IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

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m 00-31272

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GENERAL FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.,

PlaintiffCounter ClaimantAppellant,

VERSUS

JIMMY C. THOMPSON, ET AL.,

Defendants,

NORTH AMERICAN CONSTRUCTORS, INC.,

Counter DefendantAppellee.

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NORTH AMERICAN CONSTRUCTORS, INC.,

PlaintiffCounter DefendantAppellee,

VERSUS

GENERAL FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.,

DefendantCounter ClaimantAppellant.
2

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Louisiana

(98-CV-416)

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June 4, 2001

Before SMITH, DUHÉ, and WIENER,

Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

General Financial Services, Inc.

(“General”), appeals a summary judgment

declaring two mortgages held by North

AmericanConstructors, Inc. (“Constructors”)

superior to those assigned to General by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(“FDIC”). It is undisputed that General’s

mortgages were originally registered before

Constructors’s; in light, however, of the

FDIC’s failure timely to reinscribe the

mortgages under LA. CIV. CODE ANN. art.

3369,1the court properly found that Louisiana

law effected a re-ranking of the mortgages.

See Alexander, 621 So. 2d at 31.

General argues that provisions of the

Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and

Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”),

codified in pertinent part at 12 U.S.C. §§

1821(d)(13)(C) and 1825(b),2exempt the

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has

determined that this opinion should not be

published and is not precedent except under the

limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R.

47.5.4.

1 Article 3369 was repealed in 1992. Because

it was in force at the time General’s mortgages

were originally registered, however, it governs the

reinscription requirements. Sec. Nat’l Trust v. Alexander, 621 So. 2d 30, 31 (La. App. 2d Cir.),

writ denied, 629 So. 2d 30 (La. 1993).

2 Section 1821(d)(13)(C) states that, when the

FDIC is acting as receiver, “[n]o attachment or

execution may issue by any court upon assets in

the possession of the receiver”; § 1825(b) provides:

When acting as a receiver, the following

provisions shall apply with respect to the

Corporation:

(1) The Corporation including its

franchise, its capital, reserves, and

surplus, and its income, shall be

exempt from all taxation imposed by

any State, county, municipality, or

local taxing authority, except that any

real property of the Corporation shall

be subject to State, territorial, county,

municipal, or local taxation to the same

extent according to its value as other

real property is taxed, except that,

notwithstanding the failure of any

person to challenge an assessment

under State law of such property's

value, such value, and the tax thereon,

shall be determined as of the period for

which such tax is imposed.

(2) No property of the Corporation shall

be subject to levy, attachment,

(continued...)
3

FDICSSand General, as its assigneeSSfrom

Louisiana’s reinscription requirements and

thus prohibit Louisiana from re-ranking the

mortgages. As this court recently stated,

however, § 1825(b) does not exempt the FDIC

from Louisiana’s reinscription requirements:

FIRREA does not preclude the

application of Louisiana reinscription

law to the FDIC’s property. Nothing in

FIRREA prevents Louisiana law from

recognizing either the FDIC's obligation

to reinscribe mortgages or the loss of

ranking suffered by the FDIC ifit failsto

meet this obligation.

FDIC v. McFarland, 243 F.3d 876, 886 (5th

Cir. 2001). Moreover, even assuming § 1821-

(d)(13)(C) protectstheFDICfromLouisiana’s

requirements, “no authority supports the proposition that section 1821(d)(13)(C) creates

assignable rights.” Id. at 887 n.42. 

We find no basis for distinguishing McFarland. The judgment is AFFIRMED.

2

(...continued)

garnishment, foreclosure, or

sale without the consent of the

Corporation, nor shall any

involuntary lien attach to the

property of the Corporation.

(3) The Corporation shall not be liable for

any amounts in the nature of penalties

or fines, including those arising from

the failure of any person to pay any

real property, personal property,

probate, or recording tax or any

recording or filing fees when due.