D'Antonio v. Crowder

2011 NMCA 017, 249 P.3d 1249, 149 N.M. 426
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 9, 2010
Docket30,549
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2011 NMCA 017 (D'Antonio v. Crowder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D'Antonio v. Crowder, 2011 NMCA 017, 249 P.3d 1249, 149 N.M. 426 (N.M. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

CASTILLO, Judge.

{1} The opinion filed on July 8, 2010 is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted in its place. The motion for rehearing is otherwise denied.

{2} In this case we consider the effect of a reversionary clause in a deed which is the subject of a settlement agreement. We hold that the grantee failed to comply with the requirements of the clause and, thus, reversion was warranted. Accordingly, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

{3} Appellant Fred A. Dantonio appeals entry of an order granting title to a 52.8-acre tract (the Fifty-two Acres) in favor of Appellee Orlando Cervantes. The case began in January 1992 when Charles and Phyllis Crowder (the Crowders) conveyed the Fifty-two Acres to the nonprofit organization Southwest Regional High School, Inc. (SWRHS). The deed contained a reversionary condition that limited the use of the property to educational facilities only and required that SWRHS commence construction of the educational facilities prior to January 16,1994.

{4} In 1994, questions arose regarding whether SWRHS complied with the condition and whether SWRHS’s alleged non-compliance effected an automatic reversion of the Fifty-two Acres to the Crowders. To resolve these questions, SWRHS filed a quiet title action in district court and the Crowders filed counterclaims.

{5} In March 1995, the Crowders and SWRHS executed a written settlement agreement resolving all claims arising from the 1994 quiet title action. The terms of that settlement agreement established a schedule for the construction of the educational facilities that set forth specific dates for the commencement and completion of construction of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth-grade classroom buildings as well as the dates by which those classrooms would open with students. The settlement agreement directed that the Fifty-two Acres would automatically revert to the Crowders if SWRHS: (1) failed to operate a high school on the land after August 1996 or (2) failed to obtain accreditation for the high school and maintain that accreditation after the twelfth grade was constructed and twelfth-grade students matriculated. Finally, the settlement agreement provided that once the “requirements” of the construction schedule were satisfied and “accreditation of the high school” was initially secured, the Crowders would execute a waiver of “those requirements.”

{6} SWRHS completed construction of the ninth-grade classroom building, matriculated students for the ninth grade, and obtained accreditation for the ninth-grade class within the time required under the settlement agreement. The ninth-grade classroom, however, operated for only a single year. SWRHS failed to construct classrooms for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. SWRHS never received accreditation as a high school and abandoned all but twelve acres of the parcel (the Twelve Acres).

{7} As a result of bankruptcy and other proceedings immaterial to this appeal, the Crowders’ interest in the Fifty-two Acres was transferred to Cervantes. In July 2002, SWRHS attempted to convey its interest in the Twelve Acres to Dantonio by quitclaim deed. Dantonio is a former member of SWRHS’s board of directors and contributed money to SWRHS.

{8} On January 15, 2003, Dantonio filed suit to quiet title to the Twelve Acres. In response, Cervantes filed an answer, counterclaim, and cross-claim asking that the court quiet title in his favor to the full Fifty-two Acres. Three months later, Cervantes filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the basis that Dantonio had no interest in the property because the Twelve Acres, which is part of the Fifty-two Acres, had already automatically reverted pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement.

{9} The district court originally denied Cervantes’ motion. In concluding that the reversionary condition had been terminated as to the Twelve Acres, the district court determined the following: the waiver language in the settlement agreement is ambiguous, forfeiture provisions are not favored, the settlement agreement created a divisible condition subsequent, and partial reversion was preferable. The court also concluded that the remainder of the Fifty-two Acres continued to be subject to the reversionary clause and reverted.

{10} In January 2007, Cervantes filed a timely motion for reconsideration challenging the district court’s conclusion that the settlement agreement created a divisible condition subsequent. Cervantes argued that the terms of the settlement agreement required SWRHS to construct and continuously operate a four-year high school and that Dantonio was not entitled to a waiver of the reversionary condition merely because SWRHS constructed a ninth-grade classroom and operated a ninth-grade class for a single year. Finally, Cervantes asserted that the doctrine of partial reversion was inapplicable.

{11} Reversing its previous ruling, the court granted the motion to reconsider. It concluded that the doctrine of partial reversion was not applicable; that the Fifty-two Acres reverted; and, consequently, that it erred in quieting title to the Twelve Acres in favor of Dantonio. The district court quieted title to the Fifty-two Acres as to any and all adverse claims in favor of Cervantes. Dantonio appeals from this decision.

II. DISCUSSION

{12} Dantonio makes four arguments in support of reversal. He first asserts that the settlement agreement superseded the deed. Alternatively, he contends that a reversion was not triggered. Second, Dantonio argues that the settlement agreement established a divisible contract. Third, Dantonio claims the doctrine of partial reversion is applicable in this matter. Fourth, Dantonio claims that principles of equity prohibit reversion. We address each in turn.

A. Standard of Review

{13} This case comes to us from the district court’s order granting Cervantes’ motion for partial summary judgment. “Summary judgment is proper if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Roth v. Thompson, 113 N.M. 331, 334, 825 P.2d 1241, 1244 (1992). “The applicable standard of review of an appeal on summary judgment is de novo, and this Court need not defer to the trial court’s analysis of the record and its conclusions of law.” Vill. of Wagon Mound v. Mora Trust, 2003-NMCA-035, ¶ 57, 133 N.M. 373, 62 P.3d 1255 (filed 2002). To the extent that the issues on review require an expanded discussion of the standard of review, we do so in the context of each issue addressed.

B. Deed and Settlement Agreement

{14} Dantonio does little to explain the significance of his contention that the settlement agreement “superseded” the deed. The settlement agreement arose out of the Crowders’ and SWRHS’s dispute as to whether the reversionary condition in the deed had been violated. In our view and under these circumstances, the settlement agreement affected a forbearance of the reversionary condition in the deed. That forbearance was conditioned upon SWRHS’s compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement.

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Bluebook (online)
2011 NMCA 017, 249 P.3d 1249, 149 N.M. 426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dantonio-v-crowder-nmctapp-2010.