Source: http://wa.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180726_0002423.C09.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 00:38:51+00:00

Document:
FindACase | McGreevey v. PHH Mortgage Corp.
McGreevey v. PHH Mortgage Corp.
PHH Mortgage Corporation; Northwest Trustee Services, Inc., Defendants-Appellees.
Sean J. Riddell (argued), Law Office of Sean J. Riddell, Portland, Oregon, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Matthew Sheldon (argued) and Jaime Ann Santos, Goodwin Procter LLP, Washington, D.C.; John S. Devlin, III, Lane Powell PC, Seattle, Washington; for Defendant-Appellee PHH Mortgage Corporation.
Before: Jay S. Bybee and N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges, and John Antoon II, [*] District Judge.
The panel affirmed the district court's dismissal as time-barred of a private suit alleging violations of § 303(c) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which provides a limited prohibition on foreclosure of the property of servicemembers.
The panel held that the federal catchall statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a) applies to private suits alleging violations of § 303(c) of the SCRA, an Act of Congress enacted after 1990. Because § 1658(a), like the state statute relied upon by the district court, specifies a four-year limitations period, the panel affirmed.
Tovah Calderon and Christine A. Monta, Attorneys, Appellate Section; T.E. Wheeler, II, Acting Assistant Attorney General; Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington D.C.; for Amicus Curiae United States of America.
Denise Gale Fjordbeck, Assistant Attorney General; Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General; Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General; Civil/Administrative Appeals, Oregon Department of Justice, Salem, Oregon; for Amicus Curiae State of Oregon.
This appeal presents an issue of first impression-what is the applicable statute of limitations for private suits alleging violations of § 303(c) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)? Section 303(c) provides a limited prohibition on foreclosure of the property of servicemembers, but the SCRA does not contain a statute of limitations. The district court, applying the four-year limitations period of what it determined to be the most closely analogous state statute, found that Plaintiff Jacob McGreevey's § 303(c) claim was time-barred and dismissed the case. McGreevey appeals.
After carefully considering the parties' briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that the federal catchall statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a) applies to private suits alleging violations of § 303(c) of the SCRA. Because that provision, like the state statute relied upon by the district court, also specifies a four-year limitations period, we affirm.

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