Opinion ID: 2651827
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Is Exhaustion Required?

Text: As already noted, 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(13)(D) is a broadly worded limitation on judicial review of causes of action that have not first been pursued in the administrative review process. See Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1141; Auction Co. of Am., 141 F.3d at 1200; Freeman, 56 F.3d at 1400. It has two subsections. Subsection (i) covers “any claim or action for payment from, or any action seeking a determination of rights with respect to, the assets of any depository institution for which the [FDIC] has been appointed receiver, including assets which the [FDIC] may acquire from itself as such receiver.” 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(13)(D)(i). Subsection (ii) covers “any claim relating to any act or omission of such institution or the [FDIC] as receiver.” Id. § 1821(d)(13)(D)(ii). The parties vie over which subsection governs our analysis. Although the district court analyzed the issue under subsection (i), see Westberg, 926 F. Supp. 2d at 66 & n.3, we think subsection (ii) governs here. Because Multibank now owns all rights to repayment from the Westbergs under the Loan Documents, the Westbergs’ request for declaratory relief against Multibank is no longer an “action seeking a determination of rights with respect to[] the assets of any depository institution for which the [FDIC] has been appointed receiver.” 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(13)(D)(i) (emphasis added). It is instead an action seeking a determination of rights with respect to the assets of a third-party that purchased those assets from the FDIC. The Westbergs’ claim does, however, “relat[e] to an[] act or omission of . . . the [FDIC] as receiver”—namely, the FDIC’s decision to repudiate the loan. Id. § 1821(d)(13)(D)(ii). Subsection (i) seems the more relevant provision at first blush: It applies to “any claim or action for payment” or “any 8 action seeking a determination of rights” and the latter phrase more naturally describes a declaratory judgment action than does subsection (ii), which applies to “any claim.” We have held, however, that “claim” as used in FIRREA “is a term-of-art that encompasses only demands that are resolvable through the administrative process set out by FIRREA,” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1142, and that declaratory relief against the FDIC is obtainable through the administrative process, see Freeman, 56 F.3d at 1400, 1404; see also Placida Prof’l Ctr., LLC v. FDIC, 512 F. App’x 938, 947 n.9 (11th Cir. 2013); Hudson United Bank v. Chase Manhattan Bank of Conn., N.A., 43 F.3d 843, 844, 848–49 (3d Cir. 1994). Thus, subsection (ii)’s reference to “any claim” includes a request for declaratory relief.1 The question is whether declaratory relief remains obtainable through the administrative process if sought against a third-party acquiring bank like Multibank, rather than the FDIC. If so, the request would fit within the definition of “claim” in subsection (ii) and judicial review would be precluded absent administrative exhaustion. See Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1142 (“[D]emands unresolvable through the process are not ‘claims,’ as the term is used in the Act.”); see also Auction Co. of Am., 141 F.3d at 1200–01 (section 1821(d)(13)(D) applies to same claims resolvable in 1 The Westbergs argue subsection (ii)’s use of “claim” cannot include a claim for declaratory relief because, if that were so, subsection (i)’s separation of “claim or action for payment” and “action seeking a determination of rights” would give two different scopes to “claim.” To wit: the first in subsection (i) would not encompass declaratory relief and the second in subsection (ii) would. Subsection (i) refers specifically to “any claim or action for payment.” Subsection (ii)’s use of “claim,” however, refers broadly to “any claim relating to any act or omission” of the failed institution or the FDIC. 9 administrative process); Homeland Stores, Inc. v. Resolution Trust Corp., 17 F.3d 1269, 1274 (10th Cir. 1994) (same). The applicability of the administrative exhaustion requirement in subsection (ii) is based not on the entity named as defendant but on the actor responsible for the alleged wrongdoing: “Where a claim is functionally, albeit not formally, against a depository institution for which the FDIC is receiver, it is a ‘claim’ within the meaning of FIRREA’s administrative claims process.” