Tamerlane, Ltd. v. United States

76 Fed. Cl. 512, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 152, 2007 WL 1469392
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMay 18, 2007
DocketNo. 05-677C
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 76 Fed. Cl. 512 (Tamerlane, Ltd. 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
Tamerlane, Ltd. v. United States, 76 Fed. Cl. 512, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 152, 2007 WL 1469392 (uscfc 2007).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER AND OPINION

CHRISTINE O.C. MILLER, Judge.

This case is one of several hundred unique eases with over 600 plaintiffs and 800 properties involving the Government’s cancelling prepayment rights of- owners of low-income housing. See Transcript of Proceedings, Tamerlane, Ltd. v. United States, No. 05-677C, at 5 (Fed.Cl. Jan.25, 2007) (“Tr.”). See generally Franconia Assoc. v. United States, 536 U.S. 129, 122 S.Ct. 1993, 153 L.Ed.2d 132 (2002) (in lieu of suffering the breach, certain developers proceeded under new contracts with new prepayment restrictions). Before the court after briefing and oral argument is Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, Dismissing the Claims of Park Terrace Limited and Mullica West Limited.1 Defendant seeks dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims pursuant to RCFC 12(e). Defendant argues that plaintiffs failed to file their complaints in the United States Court of Federal Claims within six years of accrual. Id.; see also Order entered Nov. 15, 2006 (lifting long-standing settlement stay for all purposes to address jurisdictional issues).2 Plaintiffs ask the court to deny defendant’s motion arguing that (1) the motion is improper as it relies on documents outside the pleadings; and (2) plaintiffs “proffer facts sufficient to overcome the defense or to create a material issue for trial with respect to whether their claims accrued, as the Government contends.” Pis.’ Br. filed Dec. 18, 2006, at 1; see also Pis.’ Br. filed Dec. 18, 2006, at 19, 20. Alternatively, plaintiffs argue that, if the court grants defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, jurisdiction shall be 'retained to hear plaintiffs’ claims “as to the period after the restrictions expire,” because those claims “accrued only with the filing of this suit.” Id. at 21.

[514]*514BACKGROUND

The subject of this litigation involves entity-property owners that entered into loan agreements with the Farmers Home Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture (“FmHA”) to provide rental housing for low-and moderate-income persons. These loans were entered into pursuant to section 515 and section 521 of the Housing Act of 1949, Pub.L. No. 81-171, 63 Stat. 413 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 1485, 1490a (2000)) (“Section 515” and “Section 521,” respectively), which obligated borrowers to operate the properties according to FmHA regulations in exchange for favorable loan terms. See Compl. filed June 22, 2005, ¶¶16, 17, 20. Plaintiffs contend that the Government breached their loan agreements through the enactment and implementation of the Emergency Low Income Housing and Preservation Act of 1987, Pub.L. No. 100-242, 101 Stat. 1877 (1988) (“ELIHPA”), and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, Pub.L. No. 102-550, 106 Stat. 3672 (codified in relevant part at 42 U.S.C. § 1472(e)).

In 1979 Congress determined that many Section 515 and Section 521 borrowers who entered into loan agreements with the FmHA were choosing to exercise a pre-pay option. Franconia Assoc., 536 U.S. at 135, 122 S.Ct. 1993. This option allowed borrowers to terminate early their involvement in FmHA’s low- and moderate-income housing program. Id. Congress determined that prepayment of these loans was disrupting the availability of affordable housing. Id.; see also H.R.Rep. No. 96-154, slip op. at 43 (1979), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1979, pp. 2317, 2359 (“Recently many section 515 Rural rental projects have started to prepay their mortgages and be diverted from housing the low-and moderate-income families who are the intended beneficiaries of the program. There are potentially 30,000 section 515 units that could be lost in this way.”). Accordingly, Congress amended the National Housing Act to place significant restrictions on the circumstances under which FmHA could accept prepayment. Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1979, Pub.L. No. 96-153, 93 Stat. 1101, § 503. The Supreme Court summarized these amendments in Franconia Assoc., 536 U.S. at 135, 122 S.Ct. 1993, as follows:

In these 1979 amendments, Congress prohibited the FmHA from accepting prepayment of any loan made before or after the date of enactment unless the owner agreed to maintain the low-income use of the rental housing for a 15-year or 20-year period from the date of the loan. 93 Stat. 1134— 1135. That requirement could be avoided if the FmHA determined that there was no longer a need for the low-cost housing. Id., at 1135____
The 1979 amendments applied to all program loans, past, present, and future. In 1980, however, Congress further amended the National Housing Act to eliminate retroactive application of the § 515 prepayment limitations imposed by the 1979 legislation. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, 94 Stat. 1614, provided that the prepayment restrictions would apply only to loans entered into after December 21,1979.

In 1987 Congress again became concerned about the decreasing number of low-and moderate-income housing units available because of an increase in the number of prepayments of Section 515 loans. See Franco-nia Assoc., 536 U.S. at 135, 122 S.Ct. 1993 (citing H.R.Rep. No. . 100-122, p. 53, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 1987, pp. 3317, 3369). In response to these concerns, Congress passed ELIHPA. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, Pub.L. No. 102-550, 106 Stat. 3672 (codified in relevant part at 42 U.S.C. § 1472(c)(2000)), amended ELIHPA to “impose[ ] permanent restrictions upon prepayment of § 515 mortgages entered into before December 21, 1979.” Franconia Assoc., 536 U.S. at 136, 122 S.Ct. 1993; ELIHPA, Pub.L. 100-242, 101 Stat. 1877 (codified as amended at 12 U.S.C. §§ 4101 — 4124, 4141-1147 (2000)). ELIHPA provides that, before FmHA could accept the prepayment of a Section 515 loan,

“the [FmHA] shall make reasonable efforts to enter into an agreement with the borrower under which the borrower will make a binding commitment to extend the low [515]*515income use of the assisted housing and related facilities involved for not less than the 20-year period beginning on the date on which the agreement is executed.” 42 U.S.C. § 1472(c)(4)(A) (1994 ed.).

Franconia Assoc., 536 U.S. at 136, 122 S.Ct. 1993. ELIPHA also provides for incentives for borrowers that agreed to extend the low-income use of their housing including, inter alia: (1) reduction in the interest rate on the loan; (2) increase in the rate of return; and (3) additional loans to the borrower. 42 U.S.C. § 1472(e)(4)(B). With certain limited exceptions, if FmHA and the borrower cannot reach an agreement, the property owner seeking prepayment, “after a reasonable period ... [FmHA] shall require the borrower ...

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Bluebook (online)
76 Fed. Cl. 512, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 152, 2007 WL 1469392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tamerlane-ltd-v-united-states-uscfc-2007.