Israel v. United States Department of Agriculture

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

In 1989, plaintiffs restructured an existing loan with the Farm Service Agency (“FSA”) 1 and signed a ten-year agreement as part of that restructuring. The agreement required plaintiffs to pay the FSA a percentage of appreciation that accrued to their property if certain triggering events transpired (“recapture”). In 1999, the FSA determined that expiration of the agreement was one of the triggering events and sought recapture. Plaintiffs sought administrative review of the FSA’s determination and argued that only three events triggered recapture: full payment on the…