George v. Administrative Office of the Courts

542 S.E.2d 699, 142 N.C. App. 479, 2001 N.C. App. LEXIS 139
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedMarch 20, 2001
DocketCOA00-365
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 542 S.E.2d 699 (George v. Administrative Office of the Courts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
George v. Administrative Office of the Courts, 542 S.E.2d 699, 142 N.C. App. 479, 2001 N.C. App. LEXIS 139 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

CAMPBELL, Judge.

Plaintiff appeals from an order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss pursuant to N.C.R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We affirm.

The uncontested pertinent facts and procedural history include the following: On 9 August 1994, plaintiff and her former husband, Tony David Johnson, entered into a separation agreement, in which plaintiff agreed to release her interest in their marital home located in Stokes County, North Carolina. In return, Tony David Johnson agreed to assume all obligations with regard to the marital home, to refinance the outstanding mortgage loan on the marital home within six months, and to pay plaintiff $7,500 upon sale of the property. Pursuant to this separation agreement, plaintiff executed a quitclaim deed on 25 August 1994 releasing her interest in the marital home.

On 20 March 1996, plaintiff instituted an action (96 CVD 115) in Stokes County District Court against her former husband alleging refusal to perform obligations under the separation agreement and seeking damages for breach of the agreement. Plaintiff alleged that the parties had entered into the separation agreement, and plaintiff had abided by the agreement in releasing her interest in the marital home. Plaintiff further alleged that defendant had failed and refused to refinance the marital home, thus breaching the separation agreement and causing damage to plaintiff. In the prayer for relief, plaintiff sought damages in excess of $10,000. Plaintiff also sought to compel defendant to refinance the property pursuant to the agreement, or to reconvey a one-half interest in the marital home to plaintiff. On 20 March 1998, plaintiff filed a notice of Us pendens with the Clerk of Superior Court of Stokes County, seeking to give record notice of the pending action against her former husband, and claiming that one of *481 the objects of the pending action was a one-half interest in the marital home. On 13 May 1998, Tony David Johnson conveyed the property in question to Wilbur L. Goad and his wife, Tammy P. Goad.

On 8 July 1999, plaintiff instituted the instant action against defendants, alleging negligence on the part of R. Dean Hartgrove (Hartgrove), in his official capacity as Clerk of Superior Court of Stokes County, in failing to accurately and properly maintain the public records of Stokes County, and against the Administrative Office of the Courts, in its position as supervisor of the Judicial Department of the State of North Carolina. Specifically, plaintiff contended that the notice of lis pendens filed in connection with 96 CVD 115 had not been correctly indexed. Consequently, plaintiffs interest in the marital property had not been protected, in that the lien she had sought to perfect by filing the notice of lis pendens had not appeared on the public record during the title examination conducted in connection with the transfer of the subject property from Tony David Johnson to Wilbur and Tammy Goad.

On or about 23 August 1999, defendants filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 12(b)(1), and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). On 17 December 1999, the trial court entered an order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff appeals from this ruling.

We begin by noting that any cause of action based upon alleged negligence or misconduct of any clerk of superior court in the performance of his or her official duties must comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 58-76-5. The parties do not address this requirement in their arguments on appeal, but we emphasize that nothing in this opinion is intended to affect the application of G.S. § 58-76-5 to any such claim.

Plaintiff argues the trial court erred in granting defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Under Rule 12(b)(6), a claim should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff is entitled to no relief under any set of facts which could be proven. Garvin v. City of Fayetteville, 102 N.C. App. 121, 401 S.E.2d 133 (1991). “[T]his will occur when there is a want of law to support a claim of the sort made, an absence of facts sufficient to make a good claim, or the disclosure of some fact which will necessarily defeat the claim.” Id. at 123, 401 S.E.2d at 135. In analyzing the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), the *482 complaint must be liberally construed. Dixon v. Stuart, 85 N.C. App. 338, 354 S.E.2d 757 (1987). In reviewing the grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the question for an appellate court is “whether, as a matter of law, the allegations of the complaint, treated as true, are sufficient to state a claim upon which relief may be granted under some legal theory, whether properly labeled or not.” Miller v. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co., 112 N.C. App. 295, 300, 435 S.E.2d 537, 541 (1993), disc. review denied, 335 N.C. 770, 442 S.E.2d 519 (1994).

In the present case, plaintiff contends defendant Hartgrove failed to properly maintain the public records of Stokes County, which he was required by law to do as Clerk of Superior Court of Stokes County. Plaintiff alleges the notice of lis pendens filed in connection with 96 CVD 115 did not show up in the public records of Stokes County during the title examination conducted by the closing attorney, William F. Marshall, Jr. Specifically, plaintiff alleges the notice of lis pendens was not properly indexed in the judgment index, as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 1-117 and 7A-109(b)(6). Taking all of the allegations of plaintiffs complaint as true, the underlying basis of plaintiff’s claim is that she was entitled to have the notice of lis pen-dens that was filed in connection with 96 CVD 115 cross-indexed to appear on the public record. If defendant Hartgrove was not required by law to cross-index the notice of Us pendens filed in connection with 96 CVD 115, then his failure to do so, whether negligent or intentional, cannot be the basis for any claim for relief. Therefore, the question for this Court is whether 96 CVD 115 is the type of action in which a notice of lis pendens is required to be cross-indexed to appear on the public record.

In this State the common law rule of lis pendens has been replaced by the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-116 to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-120.2. Cutter v. Realty Co., 265 N.C. 664, 144 S.E.2d 882 (1965). Thus, valid notice of lis pendens is only proper in one of the three types of actions enumerated in G.S. § l-116(a), which reads as follows:

(a) Any person desiring the benefit of constructive notice of pending litigation must file a separate, independent notice thereof, which notice shall be cross-indexed in accordance with G.S.

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Bluebook (online)
542 S.E.2d 699, 142 N.C. App. 479, 2001 N.C. App. LEXIS 139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/george-v-administrative-office-of-the-courts-ncctapp-2001.