Hart v. City of Detroit

296 N.W.2d 151, 97 Mich. App. 697, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2703
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 2, 1980
DocketDocket 78-3489
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 296 N.W.2d 151 (Hart v. City of Detroit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hart v. City of Detroit, 296 N.W.2d 151, 97 Mich. App. 697, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2703 (Mich. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

Cynar, J.

This appeal involves an inverse condemnation class action suit. The original complaint in this action was filed May 9, 1974. The class was certified pursuant to GCR 1963, 208, on April 7, 1977. After all eligible classs members were notified, owners of 42 parcels of land joined the class. Defendant moved for accelerated judgment, and on August 18, 1978, the trial court granted the same, on the ground that the claims of all but seven of the plaintiffs were barred by the statute of limitations pertaining to damages for [700]*700injuries to person or property.1 Those seven plaintiffs are not parties to this appeal, which is taken as of right.

I. Facts

This appeal is submitted on a stipulated statement of facts. The statement indicates that the parcels of realty in question are located within the boundaries of defendant’s Elmwood Park Urban Rehabilitation Project No. 3 (Elmwood 3). A part of Elmwood Park,2 the affected area contains approximately 1,400 separate parcels of land. Elm-wood 3 was originally conceived by city planners in the mid-to-late 1950’s. As part of its urban renewal efforts, defendant City of Detroit has acquired and demolished the structures upon virtually every parcel within Elmwood Park in order to facilitate redevelopment.

All parties have stipulated that the actions of defendant in the Elmwood 3 project resulted in a de facto taking of plaintiffs’ property without just compensation therefor. However, in each instance the subject properties were either directly or indirectly acquired by defendant as a result of nonpayment of taxes.3 This occurred after the de facto takings but well prior to the commencement of any formal condemnation proceedings by defendant. The plaintiffs now appealing were not joined as parties to any of 12 formal condemnation pro[701]*701ceedings filed by defendant from August 3, 1971, to November 27, 1972.4

On May 9, 1974, the within action was instituted, well after all the parcels involved in this controversy were conveyed for nonpayment of taxes, and more than three years after the right of equity of redemption had expired with respect to every parcel.

Because this right had expired with respect to the parcels formerly owned by the plaintiffs on appeal, the lower court concluded that each plaintiff’s cause of action accrued, at the latest, on the date of expiration of their right to redeem. Applying (as noted hereinbefore) the three-year statute of limitations found in MCL 600.5805(7); MSA 27A.5805(7), the trial court held that the claims of the plaintiffs now appealing were barred thereby because their claims accrued, at the latest, more than three years prior to the institution of the class action suit, and were thus without the statute of limitations.

II. The Appropriate Statute of Limitations

The first question for consideration is whether the three-year statute of limitations found in MCL 600.5805(7); MSA 27A.5805(7)5 is applicable to inverse condemnation actions.

Plaintiffs argue that no statute of limitations should apply, as none can bar inverse condemnation actions. According to plaintiffs, due process [702]*702rights guaranteed by both the Federal and State Constitutions are being invoked, and no statute of limitations can cut off those rights.

Defendant contends that the three-year limitations statute was properly applied by the trial court. As defendant views it, a "taking” has been held to include serious injury or damage to private property, thus a taking of real property should fall under the ambit of a statute of limitations provision barring actions pertaining to injury to property.

We initially reject plaintiffs’ claim that, since due process rights are involved in the instant litigation, no statute of limitations can be imposed to vitiate those rights. In a different context, but one nonetheless concerned with a deprivation of due process rights, this Court concluded that somp statute of limitations must apply. Citizens for Pre-Trial Justice v Goldfarb, 88 Mich App 519, 529-531; 278 NW2d 653 (1979). With this conclusion we agree.

We are likewise unable to accept plaintiffs’ argument that MCL 600.5813; MSA 27A.5813, which establishes a six-year statute of limitations for "all other personal actions”, is applicable to inverse condemnation proceedings. We do not find personal claims to include claims predicated upon real property rights. Cf., Stringer v Board of Trustees of Edward W Sparrow Hospital, 62 Mich App 696, 700-701; 233 NW2d 698 (1975), lv den 395 Mich 768 (1975). These are not "rights to which one is entitled by reason of being a person in the eyes of the law”. Id. They instead accrue by virtue of an interest in real property.

We are further unpersuaded by plaintiffs’ assertion that the adverse possession period in this state is the proper limitation of actions provision [703]*703to employ in this case.6 In support of this position, plaintiffs cite Brazos River Authority v City of Graham, 163 Tex 167; 354 SW2d 99 (1961), and Frustuck v City of Fairfax, 212 Cal App 2d 345; 28 Cal Rptr 357 (1963). We perceive insuperable obstacles to an even-handed application of such a provision in inverse condemnation actions.

First, with adverse possession the point at which the statute begins to run is clear-cut and easy to define: the open and hostile possession of land under claim of right to the exclusion of the true owner placed on notice of the claim. Wood v Denton, 53 Mich App 435, 440-441; 219 NW2d 798 (1974).

Contrarily, the point at which a "taking” commences is not as easily pinpointed since in most cases the true owner will not suffer a privation of seisin. Moreover, a distinction between when a "taking” occurs and when a plaintiff’s cause of action arises has evolved under both Michigan and Federal case law.

United States v Dickinson, 331 US 745; 67 S Ct 1382; 91 L Ed 1789 (1947), clearly illustrates the above point. In that case the Federal government, without condemning Dickinson’s land, dammed a river and raised the water level in stages until the land was flooded. More than six years after water began to flood Dickinson’s land, but less than six years after that water reached its ultimate level, Dickinson brought an inverse condemnation action. The applicable statute of limitations under the Tucker Act was six years.

The Court noted that, although perhaps the taking occurred at the time the water began to pour onto Dickinson’s land, it would be unfair to [704]*704hold that his cause of action accrued prior to the water reaching a stabilized level. Only then could Dickinson know the extent of the damage.

If this concept of a "continuous wrong”, which is applied in inverse condemnation actions, is coupled with the 15-year adverse possession statute of limitations, there will be two untoward results: (1) the statute would not be applied in inverse condemnation actions in the manner it was intended under the theory of adverse possession, i.e., that it would run from the time of taking; and (2) the period of time in which a plaintiff could bring suit would be abnormally long.

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296 N.W.2d 151 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
296 N.W.2d 151, 97 Mich. App. 697, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2703, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hart-v-city-of-detroit-michctapp-1980.