Mays v. St. Pat Properties, LLC

182 S.W.3d 84, 357 Ark. 482, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 323
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 20, 2004
Docket03-798
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 182 S.W.3d 84 (Mays v. St. Pat Properties, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mays v. St. Pat Properties, LLC, 182 S.W.3d 84, 357 Ark. 482, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 323 (Ark. 2004).

Opinion

Ray Thornton, Justice.

This appeal involves the validity tice. tax-delinquent land. Appellant, Richard Mays, trustee for the Yedea Trust, appeals a judgment of quiet title entered by the Pulaski County Circuit Court in favor of appellees, St. Pat’s Properties, LLC, and Charlie Daniels, the Commissioner of State Lands (“Commissioner”). On appeal, appellant makes three allega- • tions of error. We affirm the trial court’s rulings.

In the early 1980’s, Woodson Walker established the Yedea Trust for his then-minor children and named Richard Mays as the trustee. In 1989, the trust acquired a tract of land in Little Rock. The owner of record for the property was the Yedea Trust, Richard Mays, trustee, c/o Walker, Roaf, Campbell, Ivory & Dunklin, 1 Union National Plaza, #990, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201. Taxes were not paid on the land for the years of 1996, 1997, and 1998.

In 1998, Mr. Walker and his law firm moved from the Union National Bank Building to an office on 217 West Second Street in Little Rock. At this time, the law firm grew smaller as individual member attorneys started private practices. Appellant testified that he believed the trust was dissolved on or about the time that the law firm moved from the Union Building.

On February 22, 1999, the Pulaski County Collector, Assessor, and Recorder certified the Little Rock property to the Commissioner for non-payment of taxes for 1996,1997, and 1998. On April 29, 1999, the Commissioner mailed a notice letter to appellant by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice was sent to the certified address at appellant’s former law firm in the Union National Bank Building. The letter stated that the property would be sold at public auction on May 1, 2001, if all taxes, penalties, interest, and costs were not paid by that date. The return receipt card was dated May 3, 1999, and was returned to the Commissioner’s office bearing the purported signature of appellant’s former law partner, Sheila F. Campbell. Ms. Campbell denies ever signing the card. The original receipt card with the signature was not produced.

Taxes remained delinquent on the property. On April 23, 2001, eight days prior to the sale, the Commissioner published a notice of sale of the property at public auction in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The notice in the newspaper contained a description of the property at issue. The sale occurred as scheduled on May 1, 2001, and appellee bid $19,000.00 plus taxes, penalties, interest, and costs, for a total of $19,081.16. Appellee purchased the property.

The thirty-day redemption period passed, and appellant failed to redeem the property during that redemption period. After the expiration of the redemption period, the Commissioner issued a limited-warranty deed to appellee, who recorded the deed on June 12, 2001.

On June 28, 2001, appellee filed a petition to quiet title to the property. On February 23, 2002, appellant filed a separate petition to set aside tax title conveyance to appellee and to quiet title. This petition was amended on September 20, 2002. The two suits were consolidated, and on October 2, 2002, the case was tried in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

By letter order, the trial court granted appellees’ petition to quiet title, ruling that appellant was the record owner of the property; that his former law firm’s address was the address of record; that the “[t]he evidence is clear that the Land Commissioner’s office complied with all statutory requirements” regarding notice of the sale; that notice to appellant personally is not required by the statute; that the statutes do not require that notice be sent to the beneficiaries; and that Ark. Code Ann. § 26-37-301 (a) does not violate the due-process clauses of the United States and Arkansas Constitutions. On December 31, 2002, a judgment of quiet title was entered in favor of appellees. From this order, appellant filed his appeal.

For his first point on appeal, appellant argues that the Commissioner published an incorrect legal description of the Little Rock property. Specifically, appellant contends that he was not given adequate notice of the sale because the Commissioner used an abbreviated land description of the land, thereby resulting in a void ah initio deed after such a publication. Further, appellant argues that the publication was an ultra vires act and “effectively divested the trial court of any authority to enforce the actions of the Commissioner [.] ’ ’

Appellant admits in his brief that this argument was raised for the first time on appeal. We have repeatedly held that we will not consider arguments raised for the first time on appeal. Ford Motor Co. v. Arkansas Motor Vehicle Comm’n, 357 Ark. 125, 161 S.W.3d 788 (2004); South Central Ark. Elec. Coop. v. Buck, 354 Ark. 11, 117 S.W.3d 591 (2003); Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield v. Hicks, 349 Ark. 269, 78 S.W.3d 58 (2002).

Accordingly, based upon our well-established precedent, and because appellant admits on appeal that his argument was not raised to the trial court, we hold that this issue was not preserved for appellate review, and we are barred from reaching the merits of appellant’s first point on appeal.

For his second point on appeal, appellant argues that he was not provided with adequate notice as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 26-37-301 (Repl. 1997). Specifically, appellant contends that Pulaski County failed to provide the correct “last known address,” pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 26-37-101 (Repl. 1997), to the Commissioner, notwithstanding that his current address was contained in the files of the county collector’s office when it certified the delinquent-land list to the Commissioner.

The issue of notice given to the owner of tax-delinquent land is a matter of statutory interpretation. We review issues of statutory interpretation de novo, as it is for this court to decide what a statute means. Mack v. Brazil, Adlong, & Winningham, PLC, 357 Ark. 1, 159 S.W.3d 291 (2004). In this respect, we are not bound by the trial court’s decision; however, in the absence of a showing that the trial court erred, its interpretation will be accepted as correct on appeal. Id. A statute is to be given its plain meaning. City of Dover v. City of Russellville, 352 Ark. 299, 100 S.W.3d 689 (2003).

Arkansas Code Annotated § 26-37-101 et seq. (Repl. 1997) sets forth the procedure governing the forfeiture and sale of tax-delinquent land. Arkansas Code Annotated § 26-37-101 provides for the transfer of tax-delinquent lands to the Commissioner. The statute provides in pertinent part:

(a)(1) All lands upon which the taxes have not been paid for one (1) year following the date the taxes were due, October 10, shall be forfeited to the State of Arkansas and transmitted by certification to the Commissioner of State Lands for collection or sale.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. State
2014 Ark. 124 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2014)
Johnny Sanchez v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010
Pulaski Choice, L.L.C. v. 2735 Villa Creek, L.P.
2010 Ark. 91 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2010)
Morris v. LANDNPULASKI, LLC
309 S.W.3d 212 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2009)
JARSEW, LLC v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC
308 S.W.3d 161 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2009)
Rylwell, L.L.C. v. Arkansas Development Finance Authority
269 S.W.3d 797 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2007)
In Re Paro
362 B.R. 419 (E.D. Arkansas, 2007)
Primerica Life Insurance v. Watson
207 S.W.3d 443 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
182 S.W.3d 84, 357 Ark. 482, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mays-v-st-pat-properties-llc-ark-2004.