Opinion ID: 339025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Delegation of a State Function

Text: 27 The last consideration of the propriety of Kennedy's threatened act is based upon the state function rationale announced in Hall v. Garson, 430 F.2d 430 (5th Cir. 1970), which has never been accepted in this circuit. 10 We find the doctrine inapplicable to the instant case, so we need not consider its legal merits. 28 In Hall, on facts similar to those in Culbertson, the Fifth Circuit found a Texas statute to violate due process because it authorized landlords to summarily seize the personal property of tenants who defaulted in the payment of their rent. The court stated that because that type of summary seizure was a function traditionally reserved to the state, its delegation to a private individual did not change its nature. It remained state action. 29 In Hall, however, no relationship existed between the property seized and the underlying debt. The landlord had been granted the authority by statute to exercise a function in the nature of a roving commission. Also, there was no contract that provided the tenant with notice of the potential seizure by the landlord. 30 In the instant case, we are presented with a vastly different situation. The challenged action the extra-judicial sale required no seizure. Kennedy was in possession of the goods. There was no entry into another's home as in Hall. Further, the property to be sold by Kennedy is the basis of the underlying debt, and Melara had notice of the lien enforcement remedy through the contract.