Court Opinion

ID: 9454882
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:02:46.487343+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:21.730964
License: Public Domain

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
Section 94 of Title 12, U.S.C., precludes a party from bringing an action against a national bank in any federal court except within the district where the bank is established. However, in Casey v. Adams, 102 U.S. 66, 26 L.Ed. 52 (1880), the Supreme Court fashioned an exception to this general provision for “local” actions. This exception was not created, however, for the purpose of undermining an explicit congressional mandate with the vagaries of state property law. Rather, as a practical matter, if the relief sought were such that only a court with jurisdiction over the res could grant it, and if Section 94 placed venue elsewhere, no federal court would be able to adjudicate an in rem claim against a national bank. Bruns, Nordeman & Co. v. American National Bank & Trust Co., 2 Cir., 1968, 394 F.2d 300, 304 (Friendly, J.). The considerations which underlay Casey v. Adams, supra, are not present here. Appellee seeks only to alter the nature of his contractual relationship with appellant, and not to alter the nature of the cloud on its title. Obviously, the relief sought involves real property, and, indeed, ultimately it will affect real property, but this is not the test for determining whether the action is local or transitory. The relief sought is not in rem, it is not in the property itself, and hence a federal court in New York, where the bank is established, could grant appellee relief without having jurisdiction over the res. Michigan National Bank v. Robertson, 372 U.S. 591, 83 S.Ct. 914, 9 L.Ed.2d 961 (1963). See generally 1 Moore, Federal Practice 0.142[2-1], pp. 1455, 1456 (2 ed. 1964). Under these circumstances, I would hold that this action is transitory and governed by Section 94.
The Louisiana Civil Code of 1870 makes it clear that a mortgage is an “accessorial right” to the loan note which is the primary evidence of indebtedness. Louisiana Civil Code Articles 1771, 3284, 3285. Thus an action to reform the terms of the underlying debt is a personal action and not one to place or remove an encumbrance on the real property itself. Cf. West v. Lehmer, 115 La. 213, 38 So. 969 (1905).1
I would reverse the judgment of the lower court.

. I entertain some doubt as to the propriety of applying state rather than federal law to the issue of whether an action of this kind against a national bank is transitory or local. 1 Moore, Federal Practice If 0.142 [2.-1], p. 1462 (2 ed. 1964). See also Pasos v. Pan American Airways, 2 Cir., 1956, 229 F.2d 271.