EMC Mortgage Corp. v. Davis

26 P.3d 185, 174 Or. App. 524, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 806
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 6, 2001
DocketFED99-12-152; A108992
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 26 P.3d 185 (EMC Mortgage Corp. v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
EMC Mortgage Corp. v. Davis, 26 P.3d 185, 174 Or. App. 524, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 806 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

*526 BREWER, J.

In this action for forcible entry and detainer (FED), the trial court awarded plaintiff a judgment for restitution of the premises. However, the court denied plaintiffs request that the judgment provide that a notice of restitution or writ of execution could be issued more than 60 days after entry of the judgment, as permitted by ORS 105.lsi^). 1 Defendant appealed from the judgment of restitution, and plaintiff cross-appealed from the trial court’s refusal to provide an extended enforcement period for the judgment. Defendant failed to file and serve an opening brief on appeal, and we dismissed his appeal. Therefore, only plaintiffs cross-appeal remains for our consideration. Because the statute that governed the trial court’s decision accorded the court discretion, we review that decision for abuse of discretion. Hiestand v. Wolfard, 272 Or 222, 224-25, 536 P2d 520 (1975). We remand.

The relevant facts are undisputed. Defendant owned the real property at issue in this case until 1998, when Nor-west Mortgage, Inc., (Norwest) acquired the property in a nonjudicial trust deed foreclosure sale. When defendant failed to vacate the property, Norwest filed an FED action against him. Norwest prevailed in the action and, in June 1999, the trial court entered a restitution judgment in its favor. Defendant then filed a bankruptcy petition. After Nor-west obtained relief from the automatic stay effect of the bankruptcy proceeding, defendant filed another bankruptcy petition. As a result of the delay caused by defendant’s efforts, the judgment became unenforceable under ORS 105.154(9), because the trial court had not provided that a writ of execution could issue beyond 60 days after its entry. Norwest then filed a second FED action. Before that action was tried, Norwest conveyed the property to plaintiff. At trial, the court dismissed the second FED action, because *527 Norwest no longer owned the property. In December 1999, plaintiff filed this action to evict defendant from the property.

At trial, defendant acknowledged that he had filed the two bankruptcy proceedings between the first and second FED actions in order to delay the foreclosure and his eventual eviction from the premises. He also admitted that both bankruptcy proceedings had been dismissed. Defendant asserted, but did not coherently develop, a “fraud” theory of defense at trial. The trial court rejected the defense and announced that it would enter a restitution judgment in plaintiffs favor.

Counsel for plaintiff asked the trial court, in light of defendant’s evident delaying tactics, to provide expressly in the judgment that a notice of restitution and a writ of execution could issue more than 60 days after entry of the judgment. The trial court denied the request, stating, “Well, no, I’m not going to make any special concessions on behalf of the plaintiff in this case under the circumstances.” The court did not explain what circumstances it regarded as justifying its denial of plaintiffs request. Defendant told the court that he intended to appeal the judgment and to post an undertaking for the appeal. As he had indicated, defendant appealed from the judgment and posted a supersedeas bond to prevent enforcement of the judgment pending appeal. Plaintiff cross-appealed from the court’s denial of its request for an extended period within which to enforce the judgment. As noted, only plaintiffs cross-appeal remains for our consideration.

Plaintiff argues that, unless and until an FED trial court extends the execution period on a restitution judgment, defendant can delay his eviction endlessly through serial bankruptcies and appeals. Defendant responds that the trial court properly exercised its discretion to deny plaintiffs request for an extended period to enforce the judgment and, in any event, that the cross-appeal is now moot because the judgment may no longer be enforced. Defendant is mistaken on both counts.

ORS 105.154(9) does not specify any particular circumstances under which a court either must or cannot *528 extend the execution period for an FED judgment. It simply provides that execution may not issue more than 60 days after entry of judgment unless the judgment otherwise provides. Defendant is correct that, as phrased, the court’s decision calls for an exercise of discretion. “Discretion” generally refers to the authority of the trial court to choose among several legally correct outcomes. State v. Rogers, 330 Or 282, 312, 4 P3d 1261 (2000). Although we review the trial court’s decision for abuse of discretion, a court can “abuse” its discretion in different ways, depending on the circumstances; thus, the term has no hard and fast meaning. Liberty Northwest Ins. Corp. v. Jacobson, 164 Or App 37, 45-46, 988 P2d 442 (1999). A familiar but nonexclusive test for determining whether discretion has been abused is whether the decision reached was “clearly against reason and evidence.” Id.

A court abuses its discretion, for example, when the relevant evidence is undisputed and does not rationally support the decision the court made. See Lambert v. American Dream Homes Corp., 148 Or App 371, 377, 939 P2d 661 (1997) (holding that, where the relevant facts were undisputed, the only question for review was whether there was any evidence or reason to support a dismissal for want of prosecution). That is the case here. At trial, defendant admitted that he had devised and executed a strategy to delay his eviction. That strategy had been carried out successfully in prior proceedings. In view of defendant’s stated intent to appeal the judgment in this case — and to post an undertaking that undoubtedly would prevent enforcement of the judgment for more than 60 days — his strategy was destined to succeed again in this case unless the court extended the period for enforcement. Under the circumstances, the judgment of restitution offered plaintiff a hollow victory.

In that respect, this case presents a virtual mirror-image of the facts in State v. Hewitt, 162 Or App 47, 985 P2d 884 (1999). Iyl Hewitt, we held that where the state requests a postponement so that it may seek review of a ruling on a significant unsettled issue of law, in the absence of a showing by the defendant of substantial prejudice, a trial court abuses its discretion if it dismisses a charge with prejudice rather than permit the state an opportunity to seek appellate *529 review. Id. at 54-55. Here, rather than depriving a party of a meaningful opportunity to seek, appellate review, the trial court’s decision essentially guaranteed that defendant’s appeal would be successful in undercutting the very judgment that the court had entered. The trial court articulated no reason, based on any particular circumstances of the case, for denying plaintiffs request. Nor can we discern one.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Pine Ridge Park v. Fugere
287 P.3d 1268 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2012)
Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Inc. v. Columbia River Gorge Commission
273 P.3d 267 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2012)
State v. G. N.
215 P.3d 902 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)
In the Matter of Gn
215 P.3d 902 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)
STATE EX REL. SOSCF v. Morgan
51 P.3d 637 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 P.3d 185, 174 Or. App. 524, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/emc-mortgage-corp-v-davis-orctapp-2001.