Fiumara v. Robinson

737 A.2d 1103, 144 N.H. 78, 1999 N.H. LEXIS 73, 1999 WL 528019
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedJuly 26, 1999
DocketNos. 97-760; 98-226
StatusPublished

This text of 737 A.2d 1103 (Fiumara v. Robinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fiumara v. Robinson, 737 A.2d 1103, 144 N.H. 78, 1999 N.H. LEXIS 73, 1999 WL 528019 (N.H. 1999).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

In this consolidated appeal, the plaintiff, Joseph Fiumara, trustee of the Shiretown Realty Trust, appeals a decision of the Superior Court (Mohl, J.) quieting title in the defendant, Helen Robinson, to a parcel located in the Town of Barrington (town) that the plaintiff bought at a tax sale. Defendant Robinson appeals a subsequent decision ordering her to pay the plaintiff $6,539.85 in back property taxes. The town cross-appeals, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court erred in quieting title in Robinson [79]*79based on her alleged disclaimer of title to the parcel and her failure to inspect the tax maps to locate and identify her properties. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.

In 1959, two properties in the town passed from Robinson’s grandfather to her father, then later to her mother, and finally to Robinson in 1980. One property, identified by the town as Tax Map 13, lot 21 (lot 21), which contains a house and garage, is not at issue in this case. The second parcel, Tax Map 13, lot 22D (lot 22D), consists of approximately twenty acres of wooded area and is related to this appeal. Robinson and her predecessors in interest paid property taxes on lots 21 and 22D through the 1981 tax year. Tax bills included in the record through that tax year identified the approximate acreage of lot 22D as “20.0.”

In 1982, the town completed a property revaluation and created new tax maps. The tax map in use prior to the revaluation depicted lots 21 and 21b, but not lot 22D. For a number of years prior to the revaluation, Robinson and her predecessors received tax bills from the town for lots 21 and 22D, notwithstanding lot 22D’s absence from tax map 13. The town’s internal tax records for lot 22D indicate that the “property exists but not shown on tax map.” The trial court found that the revised tax maps were in error, with lot 22D “placed on the opposite side of France Road from Mrs. Robinson’s actual property.”

Also in 1982, the town started sending tax bills on a semi-annual basis. The town sent Robinson tax bills for lots 21 and 22D, plus an additional bill for lot 21b, which the town’s tax records identified as a wooded lot of approximately seven and one-half acres. The trial court found that the revised tax map shows lot 21b as being situated on the correct side of the road where Robinson’s property is actually located, but “includes less than half of Mrs. Robinson’s actual parcel.” The tax bills sent to Robinson identified the property on lot 21b only as “land.”

Neither Robinson nor her husband acquired any land in the town after 1981. Her husband inquired as to the reason for the third tax bill for lot 21b when Robinson did not acquire or own a wooded lot of that size. Robinson’s husband understood town officials to reply “that it must be a mistake, don’t worry about it.” In May 1983, Robinson received another tax bill for lot 21b, inquired again, and was left with the same impression. The town took no action to correct the error. Robinson heard nothing further from the town regarding lot 21b. The town then listed the owner of lot 21b as “owner unknown.” See RSA 73:20 (1991).

[80]*80In September 1986, the town sold lot 21b to the plaintiff at a tax sale pursuant to RSA chapter 80 (1991 & Supp. 1998). On or about September 13, 1988, the town issued a tax deed to the plaintiff. The plaintiff brought an action to quiet title against, among others, Robinson and the town. After trial in August 1997, the trial court quieted title in Robinson. The court found that Robinson’s parcel had not been subdivided and the boundary lines had not changed; that she had not engaged in any complex title transfers; and that she consistently paid taxes on what appeared to be her parcel, filed completed property inventories with the town as long as required, and had her husband inquire on what she perceived to be incorrect tax bills. The trial court found that after inquiring about the incorrect tax bills, town officials admitted that there was an error but failed to take any corrective action. The court found that

[considering the longstanding history of the parcel, and Mrs. Robinson’s conduct regarding the property, the Court concludes that the Town’s effort to identify and locate Mrs. Robinson’s property was not reasonable. The Town’s efforts do not satisfy statutory or due process notice requirements. Accordingly, the Town tax sale of Tax Map 13, Lot 21B did not comply with RSA 80:38-a, and the plaintiff’s petition to quiet title is DENIED. Title to Tax Map 13, Lot 21B is quieted in Helen Robinson.

The plaintiff appeals and the town cross-appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by concluding that Helen Robinson did not disclaim the property when she informed the town that she did not own lot 21b.

I. Notice

As a preliminary matter, we note that Robinson argues that the trial court found that lot 21b is actually a subset of lot 22D. If her position is correct, which we cannot evaluate because there are insufficient findings on this issue, the tax sale would be void to the extent their physical locations overlap. For purposes of the plaintiff’s question in the first appeal, we assume that lots 21b and 22D are separate and distinct parcels, without any overlap in identity or tax payments, and address only whether the requisite notice for a tax sale was provided to Robinson. In the second portion of this opinion, we address the validity of the tax sale to the extent lot 21b is actually part of lot 22D.

The plaintiff and the town argue that the trial court erroneously found that Robinson did not disclaim her interest in 1982, appar[81]*81ently relying on testimony by Robinson’s husband that “we don’t own any property . . . aside from these 22 acres, and you’re billing us for five-plus acres which we don’t know anything about.” We will not disturb the trial court’s findings unless they are unsupported by the evidence or erroneous as a matter of law. C & M Realty Trust v. Wiedenkeller, 183 N.H. 470, 476, 578 A.2d 354, 358 (1990). We defer to the trial court’s factual findings because that court is in the best position to determine fact. Id. Our review of the record, coupled with the town’s later concession that “these findings do have some support in the record,” precludes us from concluding that the trial court’s findings are either unsupported or erroneous. See id.

The plaintiff and the town argue that the plaintiff has title to the parcel because the tax sale was conducted in compliance with RSA 80:21. The plaintiff and the town argue that the town reasonably believed and relied on Robinson’s alleged disclaimer that she had no interest in lot 21b.

Robinson’s husband informed the town that she did not own a lot identified by the town as lot 21b. The town argues that Robinson should have looked at the tax map to determine where her properties were located before she allegedly disclaimed her interest. The town interpreted the communication to constitute a disclaimer, rather than a notification that something was wrong with its tax records. According to the town, having disclaimed his wife’s interest, Mr. Robinson “waived any further due process or statutory notice rights they [sic] had with respect to this lot.” Had Robinson not paid the tax bill on lot 21b and done nothing further, we might agree.

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

Related

Kakris v. Montbleau
575 A.2d 1293 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 1990)
C & M Realty Trust v. Wiedenkeller
578 A.2d 354 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 1990)
Vogel v. Vogel
627 A.2d 595 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
737 A.2d 1103, 144 N.H. 78, 1999 N.H. LEXIS 73, 1999 WL 528019, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fiumara-v-robinson-nh-1999.