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1144; accord Acosta-Ramirez v. Banco Popular de P.R., 712 F.3d 14, 20–21 (1st Cir. 2013); Farnik v. FDIC, 707 F.3d 717, 722–23 (7th Cir. 2013); Tellado v. IndyMac Mortg. Servs., 707 F.3d 275, 280–81 (3d Cir. 2013); Benson v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 673 F.3d 1207, 1214–15 (9th Cir. 2012); Vill. of Oakwood v. State Bank & Trust Co., 539 F.3d 373, 386 (6th Cir. 2008). The functional approach ensures “that plaintiffs cannot circumvent FIRREA’s jurisdictional bar by drafting their complaint strategically,” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1144; see also Farnik, 707 F.3d at 723 (“[S]trategic case captioning would allow creditors to completely bypass FIRREA’s administrative process . . . .”), and thus undermine the Congress’s goal of enabling the FDIC to expeditiously wind up the affairs of failed financial institutions, see Freeman, 56 F.3d at 1398; see also Vill. of Oakwood, 539 F.3d at 386 (contrary approach would “encourage the very litigation that FIRREA aimed to avoid” (quotation marks omitted)). A few cases illustrate how the functional approach has been applied. During the recent financial crisis, Washington Mutual Bank was seized by a federal agency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and placed into receivership with the FDIC. In American National Insurance Co. v. FDIC, Washington Mutual bondholders brought state tort claims 10 against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMC), alleging that it had pressured the FDIC to sell Washington Mutual’s most valuable assets to JPMC at a drastically undervalued price. 642 F.3d 1137, 1138–40 (D.C. Cir. 2011). We held that “[b]ecause appellants’ suit is against a third-party bank for its own wrongdoing, not against the depository institution for which the FDIC is receiver (i.e., Washington Mutual), their suit is not a claim within the meaning of the Act and thus is not barred by subsection (ii).” Id. at 1142. Notwithstanding the FDIC’s actions may have “form[ed] one link in the causal chain connecting JPMC’s wrongdoing with appellants’ injuries,” we concluded that the bondholders’ suit was functionally against JPMC for its wrongdoing. Id. at 1144. Accordingly, the bondholders were not required to exhaust their claims. Id. at 1144–45. On the other hand, in Village of Oakwood v. State Bank & Trust Co., uninsured depositors of a failed bank sued another bank (“assuming bank”) that had purchased the failed bank’s assets from the FDIC-as-receiver. 539 F.3d 373, 375–76 (6th Cir. 2008). The suit alleged that the FDIC had breached its fiduciary duty to depositors, but the assuming bank, not the FDIC, was the named defendant. Id. Although the plaintiffs alleged that the assuming bank had aided and abetted the FDIC’s breach, the Sixth Circuit held that plaintiffs’ claim was functionally against the FDIC because the FDIC was the primary wrongdoer. Id. at 386 (“[A]ll of [plaintiffs’] claims against [the assuming bank] are directly related to acts or omissions of the FDIC as the receiver of [the failed bank].”). Exhaustion was therefore required. Id. at 388. In American National Insurance Co., we found the two cases factually distinguishable because “in Village of Oakwood the wrongdoing alleged was perpetrated by the FDIC-as-receiver, which the assuming bank allegedly aided and abetted,” 11 whereas in American National Insurance Co., the alleged wrongdoing was perpetrated by JPMC. Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1144. Similarly, in Tellado v. IndyMac Mortgage Services, the plaintiffs had obtained a mortgage loan from IndyMac Bank, FSB (IndyMac) before IndyMac’s failure. 707 F.3d 275, 277–78 (3d Cir. 2013). After IndyMac entered into FDIC receivership and the FDIC sold the loan to OneWest Bank, FSB (OneWest), the plaintiffs sued OneWest seeking to cancel the loan. Id. Their claim, however, was based on IndyMac’s alleged failure to provide adequate notice (under state law) of their right to cancel the loan and ultimately the Third Circuit held that the claim was functionally against IndyMac. Id. at 280. Notably, although OneWest had refused the plaintiffs’ pre-suit request to cancel the loan, the court rejected the argument that its refusal made the claim functionally against OneWest, finding instead that their claim was “wholly dependent upon IndyMac’s wrongdoing”—i.e., IndyMac’s failure to provide adequate notice. Id. Exhaustion was thus required. Id. at 281.2 2 See also Acosta-Ramirez, 712 F.3d at 15, 21 (exhaustion required where former employees of failed bank sued assuming bank for severance pay but claim was functionally against FDIC-as-receiver for its decisions to terminate employees and to not transfer liability for severance pay to assuming bank); Farnik, 707 F.3d at 719–20, 723–24 (exhaustion required where plaintiffs who borrowed from failed bank sued assuming bank but their claims were based on failed bank’s alleged deceptive practices and complaint did not identify any independent wrongdoing by assuming bank); Benson, 673 F.3d at 1208–09, 1215 (exhaustion required where investors in Ponzi scheme, which scheme failed bank allegedly aided and abetted, brought suit against assuming bank but their claims were “based almost exclusively on alleged malfeasance by” failed bank). 