Grygorwicz v. Trujillo

181 P.3d 696
New Mexico Court of Appeals·Decided March 10, 2008·No. 27,419·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

181 P.3d 696 (2008)
2008-NMCA-040

Tasheena GRYGORWICZ, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Charlie TRUJILLO, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 27,419.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

January 24, 2008.
Certiorari Granted March 10, 2008.

*697 Anthony James Ayala, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellee.

Ray Twohig, P.C., Ray Twohig, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellant.

Certiorari Granted, No. 30,939, March 10, 2008.

OPINION

WECHSLER, Judge.

{1} We consider in this appeal whether Defendant Charlie Trujillo is entitled to a homestead exemption in the foreclosure sale of his home when he did not appeal from the district court's foreclosure decree until after the district court denied the claim of exemptions on execution form that he subsequently filed pursuant to Rule 1-065.1 NMRA. We hold that Defendant waived his homestead exemption claim by failing to pursue an appeal of the foreclosure decree within the time frame required by Rule 12-201(A)(2) NMRA. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of Defendant's homestead exemption claim.

BACKGROUND

{2} This case originated on February 22, 2001 when Plaintiff Tasheena Grygorwicz filed a civil complaint against Defendant that alleged sexual abuse in the 1980s and early 1990s when she was a child. On October 1, 2004, after a bench trial, the district court's judgment in favor of Plaintiff was filed, awarding her $1.3 million in damages. This Court affirmed on appeal, and the Supreme *698 Court denied Defendant's petition for a writ of certiorari on July 31, 2006. Grygorwicz v. Trujillo, 2006-NMCA-089, 140 N.M. 129, 140 P.3d 550, cert. denied, 2006-NMCERT-007, 140 N.M. 280, 142 P.3d 361.

{3} On August 7, 2006, Plaintiff filed a motion to foreclose on Defendant's home in the district court in order to partially satisfy his judgment debt. In Defendant's August 17, 2006 response, he included a demand for all possible exemptions. Plaintiff filed a transcript of judgment with the county clerk and the district court on August 31, 2006. On November 30, 2006, the district court held a hearing and entered a decree of foreclosure, concluding that Plaintiff was entitled to foreclose and to either keep the property or sell it in order to partially satisfy her judgment against Defendant. In the decree, the district court established the interests of the parties in the property and the manner in which the proceeds from the sale would be distributed. It did not include an allowance for a homestead exemption. It further indicated that it would appoint a special master to conduct a foreclosure sale and issued a writ of assistance ordering the Taos County Sheriff to "put . . . Plaintiff in possession" of the property.

{4} On December 4, 2006, the sheriff executed the writ of assistance by locking Defendant and his wife out of the property, and Plaintiff took possession of the property. Plaintiff eventually elected to purchase the property at the foreclosure sale and to keep it in order to partially satisfy Defendant's judgment debt. On the same day that Plaintiff initially took possession of the property, Defendant filed a claim of exemptions on execution form in the district court. Among Defendant's claims were homestead exemptions for himself and his wife, Diana Trujillo. Plaintiff opposed Defendant's claims and filed a motion to dismiss them. The district court, after a hearing, entered an order dismissing Defendant's claim of exemptions on execution on January 9, 2007. On January 19, 2007, Defendant filed his notice of appeal from the January 9, 2007 order.

PROCEDURE FOR FORECLOSURE BY A JUDGMENT CREDITOR

{5} NMSA 1978, § 39-4-13 (1933) entitles a person holding a judgment lien on real property to bring a foreclosure suit to subject the property to the payment of the judgment. The statute requires such a suit "to be instituted and prosecuted in the same manner" as a suit for the foreclosure of a mortgage. Id. In this case, however, Plaintiff raised her foreclosure claim in a motion in the original tort action. Although Defendant notes in his brief in chief that Plaintiff did not institute a separate suit, he does not argue that the distinction between a separate suit and a motion within the existing suit makes any difference. Because Defendant does not argue the procedural propriety of Plaintiff's motion to foreclose, we do not address it in this opinion. See Rule 12-213(A)(4) NMRA; State v. Rendleman, 2003-NMCA-150, ¶ 50, 134 N.M. 744, 82 P.3d 554 (concluding that an argument that the defendant made to the district court was deemed abandoned when it was not briefed on appeal). Therefore, for the purposes of this appeal, we assume, without deciding, that Plaintiff's failure to institute a separate foreclosure action was not procedurally defective.

APPLICABLE PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS IN THIS CASE

{6} NMSA 1978, § 39-4-15 (1933) requires a defendant in a foreclosure suit to "set up" any claim of exemption allowed by law in an answer to the suit. This provision has been interpreted to mean that a defendant waives any claim of exemption by not so raising it. See Speckner v. Riebold, 86 N.M. 275, 278, 523 P.2d 10, 13 (1974); USLife Title Ins. Co. of Dallas v. Romero, 98 N.M. 699, 703-04, 652 P.2d 249, 253-54 (Ct.App.1982). In Defendant's response to Plaintiff's motion to foreclose, he properly raised a valid claim of a homestead exemption. See NMSA 1978, § 42-10-9 (1993) (amended 2007) (allowing a $30,000 homestead exemption when a judgment debtor's dwelling house is foreclosed by a judgment creditor).

{7} Despite the fact that Defendant properly "set up" his claim of exemptions, the district court's decree of foreclosure, while addressing the details concerning the distribution of the proceeds of sale upon foreclosure, did not mention any homestead exemption. Defendant did not appeal from that *699 order. Instead, he filed a claim of exemptions on execution form in the district court in which he and his wife, who was never joined as a party to the lawsuit, claimed various exemptions, including homestead exemptions.

{8} On appeal, Defendant argues that he filed the claim of exemptions on execution form in reliance on the procedures of Rule 1-065.1, which he asserts were established in 1996 "to avoid [the] unconstitutional denial of exemption claims." We agree with Defendant regarding the purpose of Rule 1-065.1. See generally Aacen v. San Juan County Sheriff's Dep't, 944 F.2d 691, 696-99 (10th Cir.1991) (holding that New Mexico's old post-judgment execution rule did not meet constitutional due process guarantees because of its failure to require the provision of adequate notice concerning exemption rights). However, we do not believe that Rule 1-065.1 is applicable in this case.

{9} Rule 1-065.1 applies to writs of execution. It permits a judgment creditor to obtain a writ of execution from the clerk of the district court in order to seize property to satisfy a judgment. Rule 1-065.1(A). A sheriff then serves the writ and conducts a sale of the property. Rule 1-065.1(I)-(J). The rule provides a procedure for a judgment creditor to notify a judgment debtor of the right to claim exemptions from execution, for a judgment debtor to file a claim of exemptions, and for the district court to hold a hearing to resolve disputed claims. Rule 1-065.1(B)-(H).

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