McCurdy v. Bloom's Inc.

907 So. 2d 896, 2005 WL 1523359
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 29, 2005
Docket39,854-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 907 So. 2d 896 (McCurdy v. Bloom's Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCurdy v. Bloom's Inc., 907 So. 2d 896, 2005 WL 1523359 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

907 So.2d 896 (2005)

Ralph McCURDY, et ux., Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
BLOOM'S INCORPORATED, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 39,854-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

June 29, 2005.

*897 Hallack Law Firm, by William H. Hallack, Jr., Dennis W. Hallack, Monroe, for Appellant.

James E. Paxton, Tallulah, for Appellee.

Watson, McMillin & Harrison, by W. Michael Street, Monroe, for Intervenor W. Brooks Watson.

King, Leblanc & Bland, by J. Geoffrey Ormsby, New Orleans, for Intervenors Leslie Bingham and Jane Saiewitz Thompson.

Before GASKINS, CARAWAY and LOLLEY, JJ.

LOLLEY, J.

Ralph and Judy McCurdy appeal the judgment of the Sixth Judicial District Court, Parish of Tensas, State of Louisiana, in favor of Bloom's Incorporated ("Bloom's"). For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On August 30, 2001, Ralph McCurdy, who is married to Judy McCurdy, ("McCurdy") and Bloom's, represented by Dr. Gerald M. Rankin, its president, entered into a Lease for Hunting Privileges ("Lease") in connection with 443 acres of land located in Tensas Parish, Louisiana (the "property").[1] The Lease was recorded in the Tensas Parish public records. With an initial term of ten years beginning on June 1, 2002, the Lease also contained a five-year option to renew if McCurdy otherwise met the terms of the initial Lease. Additionally, the Lease stated that "[Bloom's] grants to [McCurdy] a Right of First Refusal to purchase the property above described" (the "right of first refusal"). McCurdy paid Bloom's consideration of $4,821.08 for the granting of the right of first refusal.[2]

*898 On June 8, 2004, McCurdy received a letter from Bloom's attorney advising him that Bloom's had received an offer for the property at $1,000.00 per acre. The letter further advised McCurdy that he had ten days to exercise his right of first refusal (the Lease gave no terms for exercising the right). McCurdy responded to Bloom's letter, requesting additional time (30 days) and additional information to make a decision. Bloom's responded by letter dated June 25th that it would give McCurdy the thirty days, from the date of its first letter of June 8th.

In response, McCurdy filed a Petition for TRO and Preliminary Injunction on July 6, 2004, and the next day, the trial court entered a temporary restraining order enjoining, restraining and prohibiting Bloom's from selling or agreeing to sell the property subject to the right of first refusal. Afterwards, Bloom's delivered to McCurdy a copy of the purchase agreement previously referenced in the June 8 letter. The agreement actually contained two separate executory proposals affecting the 443-acre tract. First, the agreement disclosed that Bloom's only owned an undivided one-half interest in the property, with Leslie Bingham and Jane Thompson each owning an undivided 1/4 interest. From that co-ownership, the agreement proposed a partition of the tract in kind with Bloom's acquiring one-half of the acreage as shown by a survey of the partition and Bingham and Thompson acquiring the remaining part. Second, the agreement proposed a sale of all of the partitioned lands to W. Brooks Watson. The combined agreement was signed by all four parties.

Shortly after obtaining these documents from Bloom's, McCurdy filed a second petition at the trial court, his Petition for Preliminary Injunction, wherein he claimed to have no knowledge that the property was not solely owned by Bloom's and that the true ownership information was not contained in the Lease. Furthermore, he claimed that Bloom's planned to breach the Lease and that the trial court should issue a preliminary injunction to maintain McCurdy in peaceable possession of the property. He also sought a preliminary injunction preventing Bloom's from partitioning the property amongst the co-owners for the duration of the Lease.

At the hearing on the matter, the parties agreed to dismiss McCurdy's earlier filed petition for TRO and preliminary injunction. After considering the issues remaining, the trial court ruled in favor of Bloom's and against McCurdy, denying his petition for preliminary injunction against the stated actions. This appeal ensued.[3]

DISCUSSION

As stated, McCurdy originally had two separate petitions before the trial court, each seeking a preliminary injunction in regards to alleged actions by Bloom's. As agreed to by the parties, McCurdy's initial petition was dismissed for being moot. Therefore, the trial court only considered the subsequent petition for preliminary injunction, in which McCurdy sought a preliminary injunction requiring Bloom's to: (1) maintain McCurdy's peaceable possession of the property, and (2) enjoin the proposed voluntary partition of the property. The trial court denied the preliminary injunction for each request, based on several findings of fact and law recited in the reasons for judgment.

*899 The Lease

Underlying the trial court's ruling denying the request for preliminary injunction were various conclusions of law concerning the Lease, which McCurdy argues were in error and which we will address first. Specifically, McCurdy argues that the trial court erred in determining that he only had an undivided one-half interest in the property as a result of the public records doctrine. He also argues that the trial court was in error in concluding that he only had a one-half interest in the property, because he failed to have the consent of Bingham and Thompson as lessors. We conclude that neither assignment of error has merit for the following reasons.

Louisiana R.S. 9:2721(A) states:
No sale, contract, counter letter, lien, mortgage, judgment, surface lease, oil, gas or mineral lease, or other instrument of writing relating to or affecting immovable property shall be binding on or affect third persons or third parties unless and until filed for registry in the office of the parish recorder of the parish where the land or immovable is situated. Neither secret claims or equities nor other matters outside the public records shall be binding on or affect such third parties.

As a result of this statute, commonly known as the public records doctrine, individuals are deemed to have constructive knowledge of the existence and contents of recorded instruments affecting immovable property. As this court stated in Hasslocher v. Recknagel, 160 So.2d 421, 423 (La.App. 2d Cir.1964), writ refused, 245 La. 964, 162 So.2d 14 (1964):

It is also the law that all persons have constructive notice of the existence and contents of a recorded instrument affecting immovable property; and where such an instrument contains language that fairly puts a purchaser on inquiry as to the title and he does not avail himself of the means and facilities at hand to obtain knowledge of the true facts he is to be considered as having bought at his own risk and peril. (Emphasis added).

At the trial of the matter, McCurdy admitted that prior to his execution of the Lease, he had not checked the Tensas Parish public records for any recorded acts affecting the property. However, he further testified that after the actual ownership of the property came to his attention, he hired an abstractor to check the records, and it was evident that Bingham and Thompson each actually owned a one-fourth interest in the property.[4]

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Bluebook (online)
907 So. 2d 896, 2005 WL 1523359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccurdy-v-blooms-inc-lactapp-2005.