Ninth Circuit: Fannie and Freddie Are Not Government Agents for FCA Purposes

Freddie Mac Fannie Mae Mortgage Servicing False Claims Act / FIRREA

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court of Nevada’s ruling that, for the purposes of the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C § 3729(b)(2)(A)(i), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not instrumentalities or officers, employees, or agents of the federal government. U.S. ex rel. Adams v. Aurora Loan Servs., Inc., No. 14-15031 (9th Cir. Feb. 22, 2016). In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that several lenders and loan servicers (collectively, defendants) made certain false certifications to Fannie and Freddie in connection with the purchase and sale of loans. Plaintiffs argued that the False Claims Act applies to claims made to Fannie and Freddie because they are agencies or instrumentalities of the federal government under one of the two definitions of a “claim” in the Act. The Ninth Circuit held that Fannie and Freddie are not federal instrumentalities for FCA purposes of the first definition of a “claim,” notwithstanding the government’s conservatorship. Likewise, the court confirmed that because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are private companies, albeit subject to the government’s conservatorship, claims made to the companies were not made to an officer, employee or agent of the federal government. The court observed that plaintiffs did not make an argument under the second definition of claim under the FCA, which defines a claim as a request or demand made upon non-government third parties under certain conditions, and therefore expressed no opinion on whether such a claim could have been brought.