12 This case is more like Village of Oakwood and Tellado than it is like American National Insurance Co. The Westbergs’ complaint seeks “a declaration that the FDIC’s repudiation of the [loan agreement] released and discharged Plaintiffs from any and all obligations under the [Loan Documents].” First Amended Complaint (FAC), Westberg v. FDIC, No. 09-cv-1690 ¶ 28 (D.D.C. July 19, 2010) (reprinted at JA 24) (emphasis added). The claim is based on the FDIC-as-receiver’s act of repudiating the loan because, without that act, the Westbergs would not have sought a declaration freeing them from having to repay the already disbursed portion of the loan. Functionally, the claim “relat[es] to an[] act . . . of . . . the [FDIC] as receiver.” 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(13)(D)(ii). The Westbergs argue that their claim relates not to the FDIC’s repudiation of the loan agreement but rather to “Multibank’s discretionary call about how to interpret and respond to [the repudiation] after acquiring the loan.” Brief of Appellants 24, Westberg v. FDIC, No. 13-5080 (D.C. Cir. July 15, 2013). Their contention is belied by their pleadings, which make no mention of a discretionary call by Multibank but simply state: “Because Multibank has no greater rights than the FDIC from which it acquired the Loan, Plaintiffs are entitled to the same declaration as to Multibank.” FAC ¶ 28 (reprinted at JA 25) (capitalization altered). Moreover, the argument is similar to the plaintiffs’ unavailing contention in Tellado that the assuming bank’s failure to cancel the loan based on the acts of its predecessor-in-interest constituted an independent act that changed the functional analysis. See Tellado, 707 F.3d at 280. It might be a different story if the FDIC had not repudiated the loan and Multibank had instead purchased the loan from the FDIC intact and then itself 13 repudiated or breached the agreement. In that case, the Westbergs’ claim would be functionally against Multibank. Here, however, the Westbergs’ claim for declaratory relief is inextricably related to the FDIC’s act of repudiation. Although it is formally brought against Multibank, it is functionally against the FDIC. It is therefore a “claim” under subsection (ii) that must first be resolved in the administrative claims process. See Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1142.3 3 As the Westbergs point out, we have construed the claims process broadly only where either the failed depository institution or the FDIC “might be held legally responsible to pay or otherwise resolve the asserted claim” because, if neither bears any legal responsibility, “the claims process offers only a pointless bureaucratic exercise” and “we doubt Congress intended to force claimants into a process incapable of resolving their claims.” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1143. But whether the Westbergs correctly contend that the FDIC’s declaration would not bind Multibank, see Brief of Appellants 21–22, Westberg v. FDIC, No. 13-5080 (D.C. Cir. July 15, 2013)—an issue we do not reach—the administrative claims process is not a pointless bureaucratic exercise here. At the time the Westbergs brought their administrative claim, the FDIC still held its interest in the loan. The FDIC did not assign that interest to Multibank until February 2010—eight months after the Westbergs filed their administrative claim, seven months after the FDIC resolved that claim and five months after the Westbergs filed suit in the district court. Had the Westbergs timely sought declaratory relief through the administrative process, the FDIC would have resolved that request well before it assigned the loan to Multibank. To allow the Westbergs to circumvent FIRREA’s exhaustion requirement by declining to pursue the remedies available to them and later arguing that such remedies are ineffective because of their own delay would amount to permitting the strategic pleading we have rejected. See Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 642 F.3d at 1144; see also Benson, 673 F.3d at 1213 (“Although plaintiffs assert that their claims are not currently susceptible to the claims process, plaintiffs give us no reason to believe that FIRREA exhaustion 14