Usda
Cox v. United States Department of Agriculture
Opinion
Opinion
ORDER
Defendant-Appellant U.S. Department of Agriculture’s request for publication, filed July 20, 2015, is GRANTED. The memorandum disposition filed July 13, 2015, is revised and redesignated a per curiam opinion.
OPINION
Plaintiffs-Appellees Larry and Renee Cox defaulted on a rural housing loan granted by Defendant-Appellee U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). When USDA initiated foreclosure proceedings, the Coxes elected to participate in Nevada’s Foreclosure Mediation Program. The mediator found that USDA did not participate in mediation in good faith, chiefly because USDA regulations prevented the agency from entertaining the loan modifications that the Coxes requested. The Coxes petitioned in state court for an order modifying their loan.
USDA then removed the Coxes’ petition to federal court, but the district court remanded the petition back to state court. Because the district court should have instead dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction, we now reverse the district court’s order remanding the petition to state court.
This dispute arose when the Coxes defaulted on an almost $45,000 home loan from the USDA. After default, USDA accelerated the loan and…