GECCMC 2005-C1 Plummer Street Office Ltd. Partnership v. JPMorgan Chase Bank

This case arises from a landlord-tenant dispute in the wake of the Washington Mutual Bank (“WaMu” or the “Failed Bank”) failure in September 2008. Appellant GECCMC (“GE”) alleges that JP Morgan Chase Bank (“Chase”) failed to pay rent on two properties under lease agreements that Chase assumed after it purchased WaMu’s assets and liabilities from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) pursuant to the terms of a written Purchase & Assumption Agreement (the “P & A Agreement” or “Agreement”). GE filed suit against Chase in the Central District of California alleging breach of the lease agreements. The district court granted Chase’s motion to dismiss GE’s complaint on the grounds that GE lacked standing to enforce or interpret the terms of the P & A Agreement. GE appealed. We granted the FDIC’s motion to intervene as defendantappellee. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On September 25, 2008, in the largest bank failure in United States history, WaMu closed as a “failed bank” and entered receivership under the direction of the FDIC. Exercising powers granted by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act…