McDonald's USA, LLC v. Craft

263 F. Supp. 3d 56
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided June 22, 2017·No. Case No. 17-cv-00119 (APM)·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Amit P. Mehta, United States District Judge

Before the court is Plaintiffs McDonald’s USA, LLC, and McDonald’s Real Estate Company’s Motion to Dismiss Defendant William T. Craft’s Counterclaims, in which Plaintiffs seek dismissal of Defendant’s claims for breach of contract, negligence, and failure to abate nuisance. See Answer & Countercl., ECF No. 10 [hereinafter Def.’s Answer & Countercls.]; Pis.’ Mot. to Dismiss Countercls., ECF No. 18, Pis.’ Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 18-1 [hereinafter Pis.’ Mot. to Dismiss]. Plaintiffs assert that Defendant has not plausibly stated any cognizable claim for relief and, even if sufficiently pleaded, [58]*58each claim is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. See Pis.’ Mot. to Dismiss at 6.-After thorough review of the parties’ briefs, the court grants Plaintiffs’ Motion and dismisses all of Defendant’s counterclaims.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 22, 1974, W. T. Craft, Inc., entered into a Deed of Trust to purchase from Golden Arch Realty Corporation, a piece of property designated as “Lot 105 in Square 5094 in the subdivision made by Golden Arch Realty Corp.” Def.’s Answer & Countercls., Attach. 1, ECF No. 10-1 [hereinafter Def.’s Attach. 1], at 1-10 (Ex. A) [hereinafter Def.’s Ex. A]. That property was subdivided from a parcel of land owned by Golden Arch Realty Corp., Plaintiff McDonald’s Real Estate Company’s predecessor in interest. Compl., ECF No. 1. [hereinafter Pis.’ Compl.], ¶ 12; Def.’s Answer & Countercls, ¶ 1. In 1989, the corporation of W. T, Craft, Inc,, ceased to exist and Lot 105, Square 5094 was conveyed to Willie T. Craft, Sr., and Shirley Craft. Def.’s Answer & Countercls., Attach. 2, ECF No. 10-2 [hereinafter Def.’s Ex. F], at 10.1 Today, Plaintiffs continue -to own a restaurant on Lot 104, Square 5094 — otherwise known as 4301 Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, N.E. (“Plaintiffs’-Property”).2 See Def.’s Answer & Countercls. ¶ 1; Pis.’ Compl. ¶¶ 6, 9.3 Next door, at Lot' 105, Square 5094 — otherwise, known as 4309 Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, N.E. (“Defendant’s Property”) — Willie T. Craft, Sr., and Shirley Craft own and operate a strip mall, in which three businesses are located. See Def.’s Answer & Countercls. ¶¶ 1, 3; Pis.’ Compl. ¶¶ 3, 17. Defendant operates- the dry cleaners in the strip mall on-behalf of his father, Willie T. Craft, Sr. Def.’s Ex. F at 10. Defendant also oversees and is responsible for paying the water and sewer bills for all three businesses on the property. See id.', Def.’s Answer & Countercls. ¶ 3.

A single water line, originating on Defendant’s Property, services both Defendant’s Property and Plaintiffs’ Property. See Def.’s Attach. 1 at 11-13 (Ex. B), ¶3; Deft’s Answer & Countercls. ¶¶ 4, 5; Pis.’ Compl. ¶¶ 10-11. Following the subdivision and sale of the original parcel of land, the parties intended to install separate' water lines, but- they never did so. See Def.’s Attach. 1 at 14-15 (Ex. C) [hereinafter Def.’s Ex. C], at 1. At some point Jn time, Willie T. Craft, Sr., informed Defendant that he had suspicions the water billing was not accurate due to Plaintiffs’ restaurant’s shared use of the water line. See Def.’s Ex. F at 10,12.

