Bhatti v. Federal Housing Finance Agency, No. 18-2506 (8th Cir. 2021)
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In 2009, the original Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director resigned. President Obama replaced him with Acting Director DeMarco, under 12 U.S.C. 4512(f). The President's nomination of a new director stalled. During DeMarco’s 52 months as Acting Director, the FHFA and Treasury Department entered into a third amendment to the agreement governing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders. DeMarco signed the amendment for the FHFA, as conservator for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The district court dismissed a suit by shareholders, alleging that the amendment would collapse the value of their holdings.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed in part, citing the Supreme Court’s 2021 "Collins" decision. The shareholders have standing to seek retrospective, but not prospective, relief. The de facto officer doctrine bars any Appointment Clause relief. Although the doctrine might not apply to an initially defective appointment, there was no such defect. Even if the Acting Director overstayed some implied limit, any defect was resolved when subsequent FHFA directors ratified the third amendment.
The court rejected an argument that Congress unlawfully delegated authority to the FHFA under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, 12 U.S.C. 4617 The delegation directs the FHFA to act as a “conservator,” with clear and recognizable instructions.
The FHFA leadership structure impermissibly limits the President’s removal authority, violating the separation of powers but the Acting Director was removable at will, defeating any argument for setting aside the third amendment entirely. All the officers who headed the FHFA were properly appointed. The court remanded to determine whether the unconstitutional removal restriction caused compensable harm to shareholders.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Gruender, Circuit Judge] Civil case. In this action three shareholders of Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation challenge the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Agency overseeing those two organizations, alleging the Agency's leadership structure and appointments violate the Appointments Clause, the separation of powers, and the nondelegation doctrine. Under Collins v. Yellens, 141 S.Ct. 1761 (2021) the district court erred in dismissing the suit for lack of standing; plaintiffs' claim that the appointment of the Acting Director of the Agency was invalid and that extension of his term was unreasonable rejected under the de facto officer doctrine; consistent with Collins, this court reverses the dismissal of plaintiffs' separation-of-powers claim and remands the case to the district court to determine if the shareholders suffered compensable harm and are entitled to retrospective relief; the dismissal of plaintiffs' nondelegation claim is affirmed.
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