgagee at any time prior to the expiration of the mortgage. HUD interpreted this authorization as nondiscre-tionary, requiring HUD’s approval whenever a request was brought by both the owner and the mortgagee. 24 C.F.R. § 207.253(b).

In 1983 Congress limited HUD’s authority to approve mortgage prepayment requests within the first twenty years of the life of the mortgage. Supplemental Appropriations Act, Pub.L. No. 98-181, § 433, 97 Stat. 1153, 1221 (1983) (codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-15(a)). The 1983 legislation directed HUD to withhold consent to mortgage prepayment unless

(1) the Secretary has determined that such project is no longer meeting a need for rental housing for lower income families in the area;
(2) the Secretary (A) has determined that the tenants have been notified of the owner’s request for approval of a prepayment; (B) has provided the tenants with an opportunity to comment on the owner’s request; and (C) has taken such comments into consideration; and
(3) the Secretary has ensured that there is a plan for providing relocation assistance for adequate, comparable housing for any lower income tenant who will be displaced as a result of the prepayment and withdrawal of the project from the program.

12 U.S.C. § 1715z-15(a) (1988). The 1983 legislation did not affect the owner’s right [1305]*1305to prepay without HUD’s consent after twenty years and did not affect the right of the mortgagor and mortgagee to mutually terminate federal mortgage insurance.

On December 21, 1987, Congress passed the Preservation Act of 1987, Pub.L. No. 100-242, 101 Stat. 1877 (1988) (codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1715Í note) (“the Preservation Act”), the subject of dispute in this lawsuit.

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Bluebook (online)
911 F.2d 1302, 1990 WL 121419, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-united-states-department-of-housing-urban-development-ca8-1990.