In October 2012, Defendant first reported to D.C. Water & Sewer (“D.C. Water”) that he believed he was being erroneously charged for water supplied to and used by Plaintiffs’ restaurant. Deft’s Attach. 1 at 23-26 (Ex. E) [hereinafter Def.’s Ex. E], at 2; Deft’s Ex, F at 10-11.4 D.C. Water [59]*59investigated the claim, determined the teeter vault was in disrepair, and informed Defendant that he was responsible for making the necessary repairs. Def.’s Ex. E at 2. From March 2012 until November 2013, D.C. Water sent Defendant “estimated bills ... reasonably] based on the number and types of business[es] in [Defendant’s] side of the property.” Def.’s Ex. E at 2; accord, Def.’s Ex. F at 11. D.C. Water confirmed for Defendant on April 9, 2013, that Defendant’s Property and Plaintiffs’ Property shared a single water line. Defi’s Ex. F at 11. After Defendant made the necessary repairs and a new meter vault was installed in November 2013, D.C. Water gave Defendant “a significant financial adjustment of more than, $8,900 to, compensate him for water [D.C. Water] could estimate was registered at his meter and was subsequently billed to and paid by [Plaintiff] for the period March 27, 2013 to January 29, 2014.” Def.’s Ex. E at 2.5 Beginning in January 2014, D.C. Water provided Defendant, as a. courtesy, a special accounting arrangement in which it adjusted Defendant’s bill to account for any water billed to Plaintiffs from Defendant’s account and separately billed Plaintiffs for their water usage. Def.’s Ex. E at 2-3.

In late January 2015, Defendant sought a refund of $77,237.04 from D-C. Water on the theory that he had been erroneously charged for Plaintiffs’ water consumption between January 1974 and January 2014. See Def.’s Ex. F at 1. In a letter to Defendant’s counsel, dated February 27, 2015, D.C. Water denied Defendant’s claim, reminded Defendant that it remained Plaintiffs’ and Defendant’s responsibility to install a separate water line, and that D.C. Water would discontinue its courtesy accounting services in- May 2015. See Def.’s Ex. E at 2-3. Following an administrative hearing on March 1, 2016, D.C. Water concluded that it was not legally responsible for refunding Defendant any overpay-ments. Def.’s Ex. F at 13-14. The Hearing Officer’s written explanation, stated that Defendant had two years under D.C. law to bring such a refund claim- and because Defendant “knew with certainty that his property and [Plaintiffs’] property were on the same water line and that [Defendant] was paying for [Plaintiffs’] water usage as of April 2013,” his -refund claims were time barred. Def.’s Ex. F at 12-13. Moreover, the Hearing Officer noted, Defendant and his father had been aware of the problem prior to D-C. Water identifying it; D.C. Water’s reaction to the problem had far exceeded its legal obligations; and any recourse Defendant sought needed to be against Plaintiffs, not D.C. Water. See id. at 13.

Neither party has undertaken the time and expense to install • a separate water line, despite D.C. Water’s suggestion to do so. Def.’s Ex. F at 11. D.C. Water extended its ■ courtesy billing practice until June 2015. Id. At some point prior to March 2016, the parties reached an agreement that Plaintiffs would pay Defendant for the restaurant’s'water consumption. See id.-

The present dispute arose when Defendant threatened .to (shut off the water to Plaintiffs’ property on the theory that Plaintiffs owe Defendant money for water [60]*60that has been inappropriately billed to him. See generally Pis.’ Compl, (seeking injunc-tive relief in the . form of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction- preventing Defendant from shutting off Plaintiffs’ water access, as well as a judicial determination of:the rights and responsibilities of the parties over the real property and its water supply). The court granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, see Order, ECF No. 6, and Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, see Order, ECF No. 14. Defendant both moved to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaint and filed an Answer with three counterclaims.

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

McDonald's USA, LLC v. Craft, 263 F. Supp. 3d 56 (D.D.C. 2017).

263 F. Supp. 3d 56 (McDonald's USA, LLC v. Craft) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Willie T. Craft v. D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2018
Craft v. District of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority
176 A.3d 162 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2018)