Kitches & Zorn, L.L.C. v. Yong Woo Kim

2005 UT App 164, 112 P.3d 1210, 523 Utah Adv. Rep. 9, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 157, 2005 WL 774502
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedApril 7, 2005
DocketNo. 20040526-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2005 UT App 164 (Kitches & Zorn, L.L.C. v. Yong Woo Kim) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kitches & Zorn, L.L.C. v. Yong Woo Kim, 2005 UT App 164, 112 P.3d 1210, 523 Utah Adv. Rep. 9, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 157, 2005 WL 774502 (Utah Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVIS, Judge:

¶ 1 Plaintiffs, Hitches & Zorn, L.L.C.; and Erika E. Zorn and Randy L. Zorn doing business as ERZ Partnership, appeal from the trial court’s order quashing their writ of execution. We reyerse.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On March 17, 2003, Plaintiffs obtained a judgment (the Judgment) in the Third District Court in Salt Lake County against Defendant Yong Woo Kim for $38,095.10, which included an award of attorney fees and costs and a provision for the accrual of interest. In order to establish a lien on real property owned by Defendant in Davis County, Plaintiffs recorded an abstract- of judgment against Defendant in the office of the Davis County Recorder on May 9, 2003. On May 12, 2003, Defendant deeded his interest in real property located at 1106 East 400 North, Bountiful, Utah (the Bountiful Property) to his wife, Hye Ok Kim. That deed was recorded on May 19, 2003 and again on June 13, 2003.

¶3 On July 29, 2003, Plaintiffs filed an •abstract of the Judgment, along with the debtor information sheet, with the clerk of the Second District Court in' Davis County. On November 25, 2003, Plaintiffs obtained a writ of execution from the Second District Court for the sale of the Bountiful Property.

¶ 4 Defendant filed a “Request for Hearing,” objecting to the writ of execution. Defendant claimed that the Bountiful Property was exempt from execution because he no longer owned the property after deeding it to his wife. Defendant argued that Plaintiffs did-not, have a valid lien upon the Bountiful Property prior to his conveyance of the property to his wife because Plaintiffs had not yet filed the Judgment in the Registry of Judgments at the Davis County District Court, Defendant argued that in order to maintain a judgment lien upon the real property of a judgment debtor in a county other than that in which the judgment was rendered, Utah Code section 78-22-1.5 requires that (1) the judgment be filed and docketed with the clerk of the district court in the county in which the defendant has real property and (2) the judgment or an abstract thereof must be recorded in the office of the county recorder in the county in which the real property is located. See Utah Code Ann. § 78-22-1.5 (2002). In response to Defendant’s objection, Plaintiffs argued that a correct interpretation of section 78-22-1.5 indicates that a judgment lien against real property is valid if the judgment is filed in the county recorder’s office of the county in which the real property is located. Plaintiffs argued, therefore, that they had a valid lien on the Bountiful Property before Defendant deeded it to his wife.

[1212]*1212¶ 5 The trial court entered an order quashing Plaintiffs’ writ of execution. The trial court determined that the language of section 78-22-1.5 is unambiguous in requiring a two-step process in order to create a lien on real property — the judgment must be (1) recorded in the office of the county recorder in which the property is located, and (2) filed in the Registry of'Judgments in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county in which the property is located. Furthermore, the court determined, “[P]laintiff[s’] judgment lien did not attach to the property quitclaimed to Mrs. Kim because [P]laintiff[s] did not complete the second step required by [section 78-22-1.5] until July 29, 2003.” Therefore, the trial court ruled that Plaintiffs had no perfected or enforceable judgment lien on the Bountiful Property. Additionally, because the court determined that section 78-22-1.5 was unambiguous, it refused to consider affidavits and other evidence submitted by Plaintiffs regarding the legislative history of sections 78-22-1 and 78-22-1.5. See Utah Code Ann. § 78-22-1 (Supp.2004). Plaintiffs appeal the trial court’s order quashing their writ of execution.

ISSUES AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6 Plaintiffs assert that the trial court erred when it interpreted the language of Utah Code section 78-22-1.5 to require both a filing in the Registry of Judgments and a recording in the office of the county recorder in order to create a lien on real property. Additionally, Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in its conclusion that the language of section 78-22-1.5 is unambiguous and its decision not to consider evidence submitted by Plaintiffs regarding the legislative intent and history of section 78-22-1.5. “We review questions of statutory interpretation for correctness, affording no deference to the district court’s legal conclusions.” R.A. McKell Excavating, Inc. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2004 UT 48, ¶ 7, 100 P.3d 1159.

ANALYSIS

•¶ 7 Plaintiffs argue that, properly interpreted, sections 78-22-1 and 78-22-1.5 require only a filing in the office of the county recorder in order to create a valid lien, rather than an additional filing in the Registry of Judgments. We agree.

¶ 8 “Pursuant to general principles of statutory interpretation, ‘[w]e .. look first to the ... plain language,’ recognizing that ‘our primary goal is to give effect to the legislature’s intent in light of the purpose the statute was meant to achieve.’ ” In re Kunz, 2004 UT 71, ¶ 8, 99 P.3d 793 (alterations in original) (quoting Evans v. State, 963 P.2d 177, 184 (Utah 1998)). In construing a statute, “we assume that each term ... was used advisedly; thus the statutory words are read literally, unless such a reading is unreasonably confused or inoperable.” R.A. McKell Excavating, Inc., 2004 UT 48 at ¶ 8, 100 P.3d 1159 (alteration in original) (quotations and citation omitted). “When doubt or uncertainty exists as to the meaning or application of an act’s provisions, an analysis of the act in its entirety should be undertaken and its provisions harmonized in accordance with the legislative intent and purpose.” Intermountain Slurry Seal and/or CNA Ins. v. Labor Comm’n, 2002 UT App 164, ¶ 6, 48 P.3d 252 (quotations and citation omitted). However, “[o]nly if there is ambiguity do we look beyond the plain language to legislative history or policy considerations.” Id. (quotations and citation omitted).

¶ 9 In this case we are faced with two constructions of sections 78-22-1 and 78-22-1.5. However, “[t]he fact that the parties offer differing constructions of the statute, in and of itself, does not mean that the statute is ‘ambiguous.’ ” Derbidge v. Mutual Protective Ins. Co., 963 P.2d 788, 791 (Utah Ct.App.1998). Although the trial court interpreted the statutory language differently, we, like the trial court, conclude that the language is unambiguous. Therefore, we need not look to legislative history or policy considerations.1

[1213]*1213¶ 10 The starting point for establishing a judgment lien on real property is section 78-22-1. Section 78-22-1 provides, in relevant part:

(7)(a) After July 1, 2002, a judgment entered by a district court or a justice court in the state becomes a lien upon real property if:

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2005 UT App 164, 112 P.3d 1210, 523 Utah Adv. Rep. 9, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 157, 2005 WL 774502, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kitches-zorn-llc-v-yong-woo-kim-utahctapp-2005.