Burns v. Harris

957 So. 2d 921, 2007 WL 1488243
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 23, 2007
Docket41,881-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 957 So. 2d 921 (Burns v. Harris) 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
Burns v. Harris, 957 So. 2d 921, 2007 WL 1488243 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

957 So.2d 921 (2007)

William B. BURNS, Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
Frances Gunter HARRIS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 41,881-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 23, 2007.

*922 G. Warren Thornell, Scott C. Sinclair, Shreveport, for Appellant.

Lemle & Kelleher, by David R. Taggart, Sarah A. Kirkpatrick, Shreveport, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, WILLIAMS, STEWART, GASKINS and MOORE, JJ.

STEWART, J.

William B. Burns appeals a judgment allowing Jill Harris Raburn to complete redemption of property sold at a tax sale in 1993. At issue is whether redemption was timely begun in 1996 by Raburn's father, John D. Harris, on behalf of his wife, Francis Gunter Harris, who was the owner of the property prior to the tax sale. Finding that redemption was neither timely nor properly initiated and that Ms. Raburn should not be allowed to complete redemption at this late date, we reverse the trial court's judgment allowing redemption, vacate the awards for reimbursements and rents, and render the judgment set forth in the Appendix to this opinion to quiet and confirm Mr. Burns' tax sale title.

FACTS

The property in dispute is a tract of land located at 2804 Marty Lane in Shreveport, Louisiana.[1] Mrs. Francis Gunter Harris *923 owned the tract as her separate property, but her husband, Mr. John D. Harris, managed the Marty Lane property along with other property the couple owned. Mr. Harris had retired from his job as a fire captain in the mid-1970's after an illness left him with health problems, including significant hearing loss. Thereafter, Mr. Harris became involved in the real estate business. The Marty Lane tract was located next to the Harrises' home and was used as a rental property.

Property taxes on Marty Lane due to the City of Shreveport (the "City") for 1992 totaled $696.17. When the Harrises failed to pay the amount due, the City sold the property at a tax sale on June 9,1993, for $774.95. The purchaser was Providence Trust. The tax sale deed was dated June 16, 1993, and filed on June 29, 1993. The tax sale deed was eventually conveyed or assigned to Lincoln Trust and then to Mr. William B. Burns. As stipulated by the parties, Mr. Burns is the successor-in-title to the Marty Lane tax sale deed and the proper party in these proceedings. Burns had self-directed retirement accounts with Providence and its successor, Lincoln, through which he acquired and held the Marty Lane property.

On August 9, 1999, Mr. Burns filed suit against Mrs. Harris to quiet his tax title and obtain possession of Marty Lane. He obtained a default judgment on October 18, 1999. In response to the order to seize the property, the sheriff of Caddo Parish filed a motion to intervene seeking a new trial partly on the grounds that Burns was not the purchaser named on the tax deed. Thereafter, on April 18, 2000, Mrs. Harris filed a petition to annul the default judgment and an answer opposing Mr. Burns' suit to quiet his tax title. The trial court granted a new trial and recalled the writ of seizure previously ordered with Burns' default judgment.

Because Mrs. Harris's mental competency was impaired by a brain tumor and then a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, her daughter, Jill Harris Raburn, was substituted as plaintiff in the suit to annul the tax sale upon her appointment as Mrs. Harris's provisional curatrix. Following Mrs. Harris's death, Raburn was substituted as plaintiff in her capacity as administratrix. Mr. Harris also died while this litigation was underway.

On November 18, 2002, Ms. Raburn amended the petition to annul the tax sale. She alleged that the June 1993 tax sale was null, because no taxes were owed at the time of the sale. Due to erroneous assessments over the years, Mr. Harris had overpaid the taxes, and this had resulted in a credit greater than the amount due for the 1992 property taxes. Raburn also alleged that her father, Mr. Harris, had timely redeemed Marty Lane by payment of a cashier's check in the amount of $3,135.65 to the City of Shreveport on March 28, 1996, but that the City had failed to issue the redemption deed. Raburn also sought damages for loss of rent from the property.

In answer, Mr. Burns denied that Mr. Harris had redeemed the property as alleged by Raburn. Moreover, he filed a reconventional demand seeking all rents attributable to the Marty Lane property from the time of the 1993 filing date of the tax sale deed. Burns again filed a motion seeking a writ of possession, and this was granted on April 14, 2003, subject to the parties' reservation of rights.

The parties agreed to split the trial into two phases. The first phase addressed the nullity and redemption issues. A partial *924 judgment rendered January 4, 2005, denied Raburn's petition to annul the tax sale, but concluded that redemption had been timely initiated by Mr. Harris. The trial court found that Mr. Harris had tried to redeem the property to the best of his ability considering his physical ailments.

The second phase of the trial was to determine the redemption amounts and rents due Mr. Burns. In lieu of trial, the parties submitted a joint stipulation with exhibits and briefs. The trial court signed a written opinion on February 28, 2006, awarding Burns reimbursement of $72,526.50 for parish and city property taxes paid by him plus penalties and interests, $13,208.54 for repairs and maintenance, and rent from May 8, 2003, the date Burns' took possession of the property, through April 30, 2005, subject to a credit for those amounts he retained. A final judgment prepared by counsel for Raburn and objected to by Burns' counsel was signed by the trial court on June 13, 2006.

Burns filed a suspensive appeal seeking review of the trial court's judgment on the redemption issue and challenging various aspects of the amounts awarded by the trial court. In her brief as appellee, Raburn asserted that the trial court erred in not annulling the tax sale and in awarding rents to Burns. Having neither appealed nor answered the appeal, Raburn may not seek reversal or modification of the trial court's judgment. La. C.C.P. art. 2133. Accordingly, we will not entertain the issues raised by Raburn in her brief.

DISCUSSION

La. R.S. 47:2221 states that property sold at a tax sale is redeemable in accordance with La. Const. Art. 7, § 25(B), which provides as follows:

(B) Redemption. (1) The property sold shall be redeemable for three years after the date of recordation of the tax sale, by paying the price given, including costs, five percent penalty thereon, and interest at the rate of one percent per month until redemption.

Redemption requirements are further set forth in La. R.S. 47:2222. The person redeeming the property is required to pay all taxes assessed subsequent to the tax sale with interest of one percent per month until redeemed. La. R.S. 47:2222(A). The payment for taxes is to be made to either the purchaser or the tax collector who made the sale or to his successor in office. La. R.S. 47:2222(C). The tax sale purchaser is also entitled to receive from the owner the value of any improvements made on the real estate. La. R.S. 47:2222(D). Moreover, the tax sale purchaser is entitled to receive from the owner the cost of repairs, rehabilitation, maintenance, removal or demolition as provided in La. R.S. 47:2222.1.

Redemption does not require a showing of an irregularity or defect in the tax or sale process. Harris v. Estate of Fuller, 532 So.2d 1367 (La.1988).

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Bluebook (online)
957 So. 2d 921, 2007 WL 1488243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burns-v-harris-lactapp-2007.