Bilbe v. Foster

176 So. 3d 542, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0302, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1711, 2015 WL 5274069
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 9, 2015
DocketNo. 2015-CA-0302
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 176 So. 3d 542 (Bilbe v. Foster) 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
Bilbe v. Foster, 176 So. 3d 542, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0302, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1711, 2015 WL 5274069 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

SANDRA CABRINA JENKINS, Judge.

|T This matter arises from a civil rights lawsuit filed by Kathleen Bilbe, plaintiff, against defendant, Norman Foster, Director of Finance for the City of New Orleans. Plaintiff asserts that defendant acted outside the scope of his duties in an arbitrary, negligent, or capricious manner and seeks monetary damages as compensation and/or reimbursement for depriving plaintiff of her constitutional rights. After cross motions for summary judgment were filed, the trial court- granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and denied plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, the trial court denied plaintiffs motion for new trial. For the following reasons, we affirm -the trial court’s judgments on the motions for summary judgment and motion for new trial.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff, Kathleen Bilbe, owns immovable property located at 1722 Lark Street in New Orleans, Louisiana (“the Property”) that is subject to ad valorem taxes. Ms. Bilbe purchased the Property in June 2006. Although Ms. Bilbe disputed the amount of ad valorem taxes owed on the Property for the year of 2007, she failed to pay any amount and the taxes proceeded to accumulate interest, penalties, and costs.

LA 2010 .tax bill for- the Property was mailed to Ms. Bilbe in December -2009. The 2010 bill contained $3,578.89 in real estate taxes for the year of 2010, $800.00 in neighborhood fees for the year of. 2010, and $4,545.85 in unpaid taxes from 2007. In February 2010, Ms. Bilbe made a partial payment of $2,500.00 towards the 2007 unpaid taxes, which decreased her tax liar bility to $5,924.74 ($2,045.85 for the remaining 2007 taxes and $8,878.89 for the 2010 taxes and fees). No payments were made towards the 2010 taxes.

In July 2011, Ms. Bilbe received notice indicating that the Property was eligible to be included in the upcoming tax sale because of her delinquent taxes. Ms. Bilbe then paid the total outstanding taxes on July 29, 2011, and the Property never proceeded to, nor was it included in, a tax sale. Neither Ms. Bilbe’s partial payment of her 2007 taxes in February 2010 nor her payment of the total outstanding taxes in July 2011 was made under protest. See La. R.S. 47:2134.

Thereafter, Ms. Bilbe filed the instant lawsuit on July 28, 2012, alleging a civil rights violation against Norman Foster, Director of Finance for the City of New Orleans. Mr. Foster filed exceptions of no cause of action, no right of action, and prescription, which were all overruled. In January 2013, Ms. Bilbe sought to amend her petition to request a juiy trial. The trial court denied the request, which was then upheld by this Court1 and the Louisi[545]*545ana Supreme Court.2 In March 2014, Ms. Bilbe again attempted to amend her petition, this time to clarify; the type of damages prayed for in the original" petition, but this request was denied on June 30, 2014.

| aCross motions for summary judgment were then filed and heard together on September 5, 2014. After hearing arguments from both parties, the trial court rendered judgment on September 22, 2014, granting Mr. Foster’s motion for summary judgment and denying Ms. Bilbe’s motion for summary judgment. On October 3, 2014, Ms. Bilbe filed a motion for new trial. The motion was heard on November 14, 2014, and denied on December 1, 2014. It is from these judgments that Ms. Bilbe now appeals. . ,

LAW AND ANALYSIS

On appeal, Ms. Bilbe asserts fourteen assignments of error for this Court to review; however, we will address the assignments as three separate issues regarding the trial court’s ruling: (1) denying Ms. Bilbe’s second motion to amend the petition; (2) granting Mr. Foster’s motion for summary judgment3 and denying Ms. Bilbe’s motion for summary judgment; and (3) denying Ms. Bilbe’s motion for new trial.

Second Motion to Amend Petition

On March 10, 2014, Ms. Bilbe filed a second motion to amend the petition attempting to add the particular sections of the Constitution that were allegedly violated, to name Mr. Foster in his official capacity, and to clarify the damages that were originally requested. Mr. Foster filed an opposition to said motion bn April 17, 2014. On June 30, 2014, after a hearing, the trial court denied Ms. Bilbe’s second motion to amend, which Ms. Bilbe argues was error. However, Mr. Foster contends this assignment of error is not properly before this Court because Ms. Bilbe did not timely file an appeal on this ruling.

l/The trial court’s refusal to allow plaintiff to amend her petition is an interlocutory judgment, which is not immediately appealable. La. C.C.P. arts. 1841, 2083. Nevertheless, when an appealable judgment is rendered, the reviewing court can then consider the correctness of the prior interlocutory judgment. Favrot v. Favrot, 10-0986, p. 2, n. 1 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/9/11), 68 So.3d 1099, 1102 (citations omitted). Thus, contrary to Mr. Foster’s contention, because Ms. Bilbe appealed the trial court’s rulings on the motions for summary judgment, which is a final and appealable judgment, it is appropriate for this Court to review the correctness of the trial court’s denial of Ms. Bilbe’s second motion to amend the petition. Phillips v. Gibbs, 10-0175, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/21/10), 39 So.3d 795, 798 (citing People of Living God v. Chantilly Corp., 251 La. 943, 207 So.2d 752, 753 (1968)).

According to La. C.C.P. art. 1151, “[a] plaintiff may amend his petition without leave of court at any time before the answer thereto is served.” After the answer is served, the petition “may be amended only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party.” La. C.C.P. art. 1151. The decision to deny an amendment under La. C.C.P. art. 1151 is within the sound discretion of the trial court and that decision will not be disturbed-on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. Salt Domes, Inc. v. Villere Food Group, Inc., 03-0185, pp. 5-6 (La.App. 4 Cir. 9/24/03), 857 So.2d 1110, 1114 (citing Glover v. Shiflett Transport Services, Inc. [546]*546et al., 97-2787, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/6/98), 718 So.2d 436, 438).

Ms. Bilbe asserts the trial court erred in denying her second motion to amend the petition because it was only filed one and one-half years after the original petition, it clarified that the case was a civil rights violation, not a tax case as Mr. Foster alleges, and it did not change the posture or nature of the case. Under the facts of this case, these allegations fall short of proving that the trial court 1 ¿abused its discretion in denying the motion. Therefore, this assignment of error lacks merit and we will not disturb the trial court’s ruling denying Ms. Bilbe’s second motion to amend the petition.

Motions for Summary Judgment

Mr. Foster’s motion for summary judgment asserts that Ms. Bilbe will not be able to carry her burden of proof at trial because there are no facts or evidence to contradict that he complied with his duties as tax collector and that he satisfied due process requirements. On the other hand, Ms. Bilbe’s motion for summary judgment alleges that the July 2011 notice of tax sale (“the 2011 Notice”) included untimely taxes from 2007 and thus, Mr. Foster is liable under 42 U.S.C.A. 1983 because he arbitrarily and capriciously abused the tax sale process after the tax privilege expired.

On appeal, our review of summary judgment is de novo,

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176 So. 3d 542, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0302, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1711, 2015 WL 5274069, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bilbe-v-foster-lactapp-2015.