Adair Asset Management, LLC v. Turney

195 So. 3d 501, 2016 WL 2342353, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 869
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 4, 2016
DocketNo. 50,574-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 195 So. 3d 501 (Adair Asset Management, LLC v. Turney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adair Asset Management, LLC v. Turney, 195 So. 3d 501, 2016 WL 2342353, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 869 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

LOLLEY, J.

11 This appeal arises from the First Judicial District Court, Parish of Caddo, State of Louisiana. Adair Asset Management, [503]*503LLC, brought an- action to quiet title on property for which it held a tax sale certificate .acquired .during the 2010 City of Shreveport t&x sale.. The trial court ruled in favor of defendant, Michael Harris Tur-ney, finding the tax sale null and of no effect due to the City of Shreveport’s failure to provide proper presale notice. For the following reasons, we reverse the judgment of the trial court, vacate the award of reimbursement, and enter a judgment to quiet and confirm the title held by Adair Asset Management, LLC.

FACTS

The property in dispute is located within the City of Shreveport (the “City”) and has the municipal address of 1805 Line Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana 71101 (the “property”). Michael Harris Turney acquired the property in 2000 by credit sale deed which transferred ownership of the property from Warren and Mary Long to Turney.1 The deed was recorded in the Caddo Parish conveyance records on January 14, 2000. At the time he acquired the property, Turney was living at 733 Olive Street, Shreveport, Louisiana 71104, and listed that address as his mailing address of record on the deed.

Turney is the owner and director of a modeling agency and school, which he has operated out of the property siiice he acquired it in 2000. Turney testified that after acquiring the subject property, he also began using it as a residence, but retained 733 Olive Street as a rental property. _J¿Turney’s business requires him to travel extensively, but in his absence he has employees collect,his mail and maintain his home and business.

After the purchase of the property, Tur-ney signed a multiple indebtedness mortgage and security agreement for business and commercial purposes with AmSouth Bank d/b/a Regions Bank (“Regions Bank”). The’ mortgage was secured by the property, and recorded in the Caddo Parish conveyance records on January 17, 2007.2

' In 2007, Turney failed to pay the ad valorem taxes, and the property was sold to G.J. Tax, Sale Properties,' LLC (“G.J. Tax”) in the 2008 City tax sale. At that time, Turney was listed as the assessed owner of the property. The 2008 tax sale certificate in favor of G.J. Tax was recorded in the Caddo Parish conveyance records on June 27,2008.

In 2008, the taxes again went unpaid, and the property Was sold in the 2009 City tax sale to Cody Investments, LLC (“Cody Investments”). At that time, G.J. Tax was listed as the assessed owner of the property. The 2009 tax sale certificate in favor of Cody Investments was filed in the Cad-do Parish conveyance records on June 26, 2009. 1

In 2009, the taxes again went unpaid, and the property was sold in the 2010 City tax sale to Adair Asset Management, LLC (“Adair”). At that time, Husker Partners/ U.S. Bank (“Husker Partners”) and Cody Investments were listed as the assessed owners • of the property,3 The 2010 tax sale ^certificate in favor of Adair was filed [504]*504in the Caddo Parish conveyance records on July 2, 2010.4

At the time when the City mailed pre-sale notices for the 2010 City tax sale, the 2009 Caddo Parish tax roll listed Husker Partners and Cody Investments as the tax debtor, with a recorded address of 405 North 115th Street, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2507. The tax roll stated that Husker Partners had acquired an interest in the property during a 2008 tax sale, and that Cody Investments had acquired an interest in a 2008 City tax sale.

The City Finance Department/ Revenue Division mailed the following tax notices concerning the 2010 tax sale of the property:

• November 22, 2009: Original tax no- ■ tice mailed by regular mail;
• February 3, 2010: Second tax notice mailed by regular mail;
• March 4, 2010: Occupant letters with tax notice mailed by regular mail;
• April 5, 2010: Final immovable tax notices mailed by regular mail; and,
• June 21, 2010: Corporal letters mailed to property owners notifying them that their property was sold at tax sale and adjudicated with info expressing their rights and time to redeem. Also included all addresses and ownership updates from the Caddo Assessor’s Office since the tax roll was approved.

The original, second, and final notices were mailed to the assessed owner/tax debtor at the Omaha,, Nebraska, address per the 2009 Caddo | ¿Parish tax roll. The occupant letter was mailed to the property at 1805 Line Avenue.

In addition to the tax debtor and occupant notices mailed presale, public notice of the tax sale of the property was published in The Shreveport Times on both May 2 and May 30, 2010. The public notice listed Husker Partners and Cody Investments as the assessed owners of the property. On June 21, 2010, the City mailed post-sale notice to the assessed property owner, Cody Investments.

The key notice relied on by Adair in this appeal occurred on September 5, 2012, nine months prior to the expiration of the three-year period for redemption for the 2010 tax sale. Adair sent several notices at that time concerning the right to redeem the property to all interested tax sale parties, which included: .Turney, Am-South Bank d/b/a/ Regions Bank, Bank One, N.A. d/b/a Morgan Chase & Co., G.J. Tax, and Cody Investments. These notices informed interested parties of the July 2, 2013, deadline for the period of redemption concerning the property. Adair sent two separate notices addressed to Turney by certified mail: one to 733 Olive Street and the other to the property. The Olive Street letter was returned undeliverable, but all other letters were signed for and received by the respective parties. Specifically, the letter sent to the property at 1805 Line Avenue was signed, on September 7, 2012, by Lisa Cade, Turney’s employee. The July 2, 2013, deadline for redemption passed without any response from Turney.

|fiOn March 10, 2014, Adair filed a petition to quiet title, naming Turney, Regions Bank, Cody Investments, and G.J. Tax as defendants. Turney answered the petition and subsequently filed a reconventional demand to annul the 2010 tax sale pursuant to Mennonite Bd. of Missions v. Adams, 462 U.S. 791, 103 S.Ct. 2706, 77 L.Ed.2d 180 (1983); see La. R.S. 47:2266. None of [505]*505the other defendants answered the suit.5

A trial ensued, at which Adair called one witness, Sally Tausend, U.S. Assets title abstractor, who prepared the title abstract for the property to determine ownership and provide all interested parties with legal notice of the right to redeem the property. Tausend explained her thorough search of the public records for all mailing addresses and domiciles for the interested parties. The original abstract was prepared in August 2012, and revealed the multiple successive tax sales over the past years. Tausend testified that all notices were sent certified mail, return receipt requested,, and were prepared in the format recommended by La. R.S. 47:2156(B) (3).

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Bluebook (online)
195 So. 3d 501, 2016 WL 2342353, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adair-asset-management-llc-v-turney-lactapp-2016.