WASHINGTON (CN) - An insurance company failed to show that the government took its property when it blocked the sale of insurance policies to a third-party buyer, the Federal Circuit ruled.
Acceptance Insurance Companies sued the Risk Management Agency for a Fifth Amendment takings violation.
Judge Wheeler granted RMA's motion to dismiss because Acceptance did not state an actionable claim for relief.
RMA director Ross Davidson voided the sale because it would be detrimental to taxpayers and farmers. Acceptance complained that Davidson's ruling rendered its insurance policies worthless.
Wheeler note that the property involved - the insurance policies - was not taken from Acceptance. In fact, the RMA ruling prevented Acceptance from selling the property.
"Moreover, when a plaintiff voluntarily enters into an area which is ... subject to pervasive government control," Wheeler wrote, "its enforceable rights sufficient to support a takings claim against the United States is extinguished."
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