Caudell v. Toccoa Inn, Inc.

582 S.E.2d 180, 261 Ga. App. 209, 2003 Fulton County D. Rep. 1518, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 589
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 9, 2003
DocketA03A0857
StatusPublished

This text of 582 S.E.2d 180 (Caudell v. Toccoa Inn, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Caudell v. Toccoa Inn, Inc., 582 S.E.2d 180, 261 Ga. App. 209, 2003 Fulton County D. Rep. 1518, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 589 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Johnson, Presiding Judge.

Roger Caudell appeals from the trial court’s order denying his protest concerning the court-ordered public sale of a sign. Caudell also appeals the earlier award of attorney fees in favor of Toccoa Inn, Inc. We find no error and affirm the trial court’s judgments.

The record reveals the following undisputed facts. Toccoa Inn and Caudell as tenants in common owned a “high-rise” sign located on real property owned by Caudell. Caudell filed a partition action, seeking a public sale of the sign. Ultimately, the trial court granted Caudell’s request for an equitable partition and ordered the public sale.

The trial court requested Caudell to prepare an order appointing three commissioners to conduct the sale of the sign and instructing the commissioners “as to what they are to do and when it must be done.” It is undisputed that Caudell prepared an order subsequently signed by the trial judge. This order stated “that the sale shall take place on the first Tuesday of February, 2001, commencing at 9:00 a.m. EST, or as soon thereafter as is practical, at the place of conducting public sales in Stephens County, Georgia.” Thereafter, pursuant to the court’s order, the commissioners prepared a notice which was placed in The Toccoa Record and advertised the sale once a week for four weeks. This advertisement also provided the sale would be at 9:00 a.m.

Toccoa Inn subsequently purchased the sign at the public sale for $1. The next day, Caudell filed a protest of the sale on the basis that it was not conducted at the proper time and place. The trial court denied Caudell’s protest and entered a final judgment disposing of the sale proceeds.

1. Caudell contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to set aside the public sale because the sale of the property at 9:00 a.m. contravenes OCGA § 9-13-160 (b), which provides for public sales to be held between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST. He further contends that the sale of the property at the Stephens County Government Building instead of the Stephens County Courthouse contravenes OCGA § 9-13-161, which provides that public sales must be conducted at the courthouse of the county. We find no merit to either contention.

It is axiomatic that a party must be held bound by a ruling which [210]*210he invoked.1 “One cannot complain of a judgment, order, or ruling that his own procedure or conduct aided in causing.”2 Here, there is no dispute that the commissioners conducted the sale at the time provided for in the order produced, proffered, and procured by Caudell.

Regarding the time of the sale, Caudell’s only argument is that his attorney committed a scrivener’s error in requesting the court to order a sale commencing at 9:00 a.m. EST rather than 10:00 a.m. EST. According to Caudell, although the error of the court and the error of the commissioners appointed by the court were induced by the scrivener’s error made by Caudell’s counsel, nonetheless Caudell and his counsel assumed the public sale would be conducted at 10:00 a.m. and did not appear for the sale until 9:45 a.m. By that time, the property had already been sold to Toccoa Inn. However, Caudell is not entitled to have the sale set aside because of unilateral mistake. Equity requires that there be fraud or inequitable conduct on the part of the other party in order to set aside the sale for unilateral mistake.3 Here, there is no evidence of fraud or inequitable conduct on the part of Toccoa Inn.

Although the time of the sale was contrary to OCGA § 9-13-160 (b), which mandates that public sales take place between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST, this error was harmless to Caudell under the circumstances. Caudell prepared the order, specifically directing the sale to take place at 9:00 a.m. He clearly had knowledge that the sale was to take place at 9:00 a.m. and explicitly agreed to this time for the sale. We find no reversible error.

We further find no reversible error regarding the place where the sale was conducted. The judicial order produced and procured by Caudell indicated that the sale was to take place “at the place of conducting public sales in Stephens County, Georgia.” The legal notice published in the paper provided that the sale was. to take place “before the courthouse door of the Stephens County Government Building.” Caudell alleges that the sale did not take place at the Stephens County Courthouse. He also argues that the legal advertisement was misleading because it referred to both the Stephens County Courthouse and the Stephens County Government Building. The trial court found that the sale took place as provided in the judicial order and in the legal notice. We agree.

[211]*211As the trial court noted in its order,

[t]he fact that the commissioners of Stephens County chose to name the building.housing the clerk, the courtrooms, and the judges’ chambers the “Stephens County Government Building” has no bearing, as that building is the only one in which the Superior Court of Stephens County currently convenes.

Thus, while the sale might not have taken place at the building entitled the Stephens County Courthouse (which was not being used for anything at the time), the sale certainly did take place at the courthouse of Stephens County. And, contrary to Caudell’s contention, the legal notice specified that the sale was to occur before the courthouse door of the building entitled the Stephens County Government Building. The trial court properly denied Caudell’s protest and motion to set aside the public sale.

2. Caudell contends the trial court erred in granting attorney fees to Toccoa Inn. We find no error.

OCGA § 44-6-166.1 provides the method for partitioning property that cannot be physically divided. Both Caudell and Toccoa Inn agreed that the sign in the present case could not be physically divided. Thus, the provisions set forth in OCGA § 44-6-166.1 applied.

Under OCGA § 44-6-166.1, the first step in partitioning such property is for the court to appoint three appraisers to appraise the property. The three appraisals are then averaged to constitute the appraised price. Notice of the appraised price is then served upon the petitioner and all parties in interest.4 Then, within 15 days after the appraised price is established and upon approval of the court, any petitioner may. withdraw and become a party in interest and any party in interest may withdraw and become a petitioner. Any petitioner remaining shall be paid his respective share of the appraised price based on his interest in the property. If no petitioner remains in the partitioning action after the fifteenth day, then the partitioning action shall be dismissed.5

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Bluebook (online)
582 S.E.2d 180, 261 Ga. App. 209, 2003 Fulton County D. Rep. 1518, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 589, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caudell-v-toccoa-inn-inc-gactapp-2003.