McFeeley v. Hargrove

166 So. 2d 333, 1964 La. App. LEXIS 1868
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 1, 1964
DocketNo. 6193
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 166 So. 2d 333 (McFeeley v. Hargrove) 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
McFeeley v. Hargrove, 166 So. 2d 333, 1964 La. App. LEXIS 1868 (La. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

ELLIS, Judge.

On March 14, 1962 thirty-four plaintiffs instituted this action in Ascension Parish against four defendants, seeking a money judgment in solido for $16,100.00 representing unpaid rental or royalty payments due plaintiffs under the terms of a recorded mineral lease affecting certain lands in that parish. The payments are allegedly due for the period May 6, 1959 to June 1, 1961. On this latter date written notice of cancellation was given in accordance with R.S. 30:102.

The defendants in this litigation are Ash-land Oil and Refining Company, a Kentucky corporation authorized to conduct business in this state; Temple Hargrove, a resident of St. Tammany Parish; Pietro Crespi, a resident of Memphis, Tennessee; and B. L. Woolley, a resident of Dallas. Texas.

Service was obtained as to Ashland Oil and Refining Company through the agent for the service of process, the C. T. Corporation of 420 Hibernia Building, New Orleans.

The record is barren of any service whatsoever on Temple Hargrove.

Substituted service was evidently effected as to Pietro Crespi and B. L. Woolley by the appointment of an attorney ad hoc to represent them, though the record does not disclose any acceptance of service by the attorney ad hoc or any citation served on him.

Nevertheless, exceptions of lack of jurisdiction over the person and of ’improper venue were filed on behalf of all four defendants. The learned trial judge sustained [335]*335the exceptions of venue and dismissed plaintiffs’ suit

Plaintiffs on appeal argue that this is a real action and, therefore, the district court in Ascension Parish has both jurisdiction and venue by virtue of the fact that the land on which the mineral lease was granted lies in Ascension Parish. With this we cannot agree. Plaintiffs’ action is clearly one for a money judgment and such a judgment cannot be rendered on substituted service; nor can a Louisiana resident be sued in a court of improper venue over their objection.

Article 3664 of the LSA-Code of Civil Procedure and LSA-R.S. 9:1105 do not permit the bringing of an action to enforce a personal obligation without regard for jurisdiction and venue.

In the case of Reagan v. Murphy, 235 La. 529, 105 So.2d 210, the majority of the Supreme Court, considering LSA-R.S. 9:1105, concluded that the statute was not intended to actually create a real right under a mineral lease, but simply to classify such rights as real rights so that persons claiming under such leases would have the benefits of the real property laws of this state without the necessity of making the owner of the land a party to the litigation. This intent is made clear by the following language of Article 3664:

“ * * * These rights may be asserted, protected, and defended in the same manner as the ownership or possession of immovable property, and without the concurrence, joinder or consent of the owner of the land.” (Emphasis supplied.)

The holdings from the Second Circuit in Nicholson v. Sellwood, La.App., 187 So. 837 and Payne v. Walmsley, La.App., 185 So. 88, do not alter our opinion as they are not in conflict with our holding here. In the Nicholson case, the plaintiffs sought to have a recorded mineral lease cancelled. The court concluded that the parish where the land affected was situated was the proper forum to hear the matter, finding that it was a real right under 1938 legislation and for the further reason that the suit to cancel a mineral lease was in the nature of a slander of title suit. The proper forum in such a proceeding would be the district court having jurisdiction over the parish in which the land in dispute was situated.

The Payne case involved plaintiffs seeking to establish their interest in certain recorded mineral leases.' Thus, it was necessary for the forum to adjudicate with reference to the title to recorded documents effecting the title to real estate. No personal money obligation was involved.

In the suit at bar, not only is the action one for a money judgment, but the lease allegedly giving rise to the real right was cancelled nine months prior to the institution of this suit.

No service has been obtained against Crespi or Woolley in this state and they are both non-residents of Louisiana. Therefore, as to those two defendants, the exceptions of lack of jurisdiction over the person should be maintained and the plaintiffs’ suit dismissed withoiit prejudice.

Proper jurisdiction and venue as to the two remaining defendants, assuming the correctness of plaintiff’s allegations, can be found in Louisiana.

Under the provisions of Articles 932 and 121 of the LSA-Code of Civil Procedure the trial court should transfer this case to the proper district court in the interest of justice. These articles read:

Article 121: “Action brought in improper venue; transfer
“When an action is brought in a court of improper venue, the court may dismiss the action, or in the interest of justice transfer it to a court of proper venue.”
Article 932: “Effect of sustaining de-clinatory exception,
[336]*336“When the grounds of the objections pleaded in the declinatory exception may he removed by amendment of the petition or other action of plaintiff, the judgment sustaining the exception shall order the plaintiff to remove them within the delay allowed by the court.
“If the grounds of the objection cannot be so removed, or if the plaintiff fails to comply with an order requiring such removal, the action shall be dismissed; except that if it has been brought in a court of improper jurisdiction or venue, the court may transfer the action to a proper court in the interest of justice.”

We find the following note in the “Official Revision Comments” under Article 932:

“No dismissal of the action would necessarily result from a sustaining of the declinatory exception under this article if the objection were either to the venue or to the jurisdiction of the court, and if the interests of justice required its transfer to the proper court. It is contemplated that dismissal would result only in those cases where such a transfer would not be possible or would not be conducive to the administration of justice. Such a dismissal would not preclude the filing of an action in the proper court.
“A transfer clause similar to that of the above article, but restricted to cases involving improper venue, is provided by Art. 121, supra.”

Counsel for plaintiff argues that the redactors of the Code of Civil Procedure indicate in the footnote to Article 932 that the mechanics of such a transfer are provided by LSA-R.S. 13:3271 through 13 :- 3274, and that a reading of this statute clearly discloses that a motion or other proceeding in the trial court is necessary to bring about a change of venue. The above statutes only apply to a change of venue "upon cause shown, as provided in RS. 13:3272 through 3279 and may remove the action from one parish to another parish in the district wherein they are pending, or to a parish in an adjoining district (Emphasis supplied.)

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Bluebook (online)
166 So. 2d 333, 1964 La. App. LEXIS 1868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcfeeley-v-hargrove-lactapp-1964.