Cupstid v. Harris

272 So. 3d 965
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 15, 2019
Docket18-926
StatusPublished

This text of 272 So. 3d 965 (Cupstid 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
Cupstid v. Harris, 272 So. 3d 965 (La. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

PERRY, Judge.

The defendant in this possessory action, Ferdell N. Harris ("Harris"), appeals from a trial court judgment maintaining the plaintiffs, David and Bonnie Cupstid (hereinafter "David" and "Bonnie," individually, and collectively, "the Cupstids"), in possession of a small parcel of land1 located in Ferriday, Louisiana (hereinafter referred to as "the property"). For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On October 29, 2015, the Cupstids filed a possessory action against Harris pursuant to La.Code Civ.P. art. 3655, asserting claims they possessed as owners a real right in the property. The Cupstids alleged they possessed the property as owners continuously and without interruption from February 1, 1985, until Harris disturbed their possession on July 24, 2015. The Cupstids' lawsuit also sought an injunctive order to prohibit Harris's interference with their possession of the property during the pendency of this litigation.

In response, on October 16, 2015, Harris filed an answer generally denying the Cupstids' allegations. Harris admitted a survey, dated February 9, 2015, was performed by Richard T. Logan and that "a survey crew, on behalf of [Harris], did set down survey stakes ... on or about July 24, 2015, consistent with the earlier staking performed by a survey crew on behalf of [Harris] prior to February 1, 2015."

The parties entered into a consent judgment on the preliminary injunction on January 14, 2016, wherein it was agreed Harris would not interfere with the existing fence and septic tank on the property during the pendency of the litigation. The *967matter was tried on December 11, 2017, with judgment rendered March 6, 2018, recognizing the Cupstids' right to possession of the property.2 The judgment further ordered that pursuant to La.Code Civ.P. art. 3662, Harris is to assert his adverse claim of ownership of the property in a petitory action within sixty days after the trial court's judgment becomes executory.

A motion for new trial, filed by Harris on March 16, 2018, and heard by the trial court on May 17, 2018, was denied. Judgment denying Harris's motion for new trial was signed May 29, 2018.

Harris appeals. He alleges the trial court erred in recognizing and maintaining the Cupstids' right to possess the immovable property in dispute.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Appellate courts apply the manifest error standard of review to the trial court's ruling in a possessory action. Allen v. Belgard , 05-1284 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/5/06), 925 So.2d 1275. Our review must apply a two-tier test in order to reverse the findings of the trial court: (1) "the appellate court must find from the record that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the finding of the trial court," and (2) "the appellate court must further determine that the record establishes that the finding is clearly wrong (manifestly erroneous)." Id . at 1282 (quoting Mart v. Hill , 505 So.2d 1120 (La.1987) ).

Even where the appellate court believes its inferences are more reasonable than the fact finder's, reasonable determinations and inferences of fact should not be disturbed on appeal. Arceneaux v. Domingue , 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978). Additionally, a reviewing court must keep in mind that if a trial court's findings are reasonable based upon the entire record and evidence, an appellate court may not reverse said findings even if it is convinced that had it been sitting as trier of fact it would have weighed that evidence differently. Housley v. Cerise , 579 So.2d 973 (La.1991). The basis for this principle of review is grounded not only upon the better capacity of the trial court to evaluate live witnesses, but also upon the proper allocation of trial and appellate functions between the respective courts.

Allen , 925 So.2d at 1282.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

The Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure and the Louisiana Civil Code address the possessory action through various articles. Under La.Code Civ.P. art. 3655, a possessory action is an action "brought by the possessor of immovable property or of a real right therein to be maintained in his possession of the property or enjoyment of the right when he has been disturbed, or to be restored to the possession or enjoyment thereof when he has been evicted." As pointed out in La.Code Civ.P. art. 3656, "[a] plaintiff in a possessory action shall be one who possesses for himself. A person entitled to the use or usufruct of immovable property, and one who owns a real right therein, possesses for himself."

Under La.Code Civ.P. art. 3658, to maintain the possessory action, the plaintiff must allege and prove:

(1) He had possession of the immovable property or real right therein at the time the disturbance occurred;
(2) He and his ancestors in title had such possession quietly and without interruption *968for more than a year immediately prior to the disturbance, unless evicted by force or fraud;
(3) The disturbance was one in fact or in law, as defined in Article 3659; and
(4) The possessory action was instituted within a year of the disturbance.

The question before this court is whether the trial court was correct in ruling the Cupstids' possession was not precarious. Harris disputes the nature of the Cupstids' possession of the property, arguing the Cupstids' possession of the property was by virtue of permission from the property's prior owner, J. T. Jacobs. Harris asserts the Cupstids are precarious possessors and, as such, are unable to acquire a right to possess the property. Thus, he contends the Cupstids did not meet the one-year requirement of La.Code Civ.P. art. 3658(2) because the possession indicated was merely precarious and not sufficient to support a possessory action.

The Louisiana Civil Code defines "possession" as "the detention or enjoyment of a corporeal thing, movable or immovable, that one holds or exercises by himself or by another who keeps or exercises it in his name." La.Civ.Code art. 3421. With regard to the concept of possession as contemplated in possessory actions, La.Civ.Code art. 3424 provides "one must intend to possess as owner and must take corporeal possession of the thing." (Emphasis added). "One is presumed to intend to possess as owner unless he began to possess in the name of and for another." La.Civ.Code art.

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Related

Allen v. Belgard
925 So. 2d 1275 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
Arceneaux v. Domingue
365 So. 2d 1330 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1978)
Housley v. Cerise
579 So. 2d 973 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1991)
Mart v. Hill
505 So. 2d 1120 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
272 So. 3d 965, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cupstid-v-harris-lactapp-2019.