Opinion ID: 3045124
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Loss incurred

Text: The district court calculated the “actual loss” as “the outstanding loan balance less the sales proceeds of the collateral property.” First American argues that, because New Bank collected the sales proceeds of the collateral property, this calculation fails to distinguish the FDIC’s loss from New Bank’s loss. First American argues that the accurate calculation of damages is the loan balance less the book value that New Bank paid the FDIC for each loan. First American argues 22 Case: 13-15058 Date Filed: 04/28/2015 Page: 23 of 27 that, because the FDIC cannot establish the book value for each loan, the district court should have denied recovery. As the district court stated, “Under the reasonable certainty rule, recovery is denied only if the FDIC fails to establish damages to a reasonable degree of certainty.” See Nebula Glass Int’l, Inc. v. Reichhold, Inc., 454 F.3d 1203, 1212 (11th Cir. 2006) (“Under the certainty rule, . . . recovery is denied where the fact of damages and the extent of damages cannot be established within a reasonable degree of certainty.”). Acknowledging the circumstances of a failing bank, the district court correctly reasoned that achieving “reasonable certainty” does not require a calculation of the book value of each loan: The FDIC’s main responsibility when it becomes the receiver of a failing bank is to determine a cost-effective and efficient method of dealing with the bank’s assets and liabilities. As receiver, the FDIC attempts to ensure service continuity and that panicked depositors do not withdraw their funds from the bank. In the midst of a bank closing, to require the FDIC to provide a calculation of the book value of each loan in a failing bank’s portfolio as of the date of the transfer for fear that the FDIC would later discover a mortgage fraud scheme, or some other claim, would be impractical. Rather than calculating each loan’s book value, the FDIC establishes with reasonable certainty each loan’s principal balance, each loan’s unpaid expenses, and each unit’s sale price, information from which the FDIC can calculate the total loss to the FDIC. 23 Case: 13-15058 Date Filed: 04/28/2015 Page: 24 of 27 Further, the FDIC need not distinguish the FDIC’s loss from New Bank’s loss. Absent contrary evidence, a reasonable deduction from the attendant circumstances is that the purchase agreement, which excludes from the sale of assets the right to assert a claim under the closing protection letters, concomitantly excludes from the purchase price any anticipated amount that First American might pay based on the FDIC’s claims under the closing protection letters. The district court correctly concluded that the “actual loss” is “the outstanding loan balance less the sales proceeds of the collateral property” — $265,550.72 for one unit and $235,421.07 for the other unit. 24 Case: 13-15058 Date Filed: 04/28/2015 Page: 25 of 27