Miller v. Jackson

80 So. 3d 673, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 773, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1460, 2011 WL 6060363
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 7, 2011
DocketNo. CA 11-773
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 80 So. 3d 673 (Miller v. Jackson) 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
Miller v. Jackson, 80 So. 3d 673, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 773, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1460, 2011 WL 6060363 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

PETERS, J.

1 iThis litigation involves a dispute over immovable property situated in Ville Platte, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. Both the plaintiffs, Antonial Keith Miller and Michelle Lee Frey Miller (sometimes hereinafter referred to as “the Millers” or “Antonial” and/or “Michelle”), and the defendants, Lenard Keith Jackson and Donna K. Guillory Jackson (sometimes hereinafter referred to as “the Jacksons” or “Lenard” and/or “Donna”), acquired title to the immovable property from the same vendors, Larry Jones Fontenot and Verona Deville Fontenot (sometimes hereinafter referred to as “the Fontenots” or “Larry” and/or “Verona”). After a trial on the merits, the trial court concluded that the sale from the Fontenots to the Jacksons was a simulation in that it was intended to be a form of security for the advancement of funds from the Jacksons for the benefit of the Millers. The trial court then granted the Millers sixty days to repay the full amount represented by the simulated sale or to suffer the loss of title to the immovable property to the Jacksons. Both the Millers and the Jack-sons have appealed. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court judgment in all respects except to amend the trial court judgment to include Donna K. Guillory Jackson as a party to the judgment.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

In October of 2002, the Fontenots sold Antonial 6.64 acres in Ville Platte, Louisiana, for $70,000.00.1 The transfer of ownership included the residence located on the property. Antonial is Verona’s son and Larry’s stepson. Because Antonial had at least one lien against him recorded in the mortgage records of Evangeline Parish, he did not want his name to appear in the public records as owner. In order to keep his ownership secret from the public, the parties consummated the sale by oral agreement 12and Antonial paid the purchase price in cash. At the time of the transfer, Michelle and Antonial were not married. That event did not occur until December 11, 2007.

Despite the fact that he had transferred title to Antonial, on the surface Larry continued to treat the property as his own. On July 8, 2003, or less than one year after transferring the property to Antonial, the Fontenots borrowed $15,000.00 from Citizens Bank in Ville Platte and secured the loan by a mortgage on the 6.64 acres. Obviously, the Fontenots did not inform Citizens Bank they no longer owned the property. Larry justified his continuous treatment of the property as if he owned it by suggesting that he had loaned Antonial money over the years and the funds acquired from the mortgage basically balanced the amount loaned.

At some point after the transfer, Larry was diagnosed with cancer. On April 9, 2003, he executed a last will and testament which included a bequest of the 6.64 acres to Antonial. He did this to protect Antonial without disclosing the true ownership of the property on the public records. Later Larry decided he did not wish to maintain the property in his name and instructed Antonial to either take the steps to have [676]*676the public records reflect his ownership or find someone to whom he [Larry] could transfer the property. That someone became Lenard Jackson.

Despite obtaining a sizable tort settlement that enabled him to purchase the 6.64 acres and have money left over, Anto-nial continued to struggle personally and financially. He found himself incarcerated in jail for a probation violation and facing an Internal Revenue Service tax lien when Larry presented him with the ultimatum to transfer the property out of his name. Operating through Michelle, Antonial negotiated an arrangement whereby the property would be transferred into the Jacksons’ name. The particular terms of this arrangement comprise the basis for this litigation.

The transfer itself occurred on July 24, 2008, in the office of a Ville Platte attorney. The Fontenots executed a cash sale deed transferring the 6.64 acres to the 13Jacksons for the stated price of $25,000.00. The Fontenots received $16,611.34 of the proceeds and the balance was paid directly to Citizens Bank to cancel the mortgage Larry had placed on the property.2 The Jacksons borrowed the purchase price from Citizens Bank and secured that loan with a mortgage on the property. The terms of the mortgage required the Jacksons to pay the bank $291.33 per month for five years with a final $15,000.00 payment.

Thereafter, Antonial and Michelle continued to live in the residence on the 6.64 acres and paid the Jacksons $300.00 per month. They were inconsistent in their payments, and, in late 2009, Lenard informed the Millers that he was in the process of selling the property to someone else and they were to vacate the property. The Millers did not immediately vacate the property and, on January 30, 2010, the Jacksons served the Millers with a notice of eviction, ordering them to vacate the property within five days. The Millers responded with the suit now before us.

On February 23, 2010, the Millers filed suit against the Jacksons, seeking to prevent the Jacksons from selling the property and asking for specific performance of the oral contract allowing the Millers to buy back the property. Alternatively, the Millers sought to receive the money derived from the sale of the property that was over the amount the Jacksons had paid. On April 27, 2010, the Jacksons filed an answer and reconventional demand asking for a declaratory judgment recognizing them as the owners of the property.

Following an October 28, 2010 bench trial, the trial court found the sale to the Jacksons from the Fontenots to be a simulation provided for security purposes pursuant to La.Civ.Code art. 2569. Having reached that conclusion, the trial court then granted the Millers sixty days to reimburse the Jacksons the purchase price paid to the Fontenots less a credit for all the $300.00 monthly payments made to the 14 Jacksons since the July 24, 2008 transaction. As a part of the repayment opportunity, the Jacksons were ordered to remove any and all encumbrances against the property within sixty days after the repayment was made. Failure to reimburse the Jacksons within the sixty-day time period would, according to the trial court judgment, vest title to the 6.64 acres in the Jacksons.

[677]*677Despite the lack of written proof, there is no dispute over the fact that Antonial was the actual owner of the 6.64 acres transferred to the Jacksons. Both Larry and Antonial testified to the terms of the October 2002 transaction, and Larry acknowledged that Antonial began living on the property after the sale. Absent any evidence to the contrary, this testimony satisfies the requirements of La.Civ.Code art. 1839, which states, in pertinent part, that “an oral transfer is valid between the parties when the property has been actually delivered and the transferor recognizes the transfer when interrogated on oath.” In fact, Lenard acknowledged in his testimony that he knew Antonial was the actual owner of the property when he entered into the July 24, 2008 act of transfer with the Fontenots. There is also no dispute over the fact that the 6.64 acres was appraised at $65,000.00 at the time of the July 24, 2008 transaction. The dispute involves how that 2008 act of transfer is to be interpreted.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 So. 3d 673, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 773, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1460, 2011 WL 6060363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-jackson-lactapp-2011.