Roberts v. Russell

2012 UT App 241, 285 P.3d 1242, 715 Utah Adv. Rep. 60, 2012 WL 3600373, 2012 Utah App. LEXIS 246
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedAugust 23, 2012
Docket20110365-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2012 UT App 241 (Roberts v. Russell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. Russell, 2012 UT App 241, 285 P.3d 1242, 715 Utah Adv. Rep. 60, 2012 WL 3600373, 2012 Utah App. LEXIS 246 (Utah Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

*1244 OPINION

McHUGH, Presiding Judge:

T1 Jilene Roberts (Mrs. Roberts) appeals from the trial court's ruling that she waived her quiet title claim against Dr. Roger Russell, that Dr. Russell did not trespass on her property, and that she is not entitled to attorney fees. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

[ 2 Mrs. Roberts owns a parcel of property in rural Sanpete County (the Property). She owned the Property as a joint tenant with right of survivorship with her husband, Kent Max Roberts, until his death on April 5, 2010. To the east of the Property is a parcel of land owned by Jim and Jan Purkey. Directly north of the Property is a parcel of land owned by Dr. Russell.

18 In 1998, Mrs. Roberts signed a quitclaim deed, conveying a right of way over the northern thirty-two feet of the Property to the Purkeys as an access road to the Pur-keys' property. In 2002, the Robertses, the Purkeys, and several other property owners in their subdivision signed and dedicated a plat map (the Plat Map), which indicated that a thirty-two-foot wide strip of land would be dedicated as a street for the perpetual use of the signatory land owners and for public safety access. 1 The Plat Map described the thirty-two-foot wide strip over the Property as an "Access Easement." The location of the road on the Plat Map differed from the right of way described in the quitclaim deed to the Purkeys in that it erossed over the eastern boundary of the Property and diverged from the thirty-two foot easement in several areas along the northern border. In addition to the access road, there is a barbed wire fence near the northern edge of the Property. Dr. Russell or his predecessors-in-interest built this fence between 1999 and 2002.

T4 In January 2007, the Purkeys brought suit against the Robertses to resolve some disputes regarding use of the access road. In response, the Robertses commissioned a survey (the Survey) to determine the legal boundaries of their property. The Survey revealed that the existing road diverted from the right of way and encroached upon the east boundary of the Property and that Dr. Russell's fence encroached upon the northern boundary of the Property by up to fourteen- and-a-half feet.

{5 When Dr. Russell refused to move his fence despite the Survey, the Robertses filed a motion for joinder and brought a cross-claim for quiet title and injunction against him. The Robertses sought an order quieting title according to the Survey and prohibiting Dr. Russell from trespassing on the Property. Without the assistance of legal counsel, Dr. Russell answered the cross-claim but did not raise any affirmative defenses. Subsequently, Dr. Russell failed to respond to a motion for summary judgment filed by the Robertses, and the trial court entered judgment against him. At that point, Dr. Russell retained an attorney, who filed a motion to set aside the summary judgment. The Robertses opposed the motion, arguing that Dr. Russell had no legitimate defense because the Survey undisputedly established that his fence was trespassing on the Property. 2 Although the trial court set aside the summary judgment, it did so on the express condition that "[If [Dr. Russell] does not prevail in his defense, [the Robertses] shall be entitled to their reasonable attorney[] fees from the date of the Amended Order Granting Summary Judgment against [him]."

T 6 The case proceeded to a two-day bench trial in March 2010, during which the Rob-ertses pursued their claims against the Pur-keys related to the road and those arising out of the location of Dr. Russell's fence on the Property. During Mr. Roberts's testimony, the court asked him several questions and interpreted his answers as a partial waiver of the Robertses' claims against Dr. Russell, but it did not communicate this understanding at that time. When the Robertses' counsel argued in closing for "a quiet title to the *1245 north boundary according to the property description," the trial court responded that Mr. Roberts had waived any claims related to the encroachment of Dr. Russell's fence west of the Robertses' house. Counsel for the Robertses disagreed, stating that Mr. Roberts was "talking about the [access] easement" and that "to totally waive and relinquish his claim ... would need to be clear and unequivocal and that would probably need to actually come through his attorney that was what he was intending on doing." The trial court was unpersuaded and ruled that the Robertses had waived their claims with respect to any encroachment by Dr. Russell's fence on the west side of the Rob-ertses' home. After this exchange, counsel for Dr. Russell volunteered that he "heard Mr. Roberts say ... there's no reason to do anything west of my house regarding that roadway or the easement either." Prior to the court's comment during closing argument, Dr. Russell had not claimed that Mr. Roberts's testimony indicated an intent to waive the quiet title and trespass claims relating to the fence's encroachment on the northwest portion of the Property.

T7 After trial, the court issued Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, providing that "[Mr.] Roberts waived his claims for anything west of his house." However, it determined that "[the Roberts[es] [were] entitled to an order establishing the boundary line as shown on the Plat Map to the point east of the west line of [their] house." Accordingly, the trial court ordered that "[alny fences built on that portion of the property should be built on the property line." The trial court also determined that "[Dr.] Russell hald] not asserted any affirmative defenses ... and [that] the evidence presented at trial [was] not sufficient for thfe]l court to hold that the fence constitute(d] a boundary by acquiescence." In addition, the court stated that despite the fence's presence on the Property, there had been no "intentional trespass." Based on its substantive rulings, the trial court concluded that there was no prevailing party and that, therefore, neither party was entitled to attorney fees.

18 After her husband's death, Mrs. Roberts brought a motion to amend or alter judgment, arguing that she had not waived her claims against Dr. Russell to the west of the house, that she had proved the trespass claim against Dr. Russell, and that she was entitled to an order quieting title and directing Dr. Russell to remove the fence on the entire northern border of the Property. In addition, Mrs. Roberts argued that she had prevailed on the claims and was therefore entitled to attorney fees under the trial court's prior order setting aside the summary judgment.

19 The trial court refused to amend or alter its ruling. First, it reaffirmed that Mr. Roberts had waived the claims for encroachment on the Property west of the house. The court reasoned that the land was "essentially featureless" and that "[blecause of the existing graveled road, any movement of the dividing fence line seem[ed] pointless." It also rejected the argument that Mr. Roberts could not waive Mrs. Roberts's claims, explaining that if Mrs. Roberts disagreed with her husband's statements, she had an obligation to express that disagreement at trial. Finally, the court explained that both it and Dr. Russell had relied upon Mr. Roberts's waiver at trial. Second, the court renewed its conclusion that the Robertses had not proved trespass, stating that "such a claim .

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 UT App 241, 285 P.3d 1242, 715 Utah Adv. Rep. 60, 2012 WL 3600373, 2012 Utah App. LEXIS 246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-russell-utahctapp-2012.