IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 97-10708

FIRST STATE BANK-KEENE,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

METROPLEX PETROLEUM INCORPORATED, ET AL.,

Defendants,

JERRIE M. SMITH; MICHAEL HARRISON,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the

Northern District of Texas

September 16, 1998

Before GARWOOD, DAVIS and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge:

Defendants-appellants Jerrie M. Smith (Smith) and Michael

Harrison (Harrison) (appellants) appeal the district court’s

judgment declaring void their interest and claim to a parcel of

land that they purchased at a tax sale, which sale the district

court held to be void in its entirety. We reverse.

Facts and Proceedings Below

On March 24, 1988, Metroplex Petroleum, Inc. (Metroplex), in2

Richardson, Texas, executed and delivered to First National Bank of

Richardson (FNB) a promissory note in the principal sum of $266,400

(the Note), and a deed of trust (the Deed of Trust), on a tract of

r eal property located in Grand Prairie, Texas (the Property), to

secure the Note. Because of default in payment, the Note was duly

accelerated and full payment was demanded by FNB on June 23, 1989.

Payment was not made.

On June 30, 1989, FNB was declared insolvent and the Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed as Receiver for

the failed institution. The Note and Deed of Trust passed to the

FDIC at that time.

In 1991, the City of Grand Prairie and the Grand Prairie

Independent School District brought suit in a Texas court (the "tax

suit") against Metroplex for delinquent ad valorem taxes and sought

to foreclose their stat utory tax liens against the Property.

Dallas County intervened as a plaintiff. FNB, the Internal Revenue

Service (IRS), and the State of Texas were named as in rem

defendants. The FDIC was not named as a party in any capacity.

Citation on "Comerica, Formerly First National Bank of Richardson"

was served on Comerica Bank-Texas ( Comerica) due, apparently, to

the impression, which was mistaken, that Comerica had succeeded to

certain of the rights and assets of FNB, including the Note and

Deed of Trust. The FDIC, which was the actual successor-ininterest to FNB, was not joined as a party to the tax suit and did1 The plaintiffs (Taxing Units) were the City of Grand Prairie,

Grand Prairie Independent School District, and Dallas County.

2 As to the in rem defendants, the judgment recited that

Comerica filed an answer, but did not appear, and disclaimed any

interest in the property; Metroplex did not answer or appear; the

IRS did not answer or appear; and the State of Texas answered,

disclaiming any interest in the property.

3 not consent to the foreclosure or subsequent sale of the Property.

On November 8, 1991, judgment in the tax suit was rendered in

favor of the plaintiffs ("the Taxing Units"). 1 Judgment was

rendered aga inst defendant Metroplex in the amount of $8,797 in

delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest for the years 1989 to

1991. 2 The judgment foreclosed the tax liens and ordered sale of

the property by the Dallas County Sheriff.

On March 5, 1992, Smith purchased the property for slightly

more than $10,000, a sum in excess of the judgment amount, at a tax

sale conducted by the sheriff (hereinafter the “tax sale”).

Appellants have been in possession of the Property since that time.

On March 22, 1996, the FDIC filed suit in the court below

against appellants, Metroplex, and the Taxing Units seeking: 1) a

declaration that the tax suit judgment and sheriff’s sale were void

in their entirety; 2) a declaration that appellants’ claimed

ownership of the property by virtue of their purchase at the tax

sale was void and extinguished; 3) a judgment against Metroplex for

the unpaid balance of the Note; and 4) a judgment foreclosing the

Deed of Trust lien against the Property. Metroplex, though served,

did not appear or answer. Appellants answered, asserting the3 The district court’s judgment ordered that Metroplex pay FSB

$491,769.96; that the Taxing Units reimburse Smith the amount they

received from him for the Property at the tax sale; that FSB have

for eclosure on its lien; and that the Property be sold at a

sheriff’s sale in satisfaction of the judgment.

4 affirmative defense s of the statute of limitations and adverse

possession under color of title. While the suit was pending in the

district court, the FDIC transferred the Note and Deed of Trust to

First State Bank--Keene (“FSB”), which was substituted as plaintiff

in the district court.

