UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

ACIREMA, N.V., a Netherlands

Antilles Company,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

THOMAS S. LILLY; GORDON LUSK,

d/b/a Container Company, a West

No. 97-2241

Virginia general partnership;

CONTAINER COMPANY, a West

Virginia general partnership; THE

CONTAINER COMPANY LIMITED

LIABILITY COMPANY, a West Virginia

limited liability company,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Bluefield.

David A. Faber, District Judge.

(CA-96-559-1)

Argued: March 4, 1998

Decided: March 30, 1998

Before WIDENER and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and MOON,

United States District Judge for the

Western District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________
COUNSEL

ARGUED: John Blanton Farmer, THOMPSON & MCMULLAN,

Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant. Kenneth Eugene Webb, Jr.,

BOWLES, RICE, MCDAVID, GRAFF & LOVE, Charleston, West

Virginia, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Michael T. Chaney, KAY,

CASTO, CHANEY, LOVE & WISE, Charleston, West Virginia, for

Appellant. Carl D. Andrews, Brian A. Glasser, BOWLES, RICE,

MCDAVID, GRAFF & LOVE, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

In 1983, Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States

("Equitable") loaned $1.9 million to Circle Realty Corporation and

Acirema, B.V. ("ABV"). To secure this debt, Circle Realty and ABV

provided Equitable a deed of trust on Bluefield Plaza. In 1988, the

property owners failed to pay the real property taxes owed on that

property.

As provided by West Virginia law, the sheriff conducted a sale of

Bluefield Plaza on November 20, 1989, at which time no private persons bid on the property. See W. Va. Code§ 11A-3-5 (Michie Butterworth 1995). In accord with the then-applicable state statute, the State

of West Virginia purchased the property at the sheriff's sale. See W.

Va. Code § 11A-3-6 (Michie Butterworth 1995). The State, through

the sheriff, provided actual notice of the sale to the prior owner of the

property. See W. Va. Code § 11A-3-2 (Michie Butterworth 1995).

However, as the State acknowledges, it did not provide actual notice

of the sheriff's sale to Equitable despite the statutory requirement

(enacted in 1985) that actual notice be provided to"each person hav-

 2
ing a lien on real property upon which the taxes are due." W. Va.

Code § 11A-3-2.

In 1992, pursuant to the then-controlling state statute, the Circuit

Court of Mercer County, West Virginia ordered that the property be

sold by the State at a public auction. See W. Va. Code § 11A-3-44

(Michie Butterworth 1995). Again, no private persons bid at the auction. By May 1992, Equitable had received notification about these

efforts to sell the property and about its ability to redeem the property.

Equitable chose not to redeem the property.

For the next two years, the property remained unsold. Based on

amendments to the relevant state statute, Equitable still had the opportunity to redeem the property by paying all back taxes and costs. See

W. Va. Code § 11A-3-44. When Equitable did not exercise this right,

pursuant to the controlling statute, the property was subject to public

auction. Id. Bluefield Plaza, however, was not sold at the public auction.

Rather, on September 27, 1994, in accord with the statute, the State

privately sold the property to Thomas S. Lilly and Gordon Lusk, and

their partnership, Container Company (collectively Lilly). See W. Va.

Code § 11A-3-48 (Michie Butterworth 1995). West Virginia law

required Lilly to secure the deed to the property by preparing a list

of those to be served with a notice to redeem. See id. This notice was

sent to Equitable, and on or about November 21, 1994, Equitable

again decided not to redeem the property.

On March 7, 1996, Acirema, N.V. (parent of ABV) acquired all of

Equitable's rights and interest in the deed of trust for a $25,000 payment. Acirema then filed this declaratory judgment action asserting

that the failure of the State to provide Equitable notice of the property's delinquency in 1989 violated Equitable's procedural due process

rights, and therefore Equitable's "deed of trust remained a valid lien

on the property." Further, Acirema maintained that, because it had

assumed Equitable's rights under the deed of trust, it should be entitled to enforce this lien.

The parties cross-moved for summary judgment. The district court

granted Lilly's motion and denied Acirema's. This appeal followed.

 3
Having had the benefit of oral argument and the parties' briefs, and

after careful consideration of the record and the applicable law, we

conclude that the district court correctly decided the issues before it.

Accordingly, we affirm on the reasoning of the district court. See

Acirema, N.V. v. Lilly, No. 1:96-0559 (S.D.W. Va. Aug. 11, 1997).

AFFIRMED

 4