SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. M&T Bank, et al.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy and securitize residential mortgages. In 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA or Agency) put Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. A federal statute provides that “[n]o property of the [FHFA] shall be subject to levy, attachment, garnishment, foreclosure, or sale without the consent of the Agency.” 12 U.S.C. § 4617(j)(3). Because Fannie and Freddie regularly fail to record their interest in a property, many properties are foreclosed upon in potential violation of this provision. FHFA has therefore frequently filed quiet title actions asserting that Fannie or Freddie’s mortgages were not extinguished by a foreclosure sale. As relevant here, 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(12) provides that the “applicable statute of limitations with regard to any Agency as conservator shall be” six years “in the case of a contract claim” and three years “in the case of any tort claim.” In these cases, the Ninth Circuit held that even though there is no contract between petitioners and the FHFA, the actions were governed by the longer, six-year limitations period for contract claims. The questions presented are

1. Whether the FHFA’s structure violates separation of powers and, if so, whether its conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must be set aside.

2. Whether quiet title actions by FHFA, asserting that a state law foreclosure failed to extinguish the agency’s property interests, are contract claims for purposes of 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(12).