Maniere v. United States

31 Fed. Cl. 410, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 97, 1994 WL 190732
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMay 17, 1994
DocketNo. 93-624C
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 31 Fed. Cl. 410 (Maniere 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
Maniere v. United States, 31 Fed. Cl. 410, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 97, 1994 WL 190732 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

YOCK, Judge.

This case comes before the Court on the defendant’s motion to dismiss. The plaintiff, James L. Maniere, is seeking recovery of his investment as a shareholder in the now defunct First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Pontiac, Michigan, which the Government placed in receivership and ultimately closed. Specifically, the plaintiff asserts a claim based in contract as a third-party beneficiary to the Government’s contract with First Federal Savings and Loan Association and, as an alternative, a claim based on a Fifth Amendment taking of property theory. In the instant motion, the defendant argues that the plaintiff demonstrates neither jurisdiction in this Court for his contract claim nor the requisite standing to maintain his takings claim. Since the Court agrees with the Government’s position on these two matters, the Court grants the defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Facts

In June of 1990, Mr. James L. Maniere purchased 16,000 shares of common voting stock in the First Federal Savings and Loan Association (First Federal) of Pontiac, Michigan. First Federal operated under the rules and regulations established by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). On August 9, 1989, however, Congress enacted the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), Pub.L. No. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183, which reorganized the supervisory governmental entities for savings and loan associations. Under the FIRREA, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) became the successor to the FHLBB, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) became the successor to the FSLIC. Sections 401, 407,103 Stat. 354-57, 363. Additionally, and also pursuant to the FIRREA, the OTS issued new regulations on December 7, 1989, regarding acceptable accounting practices for the computation of certain assets, including the computation of “goodwill.”1 12 U.S.C. § 1462a (Supp. IV 1992).

As both parties recognized in the briefings, First Federal became insolvent largely as a result of statutory and regulatory changes regarding the computation of goodwill as an asset. Prior to the enactment of the FIR-REA, goodwill maintained the accounting status of an amortizable asset. In reliance on this status, in September of 1989, First Federal acquired Citizens Federal Savings (Citizens Federal) of Jacksonville, Florida. In a contract between First Federal and the FSLIC, the FSLIC approved the acquisition of Citizens Federal by First Federal. See Assistance Agreement among The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and First Federal Bancorp, Inc., First Federal Savings Bank and Trust, Lakeland Service Corporation, Citizens Federal Savings Bank 1-2 (September 1, 1988). In addition, the FSLIC and FHLBB also allegedly agreed to allow the amortization of the goodwill in Citi[412]*412zens Federal by First Federal as a capital asset. First Federal required the inclusion of goodwill for sufficient capitalization to maintain solvency following the acquisition. On December 7, 1989, however, the OTS issued regulations which prohibited ‘the amortization of goodwill as an asset. Without this necessary component of capitalization, on October 16,1991, OTS declared First Federal insolvent.

Based on the foregoing facts, on October 8, 1993, the plaintiff filed a complaint in this Court for the recovery of his investment as a shareholder in First Federal. In the complaint, the plaintiff presented two bases for recovery against the United States.

The plaintiff first claims a breach of contract. The plaintiff argues that First Federal had contracted with the FSLIC and FHLBB regarding the propriety of the amortization of goodwill and that the Government breached this contract by the passage of FIRREA and the promulgation of regulations in conflict with guarantees made under the terms of that agreement. In the defendant’s instant motion to dismiss, however, the defendant seeks a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction in the absence of a showing of privity of contract. The defendant asserts that this Court recognizes the privity of contract requirement as a jurisdictional prerequisite to a contract suit in this Court and that the plaintiff maintains no evidence of such in its complaint. In the plaintiffs response, however, the plaintiff claims an exception to the privity requirement as a third-party beneficiary of the contract between First Federal and the FSLIC. As apparent evidence of this status, the plaintiff proffers the affidavit of Mr. Joseph F. Michael, the Executive Vice President of First Federal, which states that First Federal intended that its shareholders benefit from the contract made with the FSLIC. In its reply, however, the defendant rejects the plaintiffs third-party beneficiary argument based on both factual and legal grounds. Factually, the defendant cites the Assistance Agreement made between the FSLIC and First Federal which expressly precludes benefit to any party other than those recited in the agreement, and legally, the defendant rebuts the plaintiffs claims based on the legal standards of this Court for finding third-party beneficiary status in a Government contract case. As the plaintiff demonstrates neither privity of contract nor third-party beneficiary status, the defendant rejects any jurisdictional basis for the contract claim under RCFC 12(b)(1).

Alternatively, in the event that this Court rejects the contract theory as a jurisdictional basis, the plaintiff also claims entitlement to compensation based on a taking theory under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. The plaintiff claims that the change of regulation, which prohibited the amortization of goodwill and resulted in the insolvency of First Federal, constituted a taking of the value of the plaintiffs investment. In the instant motion to dismiss, however, the defendant contends that the plaintiff demonstrates no standing to sue for the alleged taking. Specifically, as the plaintiff purchased the subject shares after the enactment of FIRREA and after the effective date of the OTS regulations, the defendant contends that the plaintiff fails one of the basic proof elements for making out a takings case, that being a showing of ownership of the subject property at the time of the taking. The defendant demonstrates that the FIR-REA was passed and the regulations which precluded the computation of goodwill as a capital asset became effective before the date on which the plaintiff purchased the subject shares in First Federal: FIRREA became effective on August 9, 1989, and the FIR-REA regulations became effective on December 7, 1989, but the plaintiff purchased his 16,000 shares of First Federal in June of 1990. As such, because the plaintiff acquired the property at issue after the effective date of the statute or the regulations (thus, after the taking date), the defendant argues that the plaintiff maintains no standing to sue. In its response, the plaintiff provides little refutation of the defendant’s standing argument, other than to allege a taking not from the effective date of FIRREA or its regulations but from the date of the declaration of insolvency of First Federal by the Government on October 16, 1991. Other than this base assertion, the plaintiff merely recites merit ar[413]*413guments, claiming a regulatory taking by the denial of an economically viable use of property by the exclusion of goodwill as an amortizable asset.

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Bluebook (online)
31 Fed. Cl. 410, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 97, 1994 WL 190732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maniere-v-united-states-uscfc-1994.