Bailey, D. v. Elder, G.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 9, 2015
Docket79 MDA 2015
StatusUnpublished

This text of Bailey, D. v. Elder, G. (Bailey, D. v. Elder, G.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bailey, D. v. Elder, G., (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

J-A22018-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

DAVID C. BAILEY IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

GEORGE A. ELDER, ET AL

APPEAL OF: HOYT ROYALTY, LLC

Appellant No. 79 MDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Entered December 10, 2014 in the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Civil Division at No(s): CV-2008-002327-QT

BEFORE: BOWES, J., JENKINS, J., and PLATT, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY JENKINS, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 09, 2015

Appellant Hoyt Royalty, LLC (“Hoyt Royalty” or “Hoyt”, or collectively

with the other defendants/appellants1 “the Hoyts”) appeals the December

10, 2014 order of the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas granting

Appellees David C. Bailey, individually, and David C. Bailey and Cecelia

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. 1 Hoyt Royalty is the defendant in the underlying action, together with George A. Elder, William Hoyt, Mary Hoyt, Mark Hoyt, Anna Hoyt, Edward Hoyt, Cordelia Ida Hoyt, Theodore Hoyt, George Hoyt, Elk Tanning Company, and Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company. J-A22018-15

Bailey as trustees of the David C. Bailey Trusts (collectively, “Appellees” or

“the Baileys”) summary judgment in their quiet title action. We affirm.2

This matter concerns the subsurface mineral rights to a 168-acre tract

of land in Lycoming County (“the Property”). In 1893, rights to the

Property’s subsurface gas and oil were severed from the surface estate by

means of the Hoyt/Elk Tanning Deed, which was duly recorded in the office

of the Lycoming County Recorder of Deeds.3 Following this 1893 severance,

the Hoyts maintained the oil and gas rights (“the subsurface estate or rights”

or “the oil and gas estate or rights”). The reservation of subsurface rights

appeared in subsequent deeds preceding 1910. However, the Hoyts did not

file a proof of the reservation or otherwise alert the county commissioners or

the board of taxation of the reservation.

2 We note that, in addition to briefs from Hoyt Royalty and the Baileys, this Court received, reviewed, and considered briefs from Appellees International Development Corporation and Andarko E&P Onshore LLC, f/k/a Andarko E&P Company LP, as well as an amicus curiae brief from SWN Production Company, LLC. We further note that Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC, Statoil USA Onshore Properties, Bonnell Run Hunting & Fishing Corporation, and Mitsui E&P USA LLC elected not to file formal appellate briefs in this matter. 3 Over the years, the Property has been granted and conveyed by recorded deed multiple times, most recently on April 13, 2012 to David C. Bailey, Sr. and Cecelia J. Bailey, Trustees of the David C. Bailey, Sr. Trust, plaintiffs in the underlying matter.

-2- J-A22018-15

In 1910, the Property was sold at a tax sale, and there was no attempt

by any party to redeem the Property following the tax sale. The Baileys

subsequently purchased the Property in 2001.

On October 7, 2008, David Bailey filed an action to quiet title of the

Property in an effort to seek a judicial determination of the ownership status

of the Property’s previously severed oil and gas estate. Bailey obtained a

default judgment by way of praecipe on January 21, 2009.

Over 4 years later, Hoyt Royalty filed a petition to strike and/or open

the default judgment. The trial court granted Hoyt’s petition and entered an

order opening Bailey’s default judgment on May 30, 2013.

In the Second Amended Complaint,4 filed July 19, 2013, the Baileys

alleged fee simple ownership of the Property’s previously-severed oil and gas

estate by abandonment (Count I), cleansing by a tax sale that occurred in

1910 (Count II),5 and cleansing by a tax sale that occurred in 1940 (Count ____________________________________________

4 The Second Amended Complaint identified David C. Bailey and David C. Bailey and Cecelia Bailey, trustees of the David C. Bailey Trust, as plaintiffs, and Anadarko E&P Co., LP, Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC, Mitsui E&P USA, LLC, and Statoil USA Onshore Properties, Inc. as involuntary plaintiffs. Hoyt Royalty’s December 21, 2013 Complaint to Join Additional Defendants joined International Development Corporation and Bonnell Run Hunting and Fishing Corp. as additional defendants. 5 Specifically, Count II alleged that (1) the Property was sold at a June 10, 1910 tax sale, (2) there was no separate assessment of the subsurface taxes at the time of the sale, (3) the owner of the subsurface estate failed to notify the tax Commissioner of the prior severance of the subsurface estate at any time prior to the tax sale, (4) the taxes assessed at the tax sale represented the assessed value of the entire unseated estate, and (5) (Footnote Continued Next Page)

-3- J-A22018-15

III). The Baileys further alleged Hoyt lacked standing to challenge their title

because it cannot establish itself as a successor to the title of the subsurface

estate (Count IV). Hoyt filed an answer alleging that it was the owner of the

Property’s subsurface estate.6

On September 9, 2014, the Baileys filed a motion for summary

judgment that alleged the Hoyts were divested of their subsurface rights

following the Property’s 1910 tax sale because the Hoyts failed to report the

oil and gas estate to the county commissioners or tax authorities as required

by the Act of 1806. The Hoyts filed responses to the motion for summary

judgment that alleged that (1) the Property’s oil and gas estate was never

assessed for or subject to taxation, (2) the Hoyts were not required to report

their interest in the severed subsurface estate to the county commissioners

for the purpose of tax assessment, and (3) the tax sale did not comply with

notice and due process requirements.

On November 26, 2014, involuntary plaintiff Anadarko E&P Company,

LP (“Anadarko”) filed a motion to strike Hoyt’s second supplemental

response to the motion for summary judgment because, Anadarko claimed,

the supplemental response raised issues not previously raised in the

_______________________ (Footnote Continued)

neither the surface nor the subsurface estates were redeemed following the 1910 tax sale. 6 The Baileys claim Hoyt Royalty’s Answer admitted or failed to deny the material allegations of the Complaint.

-4- J-A22018-15

pleadings. The Baileys joined the motion to strike. On December 8, 2014,

the trial court granted Anadarko’s motion to strike Hoyt’s second

supplemental response.

On December 10, 2014, the trial court granted the Baileys’ motion for

summary judgment, declaring them owners of the Property’s subsurface

estate as well as the surface estate. This appeal followed.

Appellant Hoyt Royalty raises the following three (3) claims for review:

1. Whether the trial court erred when it applied summary judgment standards to the [Baileys’] motion, which in reality, was a motion for judgment on the pleadings that was governed by Pa.R.C.P. 1034?

2. Whether the trial court erred in granting judgment in favor of the Baileys and concluding that Hoyt Royalty and its predecessors-in-interest were divested of their duly recorded, nontaxable oil and gas estate even though disputed issues of fact and law exist as to whether further notice of the Hoyts’ recorded severance was required to be given under the Act of 1806 and whether notice of the 1910 tax assessment and sale was statutorily proper or in violation of the Hoyts’ federal and state due process rights?

3.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Metcalf v. Pesock
885 A.2d 539 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Marks v. Nationwide Insurance Co.
762 A.2d 1098 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Kuney v. Benjamin Franklin Clinic
751 A.2d 662 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Sisson, D. & M. v. Stanley, J.
109 A.3d 265 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015)
Wilson v. A. Cook Sons Co.
148 A. 63 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1929)
Commonwealth v. Beck
78 A.3d 656 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Shamis v. James Moon C/O Geppert Brothers, Inc.
81 A.3d 962 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Hill v. Ofalt
85 A.3d 540 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Herder Spring Hunting Club v. Keller
93 A.3d 465 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Rockwell v. Warren County
77 A. 665 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1910)
Bannard v. New York State Natural Gas Corp.
293 A.2d 41 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Bailey, D. v. Elder, G., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bailey-d-v-elder-g-pasuperct-2015.