United States Sixth Circuit

In plaintiff-garnishors' suit against defendant-banks for conversion alleging that defendants unlawfully used garnished funds to satisfy service fees to the banks, dismissal of 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) however, plaintiffs' specific conversion claim pursuant to the Ohio garnishment statute is nevertheless preempted by the NBA's grant of authority to banks to charge and collect fees; 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.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/14/2009
• Published 12/14/2009

Judges

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel