PAM I, LLC v. Elmo Greer & Sons,LLC

491 S.W.3d 529, 2016 WL 3049734, 2016 Ky. App. LEXIS 88
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedMay 27, 2016
DocketNO. 2014-CA-002076-MR
StatusPublished

This text of 491 S.W.3d 529 (PAM I, LLC v. Elmo Greer & Sons,LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PAM I, LLC v. Elmo Greer & Sons,LLC, 491 S.W.3d 529, 2016 WL 3049734, 2016 Ky. App. LEXIS 88 (Ky. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

VANMETER, JUDGE:

. Long-standing Kentucky case law recognizes a tenant’s right to sue for damages to its leasehold interest. The issue we resolve in this case is whether the Laurel Circuit Court erred in dismissing PAM I, LLC’s, claim against Elmo Greer & Sons, LLC, for damages allegedly caused by the latter’s blasting on the basis that PAM had nó standing to bring the claim. We hold the trial court did err, vacate its summary judgment, and remand to that court for fuither proceedings.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

PAM filed this action in 2009 alleging that on April 5, 2007, it had leased from MIG Management, LLC, property on which a Quality Inn motel was located. PAM further alleged that it had an option to purchase the property, although, throughout the lengthy proceedings in the trial court, PAM apparently never exercised the option in question. PAM alleged that Greer had conducted blasting in the area during 2006-07 such that the' property was damaged.1

Greer filed repeated motions for summary judgment on the basis that as a lessee, PAM did not have standing to bring an action for damages to the property and that only MIG, as the owner/lessor, could bring such an action. The trial court granted summary 'judgment, dismissing PAM as a party, ruling

Greer in its motions to dismiss and for summary judgment [has] consistently argued that PAM lacks standing to [531]*531bring and maintain this action. This argument is based on PAM’s lack of an ownership interest in the subject premises. Indeed, the law views the landlord as constructively occupying the entire premises when it is in the possession of a lessee. See Fletcher Lumber Co. v. Fordson Coal Co., [311 Ky. 19, 23], 223 S.W.2d 175, 177-78 (1949). The claims seeking damages for injury to the real property are thus properly brought by the record owner of the real property at issue.
PAM, having failed to show any proof beyond its own allegations that it has standing by'virtue of any ownership interest ... cannot meet its burden as stated in Wymer [v. J.H. Properties, Inc., 50 S.W.3d 195 (Ky.2001) ]. As it is impossible for a party who lacks standing to produce evidence allowing a trier of fact to find in its favor, summary judgment is appropriate here as to the damage to the real property.

After PAM’s motion to alter, amend' or vacate was denied, this appeal followed.

II. Standard of Review.

CR2 56.03 provides that summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Summary judgment may be granted when “as a matter of law, 'it appears that it would be impossible for the respondent to produce evidence at the trial warranting a judgment in his favor and against the movant.” Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Serv. Ctr., Inc., 807 S.W.2d 476, 483 (Ky.1991) (internal quotations omitted). Whether summary judgment is appropriate is a legal question involving no factual findings, so a trial court’s grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Coomer v. CSX Transp., Inc., 319 S.W.3d 366, 370-71 (Ky.2010).

.When a party’s standing is challenged, “every well-pleaded allegation "of the complaint must be taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made." City of Louisville v. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co., 843 S.W.2d 327, 328 (Ky.1992) (citing Gall v. Scroggy, 725 S.W.2d 867 (Ky.App.1987)). On review, an appellate court confinés “itself to a determination of whether the matters alleged in the complaint establish appellant’s standing to bring the action or whether it is without a ‘substantial interest’ in the subject matter ■ of ■ the controversy.” Stock Yards, 843 S.W.2d at 328 (citing Winn v. First Bank of Irvington, 581 S.W.2d 21, 23 (Ky.App.1978)). In Winn, the court noted that “standing to sue ... is the right to relief.” Id.

In Slock Yards,' the Kentucky Supreme Court noted “[p]révailing Kentucky authority establishes the standard for standing to sue as ‘a judicially recognizable interest in the subject matter.’' The interest may not bé ‘remote and speculative,’, but must be a present and substantial interest in the subject inatter.” 843 S.W.2d at 328-29 (quoting HealthAmerica Corp. of Kentucky v. Humana Health Plan, Inc., 697 S.W.2d 946 (Ky.1985); Winn, supra). The Court further “recognized the difficulty of formulating a precise standard to determine 'whether a party has standing and held that the issue must be decided on the facts of each case.” 843 S.W.2d at 329.

III. Issue on Appeal.

As noted, the trial court dismissed this case on grounds that PAM' lacked standing to bring it. Its decision was based on the narrow legal ground that [532]*532PAM was merely a tenant of the property, had submitted no proof of an ownership interest in the property other than the 2007 lease, and, by virtue of the decision in Fletcher, MIG was the sole entity which could bring a claim for damage to the property.

The trial court’s decision ignores longstanding Kentucky case law which, conversely, recognizes the right of a tenant to bring an action for damages. In Walden v. Conn, 84 Ky. 312, 1 S.W. 537 (1886), Kentucky’s highest court held:

It is a well-settled rule that, when a contract of tenancy is consummated by the entry of the tenant, the exclusive right of possession is thereby instantly changed from the landlord to the tenant during his term, and for any injury to that possession the right of action is exclusively in him. This is so whether he retains the possession or not, because it is his exclusive right of possession that gives him the exclusive right of action for any injury done to it either by the landlord himself or .a stranger during the existence of that exclusive right. During the continuance of the tenant’s right of possession, the landlord has no right of action for any injury done to it by a stranger, or the tenant himself.

84 Ky. at 314, 1 S.W. at 538. The facts in Walden were that the landlord brought the action for trespass by a neighbor who put up a fence without his tenant’s permission, thereby depriving the landlord and the tenant of the use and possession of the land. The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s directing a verdict for the neighbor, dismissing the petition since the landlord had no right of action during the term of the tenant’s right of possession. Id.

The rule set out in Walden,

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Related

Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Service Center, Inc.
807 S.W.2d 476 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1991)
HealthAmerica Corp. of Kentucky v. Humana Health Plan, Inc.
697 S.W.2d 946 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1985)
Wymer v. JH Properties, Inc.
50 S.W.3d 195 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 2001)
Coomer v. CSX Transportation, Inc.
319 S.W.3d 366 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 2010)
City of Louisville v. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.
843 S.W.2d 327 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1992)
Gall v. Scroggy
725 S.W.2d 867 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1987)
Winn v. First Bank of Irvington
581 S.W.2d 21 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1978)
Louisville N. R. Co. v. Williams
53 S.W.2d 751 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1932)
Federal Gas, Oil & Coal Co. v. Harmon
71 S.W.2d 680 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
Flinn v. Blakeman
71 S.W.2d 961 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
Fletcher Lumber Co. v. Fordson Coal Co.
223 S.W.2d 175 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1949)
Walden v. Conn
1 S.W. 537 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1886)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
491 S.W.3d 529, 2016 WL 3049734, 2016 Ky. App. LEXIS 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pam-i-llc-v-elmo-greer-sonsllc-kyctapp-2016.