Opinion ID: 1193444
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Especial Beneficiary

Text: The first of Cort 's questions requires us to determine whether Wright is one of the class for whose especial benefit the statute was enacted. [16] A plaintiff is an especial beneficiary if the statute creates a federal right in favor of the particular plaintiff. [T]he right- or duty-creating language of the statute has generally been the most accurate indicator of the propriety of implication of a cause of action. [17] Courts must consider the entire corpus of pertinent law to ensure that any interpretation is consistent with the purposes enunciated by Congress. [18] Wright asserts that he is the especial beneficiary of the NFIA, because the primary purpose of the act is to benefit homeowners. Diametrically opposed to this contention, however, is our conclusion in Till v. Unifirst Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n, that the primary purpose of the NFIA is to reduce the overwhelming burden on the federal treasury. [19] In Till, borrowers sued a federal savings and loan association based on its failure to require them to obtain flood insurance pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 4012a(b) and 4104a. To determine whether the NFIA afforded such borrowers a private cause of action, we first looked to the statutory language in sections 4012a(b) and 4104a. We found in that language no clear right in favor of the borrowers. Rather, [t]he statutes merely require lending institutions to notify borrowers of flood plains and require appropriate flood insurance. [20] We then looked to the NFIA as a whole and determined that the principal purpose in enacting the Program was to reduce, by implementation of adequate land use controls and flood insurance, the massive burden on the federal fisc of the ever-increasing federal flood disaster assistance. [21] Even though Till involved different sections of the NFIA than those implicated here, we perceive no reason why our earlier determination of the Act's purpose should not be applicable in the instant case. Wright nevertheless urges that Till was decided incorrectly, insisting that the primary purpose of the NFIA is to benefit policyholders. To support this contention, Wright cites congressional statements regarding the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, which contained the original text of the National Flood Insurance Act. As described by Congress in the Introduction to the Housing and Development Act, the purpose of the Act is to accelerate progress in the home market and provide a suitable living environment for every American family. [22] Thus, Wright maintains, Congress clearly envisioned home owners as especial beneficiaries of the bill. The Introduction of the Housing and Urban Development Act does not, however, include a single reference to the NFIA, flood insurance, or hurricanes. We find more convincing the discussion contained in congressional statements, like those cited in Till, that specifically refer to the NFIA. Wright's second reference is even less convincing. To demonstrate that the NIFA was enacted to benefit policyholders, Wright points to the language contained in the heading of the NFIA, Title XI, in which Congress stated: Heavy losses over the year from hurricanes in the coastal areas and from storms in inland areas of the Nation dramatize the lack of insurance protection against flood damage. Insurance protection against risk of destruction caused by tornadoes and other natural catastrophes is generally available, but is not available against the risk of flood loss. [23] At first glance this language might appear to support Wright's argument, but it is actually just a part of the language cited in Till, [24] which goes on to state: These facts underline the need for a program which will make insurance against flood damage available, encourage persons to become aware of the risk of occupying the flood plains, and reduce the mounting Federal expenditures for disaster relief assistance. [25] Viewing this statement in its entirety, as we did in Till, we remain convinced that the primary purpose of the NFIA is to reduce the financial burden on the federal fisc.