Gen Financial Svc v. Thompson

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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m 00-31272
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GENERAL FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.,
Plaintiff-
Counter Claimant-
Appellant,
VERSUS
JIMMY C. THOMPSON, ET AL.,
Defendants,
NORTH AMERICAN CONSTRUCTORS, INC.,
Counter Defendant-
Appellee.
_________________________
NORTH AMERICAN CONSTRUCTORS, INC.,
Plaintiff-
Counter Defendant-
Appellee,
VERSUS
GENERAL FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.,
Defendant-
Counter Claimant-
Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Louisiana
(98-CV-416)
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June 4, 2001
Before SMITH, DUHÉ, and WIENER,
Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
General Financial Services, Inc.
(“General”), appeals a summary judgment
declaring two mortgages held by North
American Constructors, Inc. (“Constructors”)
superior to those assigned to General by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(“FDIC”). It is undisputed that General’s
mortgages were originally registered before
Constructors’s; in light, however, of the
FDIC’s failure timely to reinscribe the
mortgages under LA. CIV. CODE ANN. art.
3369,1 the court properly found that Louisiana
law effected a re-ranking of the mortgages.
See Alexander, 621 So. 2d at 31.
General argues that provisions of the
Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and
Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”),
codified in pertinent part at 12 U.S.C. §§
1821(d)(13)(C) and 1825(b),2 exempt the
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has
determined that this opinion should not be
published and is not precedent except under the
limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R.
47.5.4.
1 Article 3369 was repealed in 1992. Because
it was in force at the time General’s mortgages
were originally registered, however, it governs the
reinscription requirements. Sec. Nat’l Trust v. Al-
exander, 621 So. 2d 30, 31 (La. App. 2d Cir.),
writ denied, 629 So. 2d 30 (La. 1993).
2 Section 1821(d)(13)(C) states that, when the
FDIC is acting as receiver, “[n]o attachment or
execution may issue by any court upon assets in
the possession of the receiver”; § 1825(b) provides:
When acting as a receiver, the following
provisions shall apply with respect to the
Corporation:
(1) The Corporation including its
franchise, its capital, reserves, and
surplus, and its income, shall be
exempt from all taxation imposed by
any State, county, municipality, or
local taxing authority, except that any
real property of the Corporation shall
be subject to State, territorial, county,
municipal, or local taxation to the same
extent according to its value as other
real property is taxed, except that,
notwithstanding the failure of any
person to challenge an assessment
under State law of such property's
value, such value, and the tax thereon,
shall be determined as of the period for
which such tax is imposed.
(2) No property of the Corporation shall
be subject to levy, attachment,
(continued...)

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FDICSSand General, as its assigneeSSfrom
Louisiana’s reinscription requirements and
thus prohibit Louisiana from re-ranking the
mortgages. As this court recently stated,
however, § 1825(b) does not exempt the FDIC
from Louisiana’s reinscription requirements:
FIRREA does not preclude the
application of Louisiana reinscription
law to the FDIC’s property. Nothing in
FIRREA prevents Louisiana law from
recognizing either the FDIC's obligation
to reinscribe mortgages or the loss of
ranking suffered by the FDIC if it fails to
meet this obligation.
FDIC v. McFarland, 243 F.3d 876, 886 (5th
Cir. 2001). Moreover, even assuming § 1821-
(d)(13)(C) protects the FDIC from Louisiana’s
requirements, “no authority supports the pro-
position that section 1821(d)(13)(C) creates
assignable rights.” Id. at 887 n.42.
We find no basis for distinguishing McFar-
land. The judgment is AFFIRMED.
2(...continued)
garnishment, foreclosure, or
sale without the consent of the
Corporation, nor shall any
involuntary lien attach to the
property of the Corporation.
(3) The Corporation shall not be liable for
any amounts in the nature of penalties
or fines, including those arising from
the failure of any person to pay any
real property, personal property,
probate, or recording tax or any
recording or filing fees when due.

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