Monroe Retail, Inc. v. RBS Citizens, N.A., No. 07-4263

In plaintiff-garnishors' suit against defendant-banks for conversion, alleging that the defendants unlawfully used garnished funds to satisfy service fees to the banks, district court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims is affirmed where: 1) the National Bank Act (NBA) does not preempt general state debt collection laws, including those regulating both banks' and others' rights to collect debts; 2) the plaintiffs' have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted as any interpretation is preempted by the NBA's grant of authority to the banks to collect fees without interference; and 3) although the issue of setoffs is not necessary to the holding, the district court's invocation of the doctrine of setoff is vacated because the doctrine is applicable only to debts.   

Read Monroe Retail, Inc. v. RBS Citizens, N.A., No. 07-4263

Appellate Information

Argued: September 19, 2008

Decided and Filed: December 14, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Gibbons

Counsel

For Appellant:   William H. Bode, Bode & Grenier, LLP

For Appellee:    Kerin Lyn Kaminski, Giffen & Kaminski