National Asset Placement Corp. v. Western Securities (USA) Ltd.

49 S.W.3d 420, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 610, 2001 WL 184577
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 31, 2001
DocketNo. 04-99-00835-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 49 S.W.3d 420 (National Asset Placement Corp. v. Western Securities (USA) Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Asset Placement Corp. v. Western Securities (USA) Ltd., 49 S.W.3d 420, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 610, 2001 WL 184577 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

KAREN ANGELINI, Justice.

National Asset Placement Corporation brought suit against Western Securities (USA) Limited and other past and present property owners seeking a declaratory judgment that the statute of limitations had not expired on their cause of action, and judicial or non-judicial foreclosure.1 The trial court granted summary judg[422]*422ment on limitations and res judicata grounds. National Asset appeals. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Factual and PROCEDURAL Background

Western USA is the original owner of the property, and the obligor on the note and the underlying deed of trust lien on the property. Western USA transferred its interest to Western Texas, which transferred its interest to Relee Partners. The FDIC acquired the note and deed of trust lien. It then sued Western USA in federal court for the balance due on the note and obtained an agreed final judgment. The FDIC assigned its right to collect the agreed final judgment to appellant, National Asset Placement Corporation. National Asset sued Relee Partners L.P. and other related companies,2 USA Metropolitan Tax Credit Fund and USA Institutional Tax Credit Fund,3 Western USA and Western Texas, and the City of San Antonio to obtain a declaratory judgment that the statute of limitations had not expired on its right to foreclose on the property and sought judicial or non-judicial foreclosure.

The parties filed competing motions for summary judgment. A partial summary judgment was granted in favor of the defendants. The defendants then filed a second motion for partial summary judgment, which was granted. Summary judgment was granted against National Asset on two grounds: the statute of limitations has run on the foreclosure action; and, the foreclosure action is barred by res judicata because the prior federal lawsuit and judgment resolved all claims between the parties. National Asset appeals.

Standard of Review

To prevail on summary judgment, a plaintiff must conclusively establish all elements of his cause of action as a matter of law. Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(c); City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d 671, 679 (Tex.1979). On the other hand, a defendant who moves for summary judgment must disprove at least one essential element of each of the plaintiffs theories of recovery or conclusively establish each element of an affirmative defense. Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(c); Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., Inc., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548 (Tex.1985).

When the parties file competing motions for summary judgment and one is granted and the other denied, the reviewing court should review the summary judgment evidence presented by both sides and determine all questions presented. Commissioners Court of Titus County v. Agan, 940 S.W.2d 77, 81 (Tex.1997). This court may reverse the judgment of the trial court and render such judgment as the trial court should have rendered, including rendering judgment for the other movant. Jones v. Strauss, 745 S.W.2d 898, 900 (Tex.1988).

Statute of Limitations

In its first issue, National Asset claims the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds.

a. Federal Statute of Limitations Applies

[423]*423Federal statutes of limitations apply to causes of action on debts and foreclosures asserted by the FDIC. See 12 U.S.C. § 1821; 28 U.S.C. § 2415. And, the Texas Supreme Court held in Jackson v. Thweatt, 883 S.W.2d 171, 176 (Tex.1994) that the FDIC’s private successors in interest are entitled to the benefit of longer federal statutes of limitations. See also FDIC v. Bledsoe, 989 F.2d 805, 811 (5th Cir.1993). The FDIC, here, assigned its right to collect the agreed final judgment to National Asset. Accordingly, the federal statutes of limitations apply to National Asset. Two separate federal statutes of limitation are relevant here.

(i) 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a)

The first is found at 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a), which is a general statute of limitations applicable to actions in contract brought by federal government agencies and their successors in interest for money damages. Such actions must be brought within six years after the cause of action accrues, “[pjrovided, [tjhat in the event of later partial payment or written acknowledgment of the debt, the right of action shall be deemed to accrue again at the time of each such payment or acknowledgment.” 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a).

(ii) 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(14) — FIRREA

The second relevant provision is 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(14), commonly called the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, or FIRREA. Under FIRREA, the applicable statute of limitations with regard to contract claims brought by the FDIC is the longer of the six year period beginning on the date the claim accrues or the period applicable under state law.4 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(14). Unlike section 2415(a), FIRREA does not contain an acknowledgment provision which would toll the statutes of limitation in foreclosure cases. The question becomes, do we extrapolate section 2415(a)’s tolling provision to the claim for judicial foreclosure?

b. Is the Acknowledgment Defense Available in Suits to Foreclose on a Deed of Trust Lien?

All parties agree that the claim accrued on the day the note matured, January 1, 1989. The six-year statute of limitations expired January 1, 1995. National Asset brought this suit for judicial foreclosure on December 22, 1997, almost three years after the statute of limitations ran, absent any tolling provisions. National Asset asserts that the debt was acknowledged when the agreed judgment was entered, and thus the claim re-accrued on the date of acknowledgment, January 3, 1994, and they had until January 3, 2000, to initiate foreclosure proceedings. National Asset’s argument rests on the assumption that section 2415(a) applies to foreclosures on debt security.

The Fifth Circuit, in Davidson v. FDIC, held that section 2415(a) does not directly apply to foreclosures on security for the debt. Davidson v. FDIC,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Badaracco v. Commissioner
464 U.S. 386 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Jackson v. Thweatt
883 S.W.2d 171 (Texas Supreme Court, 1994)
City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Authority
589 S.W.2d 671 (Texas Supreme Court, 1979)
State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. S.S.
858 S.W.2d 374 (Texas Supreme Court, 1993)
Commissioners Court of Titus County v. Agan
940 S.W.2d 77 (Texas Supreme Court, 1997)
Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co.
690 S.W.2d 546 (Texas Supreme Court, 1985)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. v. Bodin Concrete Co.
869 S.W.2d 372 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Jones v. Strauss
745 S.W.2d 898 (Texas Supreme Court, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 S.W.3d 420, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 610, 2001 WL 184577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-asset-placement-corp-v-western-securities-usa-ltd-texapp-2001.