Montierth v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co.

415 P.3d 654
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedApril 13, 2018
DocketS-17-0212
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 415 P.3d 654 (Montierth v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montierth v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co., 415 P.3d 654 (Wyo. 2018).

Opinion

FOX, Justice.

[¶ 1] John R. Montierth filed suit in district court, seeking to quiet title to property he purchased at a tax sale. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company (Deutsche Bank), the mortgagee on the property and a defendant in the quiet title suit, filed counterclaims alleging that Mr. Montierth's tax deed was void. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of Deutsche Bank, concluding that the statutorily-required notice regarding redemption provided by Mr. Montierth to the property owner and to Deutsche Bank was deficient and that the tax deed was void. Mr. Montierth appeals. We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] We restate the issues as follows:

1. Did Deutsche Bank have standing to challenge Mr. Montierth's quiet title action?
2. Did the district court properly conclude that Mr. Montierth's tax deed is void?
3. Did the district court's reliance upon a document that was not contained in the record amount to reversible error?
4. Do the doctrines of laches and unclean hands apply to bar Deutsche Bank's argument that the tax deed is void?
5. Did the district court err when it concluded that Mr. Montierth could not recover on his common law unjust enrichment claim and when it declined to examine Mr. Montierth's statutory claims for reimbursement?

FACTS

[¶ 3] The facts in this case are undisputed. In June 2005, Kevin Alvesteffer borrowed $168,000 from Ameriquest Mortgage Company (Ameriquest) to purchase property in Green River, Wyoming. Ameriquest recorded a mortgage on the property and, in 2009, assigned the mortgage to Deutsche Bank. Property taxes on the property were not paid, which resulted in a tax delinquency and tax sale. John R. Montierth purchased the property at the tax sale for $977.83 in August 2007. On January 17, 2013, Mr. Montierth mailed the notice required under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-13-108(e)(v)(B) to Mr. Alvesteffer and to Deutsche Bank, and beginning on January 18, 2013, he published a notice of his intent to apply for a tax deed for three days in the Rock Springs newspaper. Mr. Montierth never personally served Mr. Alvesteffer with the statutory notice.

[¶ 4] The January 17 notice letter stated:

Take notice that on May 2, 2013, per the Wyoming Statute, John R. Montierth will make application for a tax deed with respect to the following property in Sweetwater County, Wyoming:
EDGEWATER ADDN BLK 6 LOT 4.
On August 2, 2007, John R. Montierth purchased said real property for 2006 delinquent taxes. The street address is 1625 Colorado Cir., Green River, WY 82935. The property was taxed in the name of ALVESTEFFER, KEVIN J. The time for redemption of said property expired August 2, 2011 .[1 ]

*658(Emphasis added.) Neither Mr. Alvesteffer nor Deutsche Bank responded to the notice or redeemed the property. On May 9, 2013, Sweetwater County issued a tax deed conveying the property to Mr. Montierth. The deed was recorded on May 14, 2013. After receiving the tax deed, Mr. Montierth invested a significant amount of money in the property to make it livable.

[¶ 5] Mr. Montierth filed this lawsuit against Mr. Alvesteffer and Deutsche Bank, seeking to quiet title to the property and void Deutsche Bank's mortgage lien. Mr. Alvesteffer failed to answer and the district court entered default judgment against him. Deutsche Bank asserted affirmative defenses and counterclaimed for declaratory relief, alleging that the tax deed was void because Mr. Montierth's notice was defective since it contained the wrong redemption date and was not properly served upon Mr. Alvesteffer. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment; the district court granted Deutsche Bank's motion for summary judgment and denied Mr. Montierth's motion. Mr. Montierth timely appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 6] We review the district court's entry of summary judgment as follows:

Summary judgment can be sustained only when no genuine issues of material fact are present and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. W.R.C.P. 56(c) ; Felix Felicis, LLC v. Riva Ridge Owners Ass'n , 2016 WY 67, ¶ 29, 375 P.3d 769, 778 (Wyo. 2016). We review a grant of summary judgment deciding a question of law de novo. Id . We accord no deference to the district court on issues of law and may affirm the summary judgment on any legal grounds appearing in the record. Sky Harbor Air Serv., Inc. v. Cheyenne Reg'l Airport Bd. , 2016 WY 17, ¶ 40, 368 P.3d 264, 272 (Wyo. 2016).

Anadarko Land Corp. v. Family Tree Corp. , 2017 WY 24, ¶ 15, 389 P.3d 1218, 1223 (Wyo. 2017) (quoting Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc. v. City of Cheyenne , 2016 WY 125, ¶ 10, 386 P.3d 329, 333 (Wyo. 2016) ).

DISCUSSION

I. Did Deutsche Bank have standing to challenge Mr. Montierth's quiet title action?

[¶ 7] Mr. Montierth filed this action to quiet title based upon the tax deed and he named Deutsche Bank as a defendant. Deutsche Bank successfully argued to the district court that the tax deed is void for two reasons: first, the notice erroneously indicated that the time for redemption had passed, and second, the notice was not personally served on Mr. Alvesteffer, as required by statute. Mr. Montierth contends that even though it sued Deutsche Bank, the bank lacks standing to assert these arguments.

[¶ 8] Both parties cite White v. Woods , 2009 WY 29A, 208 P.3d 597 (Wyo. 2009) in support of their standing arguments. In White , we considered whether parties who claimed ownership of property by adverse possession had standing to challenge a tax deed. Id . at ¶ 20, 208 P.3d at 603. We explained "[t]he validity of a tax title or of a tax sale can be assailed only by one who can show that he or those under whom he claims had some title to or interest in the property at the time of the sale." Id .

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Bluebook (online)
415 P.3d 654, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montierth-v-deutsche-bank-natl-trust-co-wyo-2018.