Bulletin: SLS2023015

Dear Associates:

On July 20, 2023, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in the matter of Show Me. State Premium Homes, LLC v. McDonnell, 74 F. 4th 911; 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 18406 (8th Cir. July 20, 2023). Show Me was the successor owner of property under a county deed after a tax sale under Missouri law. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development had two deeds of trust (home equity loans) on the property. Show Me brought suit in Missouri state court and had requested various kinds of relief against the United States, including for ejectment (an action to recover possession of the property). The U.S. removed the case to the federal district court in Missouri, and then brought a motion to dismiss the action. The federal district court declined to exercise jurisdiction against the U.S. on sovereign immunity grounds and remanded the matter back to state court to address state law claims against various other defendants. Show Me appealed to the Eighth Circuit. In the opinion by the Eighth Circuit, the court modified the Show Me dismissal to be one without prejudice and refused its request to order a judicial sale, as Show Me was already the fee simple property owner after the tax sale and county deed. The court also refused to address a claim to quiet title raised by Show Me for the first time at oral argument [Footnote 3].

Stewart will monitor for further developments in this case and related matters. 

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