Phillips v. City of New Orleans

194 So. 3d 1254, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0374, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1096, 2016 WL 3090815
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-CA-0374
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 194 So. 3d 1254 (Phillips v. City of New Orleans) 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
Phillips v. City of New Orleans, 194 So. 3d 1254, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0374, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1096, 2016 WL 3090815 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

EDWIN A. LOMBARD, Judge.

|¶ The Appellant, the City of New Orleans (“the City”), seeks review of the December 16, 2014 judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Keidra Phillips and the Succession of William E.' Phillips, the Appellees. Pursuant to our de novo review, we find that genuine issues of material fact exist; thus, we reverse the judgment of the district court and reniánd' for further proceedings.

This appeal involves the seizure and sheriffs sale of 2439 General Taylor St; (“the Property”), which is located in New Orleans. The Property was owned by William E; Phillips, who died on October 18, 2008, while residing in Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Phillips was listed as the owner of the Property in the Orleans Parish conveyance and mortgage records1 as well as in the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office (“the Assessor’s Office”) with the following mailing address: 2434 Penistpn Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115.

' Keidra Phillips (“Miss Phillips”) is the daughter of Mr. Phillips. Following his death, she served as the attorney of record and independent administrator for |2his succession in Civil District Court case numbers 2009-3175 and 2009-4307, respectively. In case number 2009-3175, a Judgment of Possession rendered on February 24, 2012, placed Miss Phillips in possession of the Property. The Judgment of Possession was recorded in Orleans Parish conveyance records on September 17, 2013.

However, between the time of Mr. Phillips’ death and the recordation of the Judgment of Possession, the City inspected the Property in February 2010. Discovering the Property was abandoned and unoccupied, the City issued a citation for several violations of the City’s Code of Ordinances. Notice of the Violations and a Hearing Notice were sent to the owner of record, Mr. Phillips, at 2434 Peniston Street. The City also sent an additional Notice of Violations to Mr. Phillips via certified mail to an address in. Stow, Ohio.

In April 2010, the* Property was re-inspected and code violations were still present. An administrative hearing held in May 2010 resulted in a conditional guilty determination pending proof of substantial work in progress. The Property was later adjudicated blighted by a judgment rendered on July 14, 2010 and signed on July 21, 2010.

Thereafter, in December 2010, the City filed a Request for Issuance of Writ of Fieri Facias in Civil District Court, case number 2010-12890, City of New Orleans v. William E. Phillips.2 Keith A. Doley, Esq., was appointed as curator ad hoc in the writ proceeding .in March 2011. Mr. Doley was naturally unable to locate Mr. Phillips, whose death the City claims to have been unaware of at the |stime. An initial sale of the Property was scheduled for June 14, 2011, but the sale did not [1257]*1257proceed because the writ was not yet issued.

Mr. Doleos Affidavit of Results and Fulfillment of -Duties (“the Affidavit”), notarized on June 27, 2011, ' reflects that he served Mr. Phillips through an' express mail letter sent to Miss Phillips at a Pear-land, Texas address. He further' attested that her name was listed in the Assessor’s Office’s records to receive mail on behalf of her father for the Property, Lastly, he attested that:

an express mail letter was received at 11804 Crescent Cove Dr,, Pearland, TX 77584, the address of Keidra J. Phillips on behalf of William E. Phillips, on June 10, 2011 and signed for by KaRon Smith, who lives at the- address in Pearland, Tx. with Keidra Phillips.

The Affidavit further states that ads were placed in the Time Picayune from May ISIS, 2011. Apparently, the writ was subsequently issued.3

Thereafter, the Property was set for sheriffs sale on August 15, 2012, but was not sold. On September 5,2018, the Property was purchased by David M. Waldheim for $67,000 at sheriffs sale. Mr. Waldheim’s purchase occurred approximately two weeks before Miss Phillips’ Judgment of Possession was recordéd. 'Miss Phillips represents that at'the time of the sheriffs sale, she had .renovated the Property, obtained an occupancy permit and was renting out the Property to a tenant.

The Appellees filed a Petition to Annul Sheriffs Sale, For Damages and Injunc-tive Relief against the City, the Sheriff for the Parish of Orleans and Mr. Waldheim in October 2013.. Thereafter, the Appellees moved for summary judgment against the City and Mr. Waldheim asserting that there was an | ¿unconstitutional taking of the Property without due process notice to Mr. Phillips and the Appellees of the administrative hearing, blight judgment, the issuance of the writ of fieri facias and the Sheriffs sale. The district-court granted the motion finding that the Appellees were not provided adequate notice.

This timely suspensive appeal followed. The sole assignment of error raised by the City is that the trial court committed manifest error when it found that the Appel-lees had not been served with proper notice of the seizure and subsequent sheriff sale of the Property.

Motion for Summary Judgment Standard of Review

A motion for summary judgment will be granted “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on .file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 966 B(2), The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists. La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 966 C(2).

If the movant makes a prima facie showing that the motion should be granted, the burden then shifts to the non-moving party to produce evidence demonstrating that a material factual issue remains; the .failure to do so mandates granting of the motion. Surcouf v. Darling, 15-0278, p. 13 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/21/15), 177 So.3d 1085, 1093. The non-moving party’s response may not rest on the allegations or denials contained in his pleading, but must set forth, by affidavit or otherwise provided by law, specific facts [1258]*1258showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. Id. (citing La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 967 B). Appellate courts review a judgment granting or denying a motion for summary judgment de novo, under the same criteria that govern the trial court’s | .^determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Id., 15-0278, p. 12, 177 So.3d at 1093 [citations omitted].

Due Process Notice

The City argues that the trial court erred in granting the Appellees’ motion for summary judgment because Miss Phillips received all due process notice required by law and that numerous genuine issues of material fact remain. Although she alleges that she had no knowledge of the proposed sale of the Property, Miss Phillips, the City avers, was served with notice of the writ proceeding as indicated in Mr. Doley’s Affidavit and the attached return showing that an express-mailed letter was received at her address in Pearland, Texas and was signed for by a member of her household. This is compliant with the actual notice requirement of Mennonite Board of Missions v. Adams, 462 U.S. 791, 795, 103 S.Ct. 2706, 77 L.Ed.2d 180 (1983), it argues.

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Bluebook (online)
194 So. 3d 1254, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0374, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1096, 2016 WL 3090815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-v-city-of-new-orleans-lactapp-2016.