Francis v. Fed. Hous. Fin. Agency, No. 14-1628, 2015 WL 5776095 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2015) (Jackson, J.)

Francis v. Fed. Hous. Fin. Agency, No. 14-1628, 2015 WL 5776095 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2015) (Jackson, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiffs' mortgage

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Procedural Requirements, Agency Records:  The court holds that "[u]nder well-established law, Fannie Mae’s records are not records of FHFA for FOIA purposes, and therefore FHFA was not obligated to search those records for the documents that Plaintiffs requested."  The court explains that "there is no genuine dispute regarding whether FHFA personnel have ever read or relied on Fannie Mae’s documents, nor have Fannie Mae’s records been integrated into FHFA’s files."

• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  "[The] Court finds that FHFA has established that it conducted a reasonable and adequate search of its own files for responsive records."  The court relates that "upon receipt of Plaintiffs’ FOIA request, a FOIA officer within the FHFA 'searched the agency’s Information Management System. . . for files relating to the requestors and their loan' but that officer did not locate any responsive documents," and that "the agency contacted one of the electronic discovery vendors that FHFA relies upon to maintain the electronic files the agency has collected in litigation unrelated to this case and requested that the vendor conduct a search for any responsive documents that might have been stored among the agency’s electronic files."