The case was tried to the ben ch on stipulated facts. The

district court found that FNB and the FDIC had not been joined as

p arties to the tax suit. The court held that the FDIC was a

necessary party and that failure to join the FDIC rendered the tax

suit and subsequent tax sale entirely void. The court further held

that appellants had not gained title by adverse possession because

they did not claim under color of title. Additionally, although

the court found that the suit had not been filed by the FDIC within

the applicable limitations period, it held that appellants lacked

standing to assert the limitations defense. Accordingly, judgment

was rendered in favor of FSB. The judgment, inter alia , declared

the sheriff’s sale null and void, ordered the Taxing Units to pay

Smith the amount they had received from him for the Property at the

tax sale, and ordered foreclosure and sale of the Property in

satisfaction of the judgment. 3

In the proceeding before the district court, the Taxing Units5

did not challenge the court’s holding that the tax sale was void,

and they have not appealed.

Discussion

I. Limitations

Appellants’ principal defense to FSB’s attempted foreclosure

was that the note was barred by limitations. It is clear that if

the note was barred by limitations and if appellants had standing

to assert limitations, that then FSB could not enforce its lien

against the Property. The district court correctly ruled that the

applicable limitations period was that provided by 12 U.S.C. §

1821(d)(14)(A)(i), namely six years, or the applicable period under

state law, whichever is longer. The six-year period begins to run

on the date the cause of action accrues or the date the FDIC is

appoint ed receiver, whichever is later. 12 U.S.C. §

1821(d)(14)(B). S ee Davidson v. FDIC

, 44 F.3d 246 (5th Cir. 1995).

Here the stipulated facts reflect that the cause of action accrued

not later than June 24, 1989, and the FDIC was appointed receiver

June 30, 1989, so the six-year period had run by July 1, 1995, but

the FDIC’s suit was not filed until March 1996, mor e than eight

months after limitations had run. FSB does not challenge the

district court’s determination that the applicable limitations

period is six years, and does not assert that any longer period is

provided under state law; nor does FSB claim that t he running of

limitations was interrupted or tolled, and the district court did4 “Since the statute of limitations is a

plea personal to the debtor, it f ollows that

the statute of limitations may not be availed

of by one who is a stranger to the debtor,

6 not so find (nor do we see any basis for such a finding).

Consequently, the debt was plainly barred by limitations. It is

settled under Texas law, which is controlling for these purposes

here, that if the debt is barred by limitations, the deed of trust

lien is likewise invalid, as the lien is a mere incident of the

debt. D avidson at 252-253. The question then becomes whether

appellants had standing to plead limitations. The district court

ruled that appellants lacked the required standing. The Texas rule

is correctly stated in 50 Tex. Jur. 3d, Limitation of Actions

, § 18

(1986), as follows:

“The defense of limitations is generally a personal

privilege of the debtor. The right to invoke the bar of

limitations against a remedy passes, however, to one who

lawfully acquires property or any right on w hich the

remedy operates, such as a lienho l der or subsequent

purchaser.” (Footnotes omitted).

See also Miller, Hiersche, Martens & Hayward P.C. v. Bent Tree

National Bank

, 894 S.W.2d 828, 829 (Tex. App.-Dallas, 1995); Skaer

v. First National Bank of Paris

, 293 S.W. 228, 229 (Tex. Civ. App.-

Texarkana 1927, writ ref’d); Levy v. Williams

, 49 S.W. 930, 931

(Tex. Civ. App., 1899). This is also the general rule. See Boys

Town, USA, Inc. v. World Church

, 349 F.2d 576, 579 (9th Cir. 1965),

cert. denied , 86 S.Ct. 894 (1966); 51 A m. Jur. 2d, Limitation of

Actions , § 392 (1970). 4standing in no relat ion of privity of estate

with him. On the other hand, where there is a

privity between a person who could, if sued,

plead the statute and the party o ffering to

plead it, the latter may plead it to save his

proper ty. Such is the case with heirs,

mortgagees, cotenants joining in a mortgage,

and transferees of mortgaged property.” I d

. (footnotes omitted).

7 T he district court held that appellants lacked standing to

plead limitations because they had no interest in the Property, and

were not in privity with Metroplex, because the tax suit judgment

and the tax sale were wholly void and transferred no interest

whatever in the Property to Smith. That then is the central issue

in the case.

II. Effect of Tax Sale

FSB, as the FDIC’s successor-i n-interest, contends that the

tax suit judgment was fatally defective because the FDIC was not

made a party to the tax suit. Consequently, they argue, the

subsequent tax sale was entirely void and thus had no effect

whatsoever as to any of the various interests in the Property. As

a result, FSB asserts that the district court was correct in

holding that appellants lacked standing to assert a statute of

limitations defense. Appellants argue to the contrary that,

despite the omission of the FDIC as a party defendant, the tax suit

and subsequent sale were valid and binding as to the parties which

were properly before the court in that suit. Accordingly, they

argue that they had standing as successors-in-interest to Metroplex8

to assert that the limitations period had run on the note and,

consequently, that FSB could no longer exercise its power of sale

under the deed of trust.

On appeal, FSB and appellants rely on both Texas and federal

law as supporting their respective positions, proffering

alternative arguments based on each.

As noted, the central issue on this appeal is whether the

district court erred in holding that the appellants lacked standing

to assert a limitations defense against FSB. Resolution of this

question, however, requires determination of whether the tax suit

judgment and the subsequent tax sale w ere e ntirely void, because

appellants’ princip al claim to standing to assert limitations is

based on their having obtained some interest in the Property at the

tax sale, thereby placing them in privity with Metroplex.

A. State Law Arguments

Appellants claim that under Texas law “although a lienholder

who is not made a party is not bound by the judgment rendered, the

judgment is valid and operative as against those who were actually

made parties.” Thus appellants argue that the tax suit judgment

was valid as to Metroplex, the owner of the Property, and the tax

sale conveyed such interest as Metroplex possessed. Appellants

also assert that because the FDIC was not made a party to the tax

suit, it is not bound by the judgment and, consequently, no action

taken pursuant to the tax suit judgment had the effect of9

disturbing the FDIC’s lien interest. Thus, appellants claim that

the tax suit judgment was dispositive of Metroplex’s interest in

the Property, which was conveyed to them pursuant to the tax sale,

but that because the FDIC was not party to the tax suit, the

judgment did not affect its lien interest, and, accordingly, that

they took the Property subject to the FDIC’s lien, just as if

Metroplex had conveyed it to them subject to the lien.

FSB disputes appellants’ interpretation of the applicable

Texas law, clai ming that the FDIC was a “necessary party” to the

tax suit and, therefore, that failure to join the FDIC renders the

judgment entered pursuant to the tax suit void in its entirety.

According to FSB, the Texas rule is that “as between the tax sale

purchaser and the interested person who was not made a party to the

tax suit, the tax sale purchaser’s interest is void.” Accordingly,

FSB contends that appellants’ interest in the Property is

necessarily void.

B. Federal Law Arguments

Turning to the parties’ federal law arguments, both appellants

and FSB cite 12 U.S.C. § 1825(b)(2) as supporting their respective

positions. Section 1825(b)(2), enacted as part of the Financial

Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989

(FIRREA), Pub.L. No. 107-173, 103 Stat. 183 (1989), provides that

“[n]o property of the [FDIC] shall be subject to levy, attachment,

garnishment, fore closure, or sale without the consent of the

[FDIC], nor shall any involuntary lien attach to the property of10

the [FDIC].”

Appellants argue, inter alia

, that section 1825(b)(2) relates

only to the FDIC’s lien, not to Metroplex’s “equity.” Appellants

also argue that, by its express terms, section 1825(b)(2) prevented

foreclosure of the FDIC’s lien interest irrespective of whether the

FDIC was made a party t o the tax suit. Accordingly, they argue,

t he FDIC could not have been a “necessary party” to the tax suit

b ecause, pursuant to the prohibition of section 1825(b)(2), the

state court lacked authority to extinguish the FDIC’s lien.

FSB contests appellants’ interpretation and application of

section 1825(b)(2). It also argues that the tax suit may well have

been invalid pursua nt to section 1825(b)(2) because the FDIC did

not consent to the tax sale, which purported to vest “goo d and

perfect title” in the purchaser, extinguishing all prior lien

interests pursuant to the authority of Texas state law. See Tex.

Tax Code Ann. § 34.01(d) (Vernon 1992).

C. Analysis of Texas Law

With respect to the Texas law arguments, both the case law and

authorities cited favor the position of the appellants. As FSB

concedes, some of the relevant cases are difficult to reconcile,

but the substantial majority of the cases hold that failure to join

a lienholder in a tax foreclosure suit does not render a subsequent

judgment void as to the parties who wer e joined in the suit. As

stated in 69 Tex. Jur. 3d, Taxation

, § 461 (1989), a tax deed11

“vests good and perfect title” in the purchaser “to [such] interest

owned by the defendant,” but is “subject to the rights of any

person who had some interest in the property and therefore should

have been joined as a party in the suit but was not so joined.”

