Opinion ID: 2499776
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: RalRon, as a successor in interest to the FDIC, is entitled to benefit from FIRREA's jurisdictional bar of claims

Text: FIRREA's jurisdictional bar applies to any claim or action for payment from ... or... seeking a determination of rights with respect to, the assets of any depository institution for which the [FDIC] has been appointed receiver and to any claim relating to any act or omission of such institution or the [FDIC] as receiver. 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(13)(D). Schettler argues that the underlying action, which was filed by a third party instead of the FDIC, cannot possibly affect Silver State's receivership estate, and FIRREA should be inapplicable. Conversely, RalRon maintains that its successor status entitles it to benefit from FIRREA's jurisdictional bar. In determining whether the statute allows a successor in interest to a failed financial institution to benefit from FIRREA's jurisdictional bar, we examine the rationale from other jurisdictions that have addressed the issue. The federal courts, by and large, that have considered the issue have concluded that a successor in interest is entitled to benefit from FIRREA's jurisdictional bar against claims falling within the statute's terms that have not been administratively pursued. For example, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has explained that FIRREA's jurisdictional bar, with respect to claims relating to acts or omissions of the failed bank or receiver, distinguishes claims on their factual bases rather than on the identity of the defendant, and does not make any distinction based on the identity of the party from whom relief is sought. Benson v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, 673 F.3d 1207, 1212 (9th Cir.2012). Thus, FIRREA's jurisdictional bar applies to claims asserted against a purchasing bank when the claim is based on the conduct of the failed institution. Id. at 1214-15 (also explaining that FIRREA's jurisdictional bar applied because [t]he bulk of plaintiffs' claims plainly qualif[ied] as ` functionally, albeit not formally, ' against a failed bank (quoting American Nat. Ins. Co. v. F.D.I.C., 642 F.3d 1137, 1144 (D.C.Cir.2011)). The Eastern District of New York has explained that successors in interest can benefit from FIRREA's jurisdictional bar because the jurisdictional bar refers to ` any claim relating to any act or omission' of a failed institution and does not make its application contingent upon whom the claim is against. Thus, the statutory provision, by its plain language, applies with equal force to a successor in interest to the failed institution. Aber-Shukofsky, 755 F.Supp.2d at 447 (quoting 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(13)(D)(ii)). The court concluded that, given the plain language of FIRREA, the plaintiffs could not evade FIRREA's mandatory exhaustion requirement simply by asserting claims against [the] defendants, as third-party purchasers of the failed bank's assets, for acts or omissions that relate to [the failed bank]. Id. The Sixth Circuit and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have also applied the jurisdictional bar to claims made against a successor in interest to the FDIC. Village of Oakwood v. State Bank and Trust Co., 539 F.3d 373, 386 (6th Cir.2008) (concluding that to allow claimants to circumvent the provisions of FIRREA's jurisdictional bar `by bringing claims against the assuming bank... would encourage the very litigation that FIRREA aimed to avoid' (alteration in original) (quoting Village of Oakwood v. State Bank and Trust Co., 519 F.Supp.2d 730, 738 (N.D.Ohio 2007))); American First Federal v. Lake Forest Park, 198 F.3d 1259, 1263 n. 3 (11th Cir.1999) (AFF, having purchased the note from the [receiver], stands in the shoes of the [receiver] and acquires its protected status under FIRREA. Thus, if Lake Forest is barred from asserting this claim against the [receiver], it is similarly barred from asserting it against AFF. (internal citations omitted)). We agree with the reasoning of these federal courts and similarly conclude that, with respect to claims relating to acts or omissions of the failed bank, a successor in interest is entitled to benefit from FIRREA's jurisdictional bar.