Affordable Communities of MO v. Federal Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, No. 15-1566 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseAffordable filed suit alleging breach of contract when Fannie Mae penalized Affordable for prepaying its loan after it was forced to sell its Jefferson Arms Apartments property to avoid condemnation. The district court found in favor of Fannie Mae. The court concluded that substantial evidence supports the district court's findings that the city's letter threatening condemnation did not cause the seller to sell Jefferson Arms because he had already intended to sell the property before receiving it. Moreover, the district court's findings were not based on an erroneous view of the law. In this case, the district court determined that the seller was not credible and the sequence of events leading to the sale of the property suggests that he did not actually fear condemnation and had requested the city letter merely to gain a tax advantage. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in determining that the voluntary payment doctrine prevents Affordable from recovering on its breach of contract claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Murphy, Author, with Smith and Benton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Contracts. For the court's prior opinion in the matter, see Affordable Communities of Mo. v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, et al., 714 F.3d. 1069 (8th Cir. 2013). The district court did not err in finding that the property in question was not sold in lieu of condemnation as the seller had already decided to sell the property before receiving a letter from the City of St. Louis threatening condemnation; further the evidence supported the court's finding that the seller had requested the letter merely to gain a tax advantage; district court properly determined that the voluntary payment doctrine precluded plaintiff from recovering on its breach of contract claim.
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