Nez Perce Tribe v. Little Hope Investments, L.L.C.

91 P.3d 1123, 140 Idaho 219, 2004 Ida. LEXIS 98
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMay 21, 2004
DocketNo. 29287
StatusPublished

This text of 91 P.3d 1123 (Nez Perce Tribe v. Little Hope Investments, L.L.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nez Perce Tribe v. Little Hope Investments, L.L.C., 91 P.3d 1123, 140 Idaho 219, 2004 Ida. LEXIS 98 (Idaho 2004).

Opinion

BURDICK, Justice.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Michael and Esther Axtell, husband and wife, the owners of real property located in Nez Perce County, obtained a loan from Beneficial Mortgage Company of Idaho in February 1997. The loan documents described the property as three separate parcels, although the Axtells’ 1996 survey that was recorded with the Nez Perce County Recorder’s Office divided the property into (1) a one-acre parcel and (2) Tract A, which was later to be described as parcels 1, 2, and 3. The Axtells defaulted on the loan, and Beneficial brought a foreclosure action, which ultimately resulted in the issuance of a deed of foreclosure providing for sale of the real property “in the following order: Parcels 1, 2, and 3 first and then parcel 4.”

In the judicial foreclosure proceedings, the district court issued a Corrected Deed of Foreclosure containing findings that the Ax-tells were in default of the loan; the debt was secured by Beneficial’s deed of trust on property described as parcels 1, 2, 3, and 4; and directing the sheriff to sell parcels 1, 2, and 3 first and then parcel 4; and directing the sheriff to issue a sheriffs deed after the applicable period of redemption expired. The sale took place on September 11, 2000. Axtell did not appeal the legal description in the judgment nor move for setting aside of the sheriffs sale because of the legal description within a reasonable time.

At the foreclosure sale, the Nez Perce Tribe purchased pai’cels 1, 2, and 3. The Tribe received a sheriff’s deed to the property on March 21, 2001, six months and ten days after the sale. The Tribe duly recorded the sheriffs deed.

Three hundred sixty-four days after the sheriff’s sale, the Axtells executed and recorded a quitclaim deed and an assignment of their redemption rights regarding parcels 1, 2, and 3 in favor of Little Hope Investments, LLC (“Little Hope”). On that same day, Little Hope, in an attempt to exercise a redemption and obtain a deed of reconveyance, tendered the full amount paid by the Tribe for the subject parcels to the sheriff.

The Nez Perce Tribe brought a quiet title action in February 2002 against the Axtells and Little Hope Investments, LLC, the successor in interest to the Axtells and assignees of the Axtells’ redemption rights on the foreclosed property. Little Hope Investments, LLC filed a counterclaim seeking a declaration that the Tribe had no right, title or interest in parcels 1, 2, and 3 and seeking an order requiring the sheriff to issue a deed of reconveyance and for money damages for the failure to issue said deed.

The Tribe, the County and the sheriff filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted after concluding (1) that the applicable period of redemption on the subject parcels consisting of less than twenty acres each was six months and (2) [221]*221that the efforts of Little Hope Investments, LLC after that period were ineffectual. As an alternative basis for his ruling granting summary judgment to the County, the district judge also held as a matter of law that Little Hope’s claim against the County is not a recognized tort under Idaho law. Little Hope earlier stipulated to the dismissal of the asserted claims against the sheriff personally.

Little Hope Investments, LLC appeals the summary judgment motion in favor of the Nez Perce Tribe and the County. Little Hope contests the district court’s interpretation of the time within which redemption was available, claiming that the words “tract of land” in I.C. § 11-402 are not defined and not distinguished from “multiple parcels.” Little Hope argues that the sale of the property as separate parcels should not preclude redemption of the property as a single tract. Little Hope also argues that the actions or omissions of the sheriff, as agent of Nez Perce County, in selling the property do indeed constitute a tort, which it should have been allowed to pursue.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When considering a ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the standard of review is the same as that used by the trial court in ruling on the motion. Baxter v. Craney, 135 Idaho 166, 170, 16 P.3d 263, 267 (2000). All disputed facts are to be liberally construed in favor of the non-moving party, and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the record are to be drawn in favor of the non-moving party. Eagle Water Company, Inc. v. Roundy Pole Fence Co., Inc., 134 Idaho 626, 628, 7 P.3d 1103, 1105 (2000). Summary judgment is appropriate only when the pleadings, depositions affidavits and admissions on file show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. I.R.C.P. 56(c).

ANALYSIS

The cloud on the Nez Perce Tribe’s title was created by the recording of the Axtells’ quitclaim deed to Little Hope Investments, LLC of Parcels 1, 2, and 3 and an assignment of the Axtells’ redemption rights referring to the real property described in Exhibit A of the Corrected Deed of Foreclosure dated July 11, 2000. The purported conveyances were dated September 10, 2001, which was 364 days from the date of the foreclosure sale on the property described therein.

In its motion for summary judgment, the Nez Perce Tribe asserted that no genuine issues of material fact existed and that the Tribe was thus entitled to judgment as a matter of law and clear title to the property purchased at the foreclosure sale of September 11,2000. According to the Tribe’s motion, the undisputed facts were that the Axtells, the defaulting party, had consented to describe the property as three separate parcels as a condition for obtaining financing from Beneficial and that from that time (February 1997), the property description was dealt with by the court and other county officials as three separate parcels, and the sheriff sold each of the parcels separately. The Tribe alleged that the Corrected Decree of Foreclosure entered by the district court on July 11, 2000, referenced the Axtells’ deed of trust and accompanying “Exhibit A,” which contained three distinct legal descriptions for Parcels 1, 2 and 3. Further, the Corrected Decree, at paragraph 4, provided that the property described in Exhibit A “shall be sold by the Sheriff of Nez Perce County, Idaho, according to law, in the following order: Parcels 1, 2, and 3 shall be sold separately first and then Parcel 4.” The court’s order is not ambiguous. It instructed the sheriff to sell parcels 1, 2, 3 and 4 in that order. It is undisputed that the Nez Perce Tribe purchased each of the three parcels at the sale, and that on March 21, 2001, it was issued a sheriffs deed listing the three parcels. Parcel 4 was not sold as parcels 1, 2, and 3 paid the foreclosure judgment and all costs.

The issue raised by Little Hope on appeal requires the Court to decide the applicable redemption period relative to the Axtells’ property, which was the subject of the foreclosure action. Little Hope argues that no appellate court has yet construed the language of I.C. § 11-402 governing redemptions or ruled on whether the sale of the [222]*222property in separate parcels pursuant to I.C. § 11-304 necessarily dictates that redemption must in like manner be of separate parcels, thus invoking a six-month redemption period.

Idaho Code, Section 11-402 provides in pertinent part:

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

Related

Sweeney v. Otter
804 P.2d 308 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1990)
Eagle Water Co., Inc. v. Roundy Pole Fence Co., Inc.
7 P.3d 1103 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2000)
Baxter v. Craney
16 P.3d 263 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2000)
Gooding County v. Wybenga
46 P.3d 18 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
91 P.3d 1123, 140 Idaho 219, 2004 Ida. LEXIS 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nez-perce-tribe-v-little-hope-investments-llc-idaho-2004.