Hazifotis v. Citizens Federal Sayings & Loan Ass'n

537 N.E.2d 35, 1989 Ind. App. LEXIS 259, 1989 WL 37586
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 17, 1989
DocketNo. 45A03-8802-CV-66
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 537 N.E.2d 35 (Hazifotis v. Citizens Federal Sayings & Loan Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hazifotis v. Citizens Federal Sayings & Loan Ass'n, 537 N.E.2d 35, 1989 Ind. App. LEXIS 259, 1989 WL 37586 (Ind. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

HOFFMAN, Judge.

Peter Hazifotis appeals from a decision of the Lake Superior Court discharging the court-appointed receiver in a mortgage foreclosure action. Citizens Federal Savings & Loan Association and CFS Services, Inc., bring an interlocutory appeal from the decision of the Jasper Circuit Court denying their motion for summary judgment in a collateral suit initiated by Hazifotis. On cross-appeal, Hazifotis challenges the granting of summary judgment by the Jasper Circuit Court in favor of the court-appointed receiver.

The facts relevant to the appeals and the cross-appeal may be summarized as follows. On July 17, 1984, Citizens Federal Savings & Loan Association (Citizens) filed a complaint to foreclose a delinquent mortgage against Worldwide, Inc., as the owner of the mortgaged property and against Peter Hazifotis as the mortgagor. In its prayer for relief, Citizens requested that a receiver be appointed to collect the rents and profits of the mortgaged property, to effect all necessary repairs of the property and to pay all real estate taxes and insurance premiums when due. The application for appointment of a receiver was set for hearing on August 29,1984. Following the hearing, the Lake Superior Court appointed Robert Flickinger to serve as receiver.

On December 30, 1986, Hazifotis filed a Petition for Leave to Sue Receiver which stated Hazifotis’ desire to sue Flickinger in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, on the grounds that Flickinger negligently controlled, took custody of and maintained possession of the mortgaged property. The Lake Superior Court granted leave for Hazifotis to sue Flickinger.

Seven months later, on July 28, 1987, Flickinger filed an Application for Discharge of Receiver. A hearing on the application for discharge was held on November 5, 1987. The Lake Superior Court entered an order approving the final report, releasing the surety and discharging Flick-inger.

One day before the hearing on Flicking-er’s application for discharge, Hazifotis filed suit in the Lake Circuit Court, alleging that he had been injured by Flickinger’s failure to faithfully carry out the duties of receiver. The case was venued to Jasper County. Thereafter, Flickinger and Citizens filed a motion for summary judgment. The Jasper Circuit Court granted Flicking-er’s motion for summary judgment, but Citizens’ motion for summary judgment was denied.

In his appeal from the judgment of the Lake Superior Court, Hazifotis presents three issues:

(1) whether the trial court abused its discretion in appointing Flickinger as receiver;
(2) whether there were reversible eviden-tiary errors at the hearing on Flick-inger’s application for discharge; and
(3) whether the trial court erred when it discharged Flickinger.

Citizens raises one issue in its interlocutory appeal from the Jasper Circuit Court: whether the trial court erred by denying Citizens’ motion for summary judgment. On cross-appeal, Hazifotis poses the issue whether the Jasper Circuit Court erred by [37]*37entering summary judgment in favor of Flickinger.

This Court will first consider Hazifotis’ contention .that the Lake Superior Court erred when it appointed Flickinger as receiver. Hazifotis characterizes Flicking-er as an interested party whose appointment as receiver was prohibited by IND. CODE § 34-1-12-2 (1982 Ed.). However, Hazifotis waived his objection to the appointment of Flickinger as receiver.

The Lake Superior Court held a hearing on the request for appointment of a receiver on August 29, 1984. Although notice of the hearing was served on all parties, Hazi-fotis did not appear. The court appointed Flickinger as receiver, and he served in that capacity for three years. Hazifotis made no objection to the appointment of Flickinger until October 2, 1987, after the Application for Discharge of Receiver had been filed with the court.

An objection to the appointment of a receiver must be raised at the time such appointment is made.

Gray et ux. v. Oughton (1896), 146 Ind. 285, 287 45 N.E. 191, 192;
Flanders v. Ostrom, Rec. (1933), 206 Ind. 87, 93-94, 187 N.E. 673, 675.

Because Hazifotis did not object at the time the Lake Superior Court appointed Flick-inger as receiver, he could not subsequently challenge the legality of the appointment. See id. The objection was waived.

Hazifotis next asserts that the Lake Superior Court committed reversible evidentiary errors during the hearing on the Application for Discharge of Receiver. According to Hazifotis, one such error occurred when the court admitted into evidence the Application for Discharge of Receiver and accompanying affidavit. Hazifotis maintains that the affidavit contained inadmissible hearsay concerning the tax sale and subsequent transfer of the mortgaged property to Lake County, Indiana. Yet an examination of the record discloses that a certified auditor’s report was admitted into evidence which also established the occurrence of a tax sale and the passing of the property to Lake County. Reversible error cannot be predicated upon a trial court’s admission of evidence which is merely cumulative. Loudermilk v. Feld Truck Leasing Co. of Indiana (1976), 171 Ind.App. 498, 508, 358 N.E.2d 160, 166.

Hazifotis further claims that the affidavit was inadmissible because it contained conclusions of law. Generally, an affidavit must set forth facts which would be admissible in evidence; assertions or conclusions of law by one not qualified to testify on such matters are inappropriate statements in an affidavit. Lee v. Schroeder (1988), Ind.App., 529 N.E.2d 349, 352. However, any harm arising from the alleged error in admitting the affidavit would have been lessened if not anulled, because the issue of discharge was heard by the court without a jury. See Loman v. State (1976), 265 Ind. 255, 260, 354 N.E.2d 205, 209. The trial judge is presumed to know the intricacies of the rules of evidence and to consider the evidence in that light, ignoring the extraneous, incompetent and irrelevant. D.H. v. J.H. (1981), Ind.App., 418 N.E.2d 286, 294. Hazifotis has not demonstrated reversible error in the admission of the Application for Discharge of Receiver and accompanying affidavit.

For his final allegation of evidentiary error, Hazifotis avers that the trial court erred when it disallowed questions regarding Flickinger’s management of other property for Citizens. Hazifotis argues that the answers to those questions would have been relevant as a comparison to Flicking-er’s management of the mortgaged property in the instant case. The standard for determining the relevancy of evidence is whether the evidence in question has a logical tendency to prove a material fact. Favourite v. Bd. of Zoning Appeals (1987), Ind.App., 515 N.E.2d 560, 563. The determination of relevancy is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Kennedy v. St. Joseph Memorial Hosp.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
537 N.E.2d 35, 1989 Ind. App. LEXIS 259, 1989 WL 37586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hazifotis-v-citizens-federal-sayings-loan-assn-indctapp-1989.