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<br />. <br /> <br />10 <br /> <br />that they did not comply with the notice requirements. Plaintiffs were <br />damaged by flooding. The court denied defendants' motion to dismiss, <br />holdin~ that a private cause of action ia implied. The judge applied <br />the four criteria of Cort v. Ash. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />First, the court held that all purchasers of homes in floodprone areas <br />are within the special class intended to be protected by the legislation. <br />Where Congress"haa established a right or duty, it is the most accurate <br />indication of the intention to create a private cause of action (citing <br />Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677, 690 (1979)). Further, <br />though the Federal Treasury is also a primary beneficiary (due to reducing <br />disaster relief payments), a private remedy can still be implied for home- <br />owners who are also primary beneficiaries. The homeowners need not be <br />the sole primary beneficiaries. <br /> <br />Second, the legislative history, though scant, does indicate that Congress <br />intended a private cause of action. While the flood statutes do provide <br />for other causes of action, and while this strongly suggests that Congress <br />did not intend to provide a cause of action to enforce analogous conduct, <br />the judicial relief provided for elsewhere in the flood statutes is un- <br />related to enforcement or to notice by lenders. Therefore, it cannot be <br />concluded that Congress intended no enforcement of the notice requirements. <br /> <br />Third, a private remedy is necessary to accomplish the purpose of the flood <br />legislation -- to reduce flood damage, personal hardship, and the cost of <br />disaster relief. Thus, the third factor in Cort v. Ash is satisfied. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Lastly, a cause of action based on the failure of a federally regulated <br />lender to comply with a Federal statute is not a traditional matter of <br />State law. <br /> <br />Therefore, defendants' motion to dismiss was denied. <br /> <br />The same result was reached in Hofbauer'v; Northwestern National Bank of <br />Rochester, Minnesota (D. Minn. 1981), where the court found thst the Jones <br />Amendment could be read as an extension of the truth in lending concept. <br />The same court found that the Jones Amendment did not apply to loans secured <br />by FHA if the mortgagee is not regulated by one of the identified Federal <br />instrumentalities (e.g., FDIC, FSLIC); Jacobsen v. Banco Mortgage Co. (1981) <br /> <br />. <br />