Donovan v. Farmers Home Administration

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs graze livestock on ranch property located in Bennett and Todd Counties, South Dakota. The ultimate question in this inter-pleader action is whether plaintiffs should pay grazing fees to the current owner of that property, appellant Anne E. Putnam, or to appellee Farmers Home Administration (“FmHA”), which claims a mortgage lien. The issue on appeal is whether FmHA’s junior mortgage lien survived a foreclosure sale and Putnam’s exercise of the owner’s right to redeem. Though the interests of a federal agency lender are at issue, South Dakota law governs. See 28…