The majority of relevant cases state the same rule. For

example, in Tabasco Consol. Indep. School Dist. v. Reyna’s Estate

,

93 S.W.2d 796 (Tex. Civ. App.--San Antonio 1936), the court held

that although both Texas statutory and decisional authority

“provides and contemplates that all proper persons,

including lienholders, shall be joined in suits for the

collection of taxes against property in this state. It

is likewise true that the failure on the part of the tax

collecting authorit y to join all parties interested in

the property in the suit sha ll be no defense or

constitute any reason to delay judgment or action against

those owners who may be properly before the court.” I d.

at 798.

This rule was explained by the fact that “ [t]hose owners who are

not parties defendant are not concluded, and their rights are not

injured by the judgment entered.” Id.

This appears to be essentially the same rule as is stated in

the cases relied on by FSB as well. For example, in B ussan v.

Donald

, 244 S.W.2d 271 (Tex. Civ. App.--Fort Worth 1951, writ ref’d

n.r.e.), one of three cases relied upon by FSB, the court explained

that,

“strangers to a judgment, that is, [persons] who are not

parties or privy to a proceeding, may, when their

interests are adversely affected by the judgment, impeach

it whenever it is attempted to be enforced against them.”

244 S.W.2d at 273 (citation omitted).5 See Whitehead v. Garbury Indep. School Dist. , 45 S.W.2d 421

(Tex. Civ. App.--Fort Worth 1931), in which the court stated that

lienholders are proper parties, but, “that the failure to implead

one or more of the interested parties did not deprive the trial

court of power to render a valid judg ment as to those actually

impleaded.” Id. at 423 (citation omitted). C f. Coakley v. Reising

, 436 S.W.2d 315, 318 (Tex. 1968) (“[A] judgment by a taxing agency

is not binding upon a person who is not a party to the suit, when

his ownership is evidenced by an unrecorded document, if the taxing

authority has actual or constructive notice of his title or

ownership.”). Thus, while the cases state that a lienholder

shoul d, or sometimes “must,” be joined, the cases uniformly hold

that failure to do so does not wholly invalidate the judgment, but

rather renders it “non-binding” upon the omitted lienholder.

12 As is implied by this passage, the judgment is not wholly void, but

simply provides a basis upon which a lien holder may collaterally

attack the judgment if it is sought to be enforced against him. As

further stated in Bussan

, “the prior lien holder

. . . , not being

a party to [the foreclosure] suit, was not bound thereby,” and

“could attack it collaterally when appellants asserted it against

his title.” 244 S.W.2d at 274. All of the cases either called to

o ur attention by the parties or revealed by our review of Texas

case law indicate that the cases are in substantial accord and

support the rule as stated by the appellants. 5

I n sum, “[a] judgment in a tax suit is not void becau se all

parties who own an interest in the property are not made parties.

Such judgment foreclosing the tax lien is good as against the

parties in interest joined in the suit, and parties not joined are

not bound by any such judgment.” Loper v. Meshaw Lumber Co. , 104

S.W.2d 597, 599-600 (Tex. Civ. App.--Eastland 1937, writ dism’d).13

Accordingly, we hold that the 1991 tax suit was not wholly void,

but because the FDIC was not made a party to the sui t, its lien

i nterest was not disposed of and appellants took the Prope rty

subject to the FDIC’s lien, just as they would have had Metroplex

convey it to them subject to the FDIC’s lien but without the FDIC’s

knowledge or consent.

D. Analysis of Federal Law

The fundamental issue implicated by the federal law arguments

on appeal involves whether, and to what extent, section 1825(b)(2)

is incompatible with the Texas state laws governing foreclosure of

tax liens against real property and the subsequent conveyance of

that property at a tax sale.

In one of our most recent pronouncements on this question,

FDIC v. Lee

, 130 F.3d 1139 (5th Cir. 1997), we held that a tax sale

under Louisiana law violated section 1825(b)(2). In L ee

, the FDIC,

in its capacity as receiver for a failed bank , succeeded to a

mortgage o n a parcel of land located in Jefferson Parish,

Louisiana. The owner of the land failed to pay the taxes due,

resulting in the transfer of the property at a tax sale. Because

the FDIC’s lien interest in the land was not properly recorded, and

because it had failed to request a notice of tax delinquency

pursuant to Louisiana statute, the FDIC was not informed of the

sale of the property. Soon after the sale, however, the tax sale

purchaser contacted the FDIC to inquire whether it intended to file14

for redemption of the property. The FDIC took no action for

approximately three years, but eventually filed a writ of mandamus

in state court seeking to compel the issuance of a redemption deed.

Id. at 1140. The state court denied and dismissed the writ because

the FDIC refused to reimburse the tax sale purchaser for repairs

and maintenance of the property as was required under the Louisiana

statute governing redemp tion. I d. The FDIC subsequently filed

suit in federal court seeking to have the tax sale declared void,

arguing that the sale had violated its constitutional due process

right to notice. I d. We based our holding on the ground that the

tax sale violated section 1825(b)(2) because the FDIC had not

consented to the sale. I d. at 1143. We reasoned that the

provision’s prohibition on “foreclosures” applied to tax sales as

conducted under Louisiana state law , and stated that “[t]he

controlling principle of this case is that 12 U.S.C. § 1825(b)(2)

represents the express will of Congress that the FDIC must consent

to any deprivation of property initiated by the state.” I d

. at

1143. We held “that the tax sale was conducted without the consent

of the FDIC” and, accordingly, “violated 12 U.S.C. § 1825(b)(2) and

thus is null and void.” Id.

In Trembling Prairie Land Co. v. Verspoor , 145 F.3d 686 (5th

Cir. 1998), we applied the reasoning of Lee to a case in which the

F DIC sought to redeem property subject to an FDIC lien tha t had

been sold at a tax sale w ithout its consent. We held that the15

F DIC’s right of redemption constituted “property” within sectio n

1825(b)(2). I d. at 690. Concluding that tax sales under Louisiana

la w were functionally equivalent to the Texas foreclosure

procedures, we hel d the tax sale “null and void” because it had

been conducted in violation of section 1825(b)(2). I d. at 690-91.

In summarizing the rationale of our holding, we quoted our previous

statement in Lee that section 1825(b)(2) “represents the express

will of Congress that the FDIC must consent to any deprivation of

property initiated by a state.” Id. at 691 (citation omitted).

In both Lee and Verspoor

, we summarized section 1825(b)(2) as

requiring that the FDIC must consent to any “depr ivation” of

property initiated by the state. This simple articulation of the

undergirding principle of section 1825(b) accurately represents the

analytical thread that runs through the line of cases interpreting

this provision. Obviously, the FDIC cannot be “deprived” of any

property interest i t never owned. Here, the FDIC never had more

than a li en; it never had the right to prevent transfer of the

Property (or an interest therein) subject to its lien; and it never

had the right to prevent Metroplex, or any party holding an

interest in the Property under Metroplex, from pleading the statute

of limitations once the statute had run.

For example, in Irving Indep. School Dist. v. Packard

Properties

, 970 F.2d 58, 62 (5th Cir. 1992), we rejected an

argument by the FDIC that certain preexisting liens securing16

previously-a ssessed penalties had “the same effect as the

imposition of a direct liability” and therefore violated 12 U.S.C.

§ 1825(b)(2) and (3). We concluded that allowing enforcement of

these preexisting liens subsequent to sale of the assets by the

FDIC did not constitute a deprivation of the FDIC’s “property.” We

reasoned that because the liens had been in place when the FDIC

acquired the assets, the “liens have not caused a reduction in the

value of the receivership’s assets,” explaining that the “assets

h ave the same value today that they had when the FDIC obtaine d

them.” Id. Because of this, we held that section 1825(b)(2) did

not apply and that the preexisting liens could be enforced upon the

FDIC’s sale or disposal of the encumbered assets. I d. Although we

did not expressly state our conclusions in those terms, the key to

our holding was that allowing future enforcement of the liens did

not constitute a deprivation of the FDIC’s property.

