Roser v. Hufstedler

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 13, 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Roser v. Hufstedler (Roser v. Hufstedler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roser v. Hufstedler, (N.M. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

The slip opinion is the first version of an opinion released by the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court. Once an opinion is selected for publication by the Court, it is assigned a vendor-neutral citation by the Chief Clerk for compliance with Rule 23-112 NMRA, authenticated and formally published. The slip opinion may contain deviations from the formal authenticated opinion.

1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 Opinion Number:

3 Filing Date: March 13, 2023

4 No. A-1-CA-39687

5 SCOTT ROSER and ROBERTA ROSER,

6 Plaintiffs-Appellees,

7 v.

8 JESSICA L. HUFSTEDLER,

9 Defendant-Appellant.

10 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF LINCOLN COUNTY 11 John P. Sugg, District Court Judge

12 Scott Roser 13 Roberta Roser 14 Ruidoso, NM

15 Pro Se Appellees

16 New Mexico Legal Aid, Inc. 17 Lucilla C.G. Clarke 18 Roswell, NM

19 for Appellant 1 OPINION

2 BOGARDUS, Judge.

3 {1} Jessica Hufstedler (Resident) appeals the district court’s order denying her

4 counterclaim for unlawful diminution of services based on her landlords’ act of

5 directing a utility provider to shut off Resident’s water services due to Resident’s

6 unpaid water bill. Resident argues the district court erred in denying her

7 counterclaim, contending that the district court misinterpreted NMSA 1978, Section

8 47-8-36(A)(4) (1995) of the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act (UORRA). We

9 agree with Resident and reverse.

10 BACKGROUND

11 {2} This case arises from an action to evict Resident from property owned by Scott

12 and Roberta Roser (Owners). Pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 47-8-42 (1975) of

13 UORRA, Owners brought a petition for restitution of possession of the premises

14 against Resident based on unpaid rent and property damage, which Resident

15 answered. On March 9, 2021, the magistrate court entered a judgment for restitution

16 in favor of Owners and issued a corresponding writ of restitution. The writ ordered

17 the sheriff to remove Resident “on or after . . . March 16, 2021,” but “no later than

18 seven days following entry of judgment.” On March 15, 2021, Resident filed a notice

19 of appeal of the magistrate court’s judgment in the district court. 1 {3} It is undisputed that, as of Friday, March 19, 2021, the writ of restitution had

2 not been executed, and Resident remained in possession of the premises. As of that

3 date, Resident’s utility bill from the Village of Ruidoso (the Village) showed that

4 she owed the Village $738.39 for water services, which included a past due amount

5 of $612.38 for several months of unpaid charges. As owners of the property,

6 Owners were ultimately responsible for paying this water bill.

7 {4} Aware of Resident’s outstanding balance, Owners called the Village on

8 March 19, 2021, and directed the Village to shut off water services for

9 nonpayment. The Village shut off the water that same day. After 4:00 p.m. on

10 March 19, 2021, Resident paid the Village the past due amount. By the time

11 Owners learned that Resident had paid the outstanding balance, however, the

12 Village water department had closed for the weekend. The Village restored

13 water service the following Monday, March 22, 2021.

14 {5} With the district court’s permission, Resident filed an amended answer,

15 adding a counterclaim for unlawful diminution of services pursuant to Section 47-8-

16 36(A)(4), and seeking abatement of rent for the days Resident was without water

17 service. After a bench trial, the district court denied Resident’s claim for unlawful

18 diminution of services. Resident appeals, and Owner declined to participate in the

19 appeal.

2 1 DISCUSSION

2 {6} Resident argues that the district court erred in denying her counterclaim for

3 unlawful diminution of services because the court misinterpreted Section 47-8-

4 36(A)(4). Whether Section 47-8-36(A)(4) permitted Owner to direct the Village to

5 shut off Resident’s water services involves statutory construction and the application

6 of the statute to undisputed facts, which is a question of law that we review de novo.

7 See Hedicke v. Gunville, 2003-NMCA-032, ¶ 24, 133 N.M. 335, 62 P.3d 1217

8 (stating that statutory interpretation is an issue of law which this Court reviews de

9 novo); Giant Cab, Inc. v. CT Towing, Inc., 2019-NMCA-072, ¶ 6, 453 P.3d 466

10 (“We review de novo the district court’s application of law to the facts.”). Resident

11 argues the district court misinterpreted two provisions of Section 47-8-36(A)(4): (1)

12 the meaning of “court order” and (2) language addressing an owner’s obligations

13 regarding a resident’s unpaid utility charges. We review each argument in turn.1

1 The parties have presented no argument addressing the intent required under Section 47-8-36(A)(4), or whether Owners directed the Village to shut off water services with the required intent. The district court likewise made no determination in this regard. We therefore need not decide and express no opinion on this issue. See Pirtle v. Legis. Council Comm. of N.M. Legislature, 2021-NMSC-026, ¶ 58, 492 P.3d 586 (“As a general rule, appellate courts rely on adversarial briefing to decide legal issues and avoid reaching out to construct legal arguments that the parties, intentionally or otherwise, have not presented. . . . With rare exceptions, this Court . . . should decide the issues presented by the parties, as the parties present them.” (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)).

3 1 I. The District Court Erred in Concluding That a “Court Order” Permitted 2 Owners to End Water Services

3 {7} Section 47-8-36(A) states that “an owner or any person acting on behalf of the

4 owner shall not knowingly exclude the resident, remove, threaten or attempt to

5 remove or dispossess a resident from the dwelling unit without a court order” by

6 taking any one of a series of actions, including by “interfering with services or

7 normal and necessary utilities to the unit . . . including . . . hot or cold water.” Section

8 47-8-36(A)(4) (emphasis added). If the owner violates Section 47-8-36(A), the

9 resident may be entitled to certain remedies for unlawful diminution of services. See

10 § 47-8-36(C). The district court denied Resident’s counterclaim for unlawful

11 diminution of services based on its conclusion that, on the date, Owners directed the

12 Village to shut off Resident’s water, there was a “court order” permitting Owners to

13 end water service, pursuant to Section 47-8-36(A)(4). Specifically, the district court

14 determined that, at the time Owners directed the Village to end water services, the

15 magistrate court had already entered a judgment for restitution of the premises in

16 favor of Owners and issued a writ of restitution directing the sheriff to restore

17 possession to Owners, and that this judgment and writ constituted a “court order”

18 under Section 47-8-36(A). See NMSA 1978, § 47-8-46(A) (1995) (providing that,

19 “[u]pon petition for restitution filed by the owner if judgment is rendered against the

20 defendant for restitution of the premises, the court shall . . ., at the request of the

4 1 plaintiff or [their]attorney, issue a writ of restitution directing the sheriff to restore

2 possession of the premises to the plaintiff”).

3 {8} Resident argues that the district court misinterpreted “court order,”

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Roser v. Hufstedler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roser-v-hufstedler-nmctapp-2023.