United States v. Summerlin
Decision Date | 27 May 1940 |
Docket Number | No. 715,715 |
Parties | UNITED STATES v. SUMMERLIN |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Robert H. Jackson, Atty. Gen., and Mr. Frederick Bernays Wiener, of Washington, D.C., for petitioner.
Mr. Asbury Summerlin, of Winter Haven, Fla., for respondent.
By a series of transactions, which it is unnecessary to review, the Federal Housing Administrator, acting on behalf of the United States, became the assignee of a claim against the estate of one J. F. Andrew, deceased. Respondent was appointed ancillary administratrix of that estate by the County Judge of Polk County, Florida. Respondent, on August 13, 1937, gave notice by publication to the creditors of the estate to file proof of their claims within eight months as required by the state statute.
The United States filed its claim in the office of the County Judge on July 1, 1938, with a petition asking that the claim be allowed with the priority accorded by the federal statutes (31 U.S.C. §§ 191, 192, 31 U.S.C.A. §§ 191, 192) and also asserting that the state statute as to the time for filing claims did not apply to claims of the United States. The County Judge denied the petition, holding that the state statute was applicable and further adjudging that the claim of the United States be 'disallowed as a claim against the estate' of the decedent.
The United States appealed to the Circuit Court for Polk County, where the order of the County Judge was in all respects affirmed. The judgment explicitly declared the claim of the United States to be 'void', because not filed within the time prescribed, An appeal to the Supreme Court of Florida resulted in affirmance of the judgment of the Circuit Court. 191 So. 842. We granted certiorari because of the importance of the question. March 25, 1940. 309 U.S. 647, 60 S.Ct. 714, 84 L.Ed. —-.
The statute of Florida (Section 5541(92), Compiled General Laws of 1927) provides:
The claim assigned to the Federal Housing Administrator acting on behalf of the United States became the claim of the United States, and the United States thereupon became entitled to enforce it. Act of June 27, 1934, 48 Stat. 1246, 12 U.S.C.A. § 1701 et seq. Compare Graves v. New York ex rel. O'Keefe, 306 U.S. 466, 477, 59 S.Ct. 595, 596, 83 L.Ed. 927, 120 A.L.R. 1466; Pittman v. Home Owners' Loan Corporation, 308 U.S. 21, 32, 33, 60 S.Ct. 15, 17, 18, 84 L.Ed. 11, 124 A.L.R. 1263.
It is well settled that the United States is not bound by state statutes of limitation or subject to the defense of laches in enforcing its rights. United States v. Thompson, 98 U.S. 486, 25 L.Ed. 194; United States v. Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis R. Co., 118 U.S. 120, 125, 126, 6 S.Ct. 1006, 1008, 30 L.Ed. 81; Stanley v. Schwalby, 147 U.S. 508, 514, 515, 13 S.Ct. 418, 420, 421, 37 L.Ed. 259; Guaranty Trust Company v. United States, 301 U.S. 126, 132, 58 S.Ct. 785, 788, 82 L.Ed. 1224; Board of County Commissioners v. United States, 308 U.S. 343, 351, 60 S.Ct. 285, 288, 84 L.Ed. 313. The same rule applies whether the United States brings its suit in its own courts or in a state court. Davis, Director General of Railroads v. Corona Coal Co., 265 U.S. 219, 222, 223, 44 S.Ct. 552, 553, 68 L.Ed. 987.
We are of the opinion that the fact that the claim was acquired by the United States through operations under the National Housing Act does not take the case out of this rule. The state court treated the case as in the same category as one of 'statutes providing for conveyancing and marketing negotiable instruments, and conducting other business relations'. (191 So. 843.) But this is not a case relating to the application of the law merchant as to the transfer of negotiable paper and the diligence necessary to charge an endorser or as to the incurring by the United States of certain responsibilities by becoming a party to such paper. United States v. Barker, 12 Wheat. 559, 6 L.Ed. 728; Cooke v. United States, 91 U.S. 389, 396, 23 L.Ed. 237. Even as a holder of such paper as e.g. negotiable bonds, the...
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