Lloyd v. Gibbes

910 So. 2d 587, 2005 Miss. App. LEXIS 146, 2005 WL 406618
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 22, 2005
DocketNo. 2004-CA-00060-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 910 So. 2d 587 (Lloyd v. Gibbes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lloyd v. Gibbes, 910 So. 2d 587, 2005 Miss. App. LEXIS 146, 2005 WL 406618 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

MYERS, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Cleveland L. Lloyd filed this action against Walter “Chip” Gibbes in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi on August 4, 2000, in an attempt to obtain the deed to a tract of land measuring 3.5 acres. Lloyd had previously leased this real property from Gibbes for a period of approximately two years. In his complaint, Lloyd alleged that he and Gibbes entered into a contract for deed on July 11, 1991, and that Lloyd would pay Gibbes all consideration due on or before August 11, 1997. Lloyd further alleged that he paid all consideration due by making monetary payments as well as by repairing Gibbes’s tractors. Lloyd’s complaint stated that he was entitled to all money due in quantum meruit for the repair work performed should Gibbes deny the existence of a contract. Lloyd further maintains that in reliance on Gibbes’s promise to deliver the deed to the real [588]*588property, he purchased a house, the closing of which subsequently failed and he sustained monetary damages of $112,000. Lloyd asserts in his complaint that he and Gibbes did not enter into a lease and requested a stay of the County Court of Hinds County proceedings for eviction which were pending execution.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. On June 1, 1989, Lloyd and Gibbes entered into a lease agreement for the subject property. On July 11, 1991, the two entered into an written agreement for Lloyd to purchase the property for $7,100 by a term of 72 monthly payments of $189 each. In the sales agreement, Lloyd agreed to move a house which he obtained, to the subject property no later than December 31, 1991. On August 3, 1992, Gib-bes wrote to Lloyd stating that Lloyd had breached the contract by failing to move the house to the property as agreed, as well as by failing to make payments on the real property. Gibbes stated that he therefore had no intention to continue with the sale of the real property. Gibbes further stated in his August 3, 1992 letter that he would be willing to renew the 1989 lease with Lloyd on a yearly basis, while reserving the right to renegotiate the lease at the end of any lease year. Lloyd and Gibbes presumably had no further disputes until January 16,1997.

¶ 3. On January 16th, Lloyd wrote Gib-bes a letter demanding $128,000 for Gib-bes’s alleged theft of two movers beams Lloyd needed in order to move the house he had obtained. On February 3, 1997, in response to Lloyd’s demand letter, Gibbes, through his attorney, denied taking Lloyd’s movers beams and notified Lloyd that his lease would expire on May 30, 1997, but that a new draft of the lease agreement would be available, should Lloyd wish to continue leasing the real property. The revised lease agreement was mailed to Lloyd on March 25, 1997, but he made no response. On May 9, 1997, Gibbes’s attorney mailed Lloyd a letter informing Lloyd that he would be expected to vacate the property within sixty days of receiving the letter. The letter was mailed via certified mail, return receipt, but was never accepted by Lloyd.

¶ 4. Lloyd later attempted to get Gibbes to sign a quitclaim deed for fifty three and one-half acres. The additional fifty acres presumably represents an amount of land proportionate to the $128,000 Lloyd felt he had been damaged by Gibbes. Once again, Lloyd and Gibbes ran into problems. On October 19, 1998, Lloyd wrote Gibbes a letter demanding access to Gib-bes’s real property so that Lloyd could inspect a bridge on Gibbes’s property, under which he thought Gibbes had stashed the lost movers beams, and stating that it was his intention to sue. Gibbes’s attorney responded to Lloyd’s letter informing Lloyd that he did not have permission to enter Gibbes’s real property and that if he was in disagreement with the terms of the lease, Gibbes should address his concerns to the attorney.

¶ 5. After ten years of a tenancy agreement which can be described as chaotic at best, Gibbes decided that it was time to cease renewal of the lease agreement. On March 3, 1999, Gibbes’s attorney wrote to Lloyd, informing him that the lease would not be renewed when it expired on June 1, 1999. Lloyd responded to this letter by stating that he did not have a lease with Gibbes, that rather he was the rightful owner of the real property and Gibbes had failed to deliver a deed. Subsequently, Gibbes filed suit against Lloyd in the County Court of the Second Judicial District of Hinds County and obtained a judgment for Lloyd’s eviction on June 23, 2000. Lloyd subsequently filed suit, which is the [589]*589basis of this appeal, in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County in which Gibbes’s motion to dismiss was granted. It is from the granting of Gibbes’s motion to dismiss which Lloyd appeals, raising the following issue:

I. WHETHER THE CHANCERY COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN GRANTING GIBBES’S MOTION TO DISMISS.

¶ 6. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE CHANCERY COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN GRANTING GIBBES’S MOTION TO DISMISS.

¶ 7. Lloyd raises two sub-arguments in support of his argument that the chancery court committed reversible error by granting Gibbes’s motion to dismiss. Lloyd first argues that sufficient proof was presented that he fulfilled his obligations under the contract to Gibbes. Secondly, Lloyd argues that there was no evidence presented that Gibbes made an adverse entry upon the land occupied by Lloyd, thus tolling the statute of limitations on this action.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The findings of a chancellor will not be disturbed or set aside on appeal unless the decision of the trial court is manifestly wrong and not supported by substantial credible evidence or unless an erroneous legal standard was applied. Where there is substantial evidence to support the chancellor’s findings, this Court is without the authority to disturb his conclusions, although this Court might have found otherwise as an original matter. Muirhead v. Vaughn, 878 So.2d 1028, 1030(¶ 8) (Miss.Ct.App.2004) (citing Memphis Hardwood Flooring Co. v. Daniel, 771 So.2d 924, 930(1118) (Miss.2000)).

DISCUSSION

¶ 8. We first address Lloyd’s sub-argument asserting that dismissal was improper based upon the lack of evidence that Gibbes made an adverse entry upon the land occupied by Lloyd, thereby tolling the statute of limitations. Lloyd argues that Gibbes was not entitled to a judgment of dismissal as a matter of law, because the applicable statute of limitations under Mississippi Code Annotated § 15-1-7 (Rev. 2003) is ten years, and his actions were in accordance with the statute of limitations.

¶ 9. In support of his argument, Lloyd cites the case of Leech v. Masonite Corp. which states that “[statutes of limitation do not begin to run against one in actual or constructive possession of lands until an adverse entry has been made.” Leech v. Masonite Corp., 219 Miss. 176, 184, 68 So.2d 297, 300 (1953). While this is the correct rule for some situations, it is not applicable in the present case. As demonstrated by the facts, the land sale was not conducted by using a deed and a deed of trust. Rather, the parties agreed to conduct the sale through contract. Mississippi Code Annotated § 15-1-7 states that the applicable statute of limitations is ten years when one is trying to recover land. We note that title in the real property never vested in Lloyd, as he failed to perform the contract.

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910 So. 2d 587, 2005 Miss. App. LEXIS 146, 2005 WL 406618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lloyd-v-gibbes-missctapp-2005.