Because the term “property” has come to be somewhat broadly

construed in the context of section 1825(b)(2), there exists a vast

number of potential interests sufficient to constitute “property”

under that provision. This makes the requirement that there be an

actual “deprivation” crucial in analyzing whether a particular

action taken under state law violates section 1825(b)(2). The

reasoning of Irving illustrates our point as well as the

distinction we seek to make. Absent some actual devaluation of, or

loss of rights in, FDIC “property,” there is no “deprivation of17

pr operty” and section 1825(b)(2) is not violated under L ee

. In

Lee , the state court held that under Louisiana law, redemption of

the property by the FDIC would only be allowed if t h e FDIC

reimburse d the tax sale purchaser for repairs and maintenance of

the property. 130 F.3d at 1140. Thus, the application of state

law would have subjected the FDIC to payment of an additional,

nonconsensual fee before it could exercise its rights under the

mortgage as they had existed prior to the tax sale. In other

words, the “deprivation” in Lee appears to have been the

requirement that the FDIC pay to redeem the property, rather than

the mere transfer of title pursuant to the tax sale.

Similarly, in Verspoor the FDIC succeeded to a right of

redemption, which a tax sale purchaser sought to extinguish by

means of a suit to quiet title. 145 F.3d at 690. We held that the

“property” involved in Verspoor was the right to redeem the land

that had been sold at the tax sale. Id. The suit to quiet title

sought, by operation of state l aw, to extinguish this right,

thereby depriving the FDIC of “property” without its consent. As

in Lee , we assume that the FDIC had no particular interest in who

held legal title to the property in question as long as the FDIC’s

equitable rights in the property were not prejudiced and could be

exercised at the discretion of the FDIC without additional cost.

In a ddition, we note that in the two cases in which we have

considered tax sales under Texas law, Matagorda County v. Russell18

Law

, 19 F.3d 215 (5th Cir. 1994), and Donna Indep. School Dist. v.

Balli

, 21 F.3d 100 (5th Cir. 1994), we held that the tax liens

could be foreclosed as long as the FDIC’s interests were preserved.

In Matagorda , we stated that, although this was a permissible

solution, it was not a realistic one under the circumstances of

that case. 19 F.3d at 225 n.11. We also acknowledged that the

FDIC itself had endors ed this general position. I d. at 223 n.7.

In Balli

, we affirmed the di strict court’s judgment, which held

that the taxing units were permitted to foreclose their liens, but

“decreed that foreclosure on the tax liens would be subject to the

FDIC’s deed of trust liens.” Id. at 101.

In the case at bar, the FDIC’s “property” in question consists

of the FDIC’s mortgage on the Property. Unlike the actions taken

pursuant to state law in Lee and Verspoor

, the foreclosure and tax

sale under Texas law did not extinguish the FDIC’s lien because the

FDIC was not joined in the tax suit. The FDIC’s lien was not

devalued, extinguished, or disturbed in any manner. The appellants

took the Property subject to the FDIC lien, and the FDIC’s ability

to enforce its rights under the lien were not prejudiced thereby.

It had all the same rights following the judgment in the tax suit

and the consequent tax sale as it did before the tax suit was

filed. The FDIC could then have exercised its power of sale under

t he deed of trust against appellants just as easily as it could

have prior to the tax suit judgment and tax sale. The FDIC was in19

no different position following the tax suit and tax sale than it

would have been had there been no such ta x suit and tax sale and

Metroplex had in March 1992 conveyed the Property (without the

knowledge or consent of the FDIC) to Smith subject to the FDIC’s

lien. Consequently, we hold that the tax sale did not constitute

a deprivation of the FDIC’s property, and thus did not violate

section 1825(b)(2). Accordingly, we conclude that the tax sale was

not “null and void” in its entirety and did effectively convey such

interest in the Property as was held by Metroplex, the mortgagorowner, to the appellants, subject to the FDIC’s lien.

Conclusion

Having concluded th at the tax sale which transferred title

from Metroplex to the appellants was not void in its entirety,

either under Texas state law or pursuant to the restrictions of 12

U.S.C. § 1825(b)(2), we hold that the district court erred in

holding that appellants lacked standing to assert that the six-year

statute of limitations provided by FIRREA had run. As the

stipulated facts clearly demonstrate that the six-year limitations

period had run months prior to the filing of this suit, the FDIC’s

lien against the Property likewise had become unenforceable and was

barred when the suit was filed. Accordingly, the judgment of the

district court is reversed and the cause is remanded for entry of

judgment consistent with this opinion.20 REVERSED and REMANDED