Stenquist v. JMG Holdings LLC

2016 UT App 180, 379 P.3d 941, 820 Utah Adv. Rep. 57, 2016 Utah App. LEXIS 186, 2016 WL 4491533
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedAugust 25, 2016
Docket20150505-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2016 UT App 180 (Stenquist v. JMG Holdings LLC) 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
Stenquist v. JMG Holdings LLC, 2016 UT App 180, 379 P.3d 941, 820 Utah Adv. Rep. 57, 2016 Utah App. LEXIS 186, 2016 WL 4491533 (Utah Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Opinion

TOOMEY, Judge: -

T1 This appeal concerns the priority of Ross Stenquist and Carolyn Heath Sten-quigt's secured interest in real property (the Property) in Cache County, Utah. We must determine whether the district court properly granted summary judgment in the Sten-quists' favor when it determined that, as a matter of law, Lavon. McBride's senior trust deed was extinguished when he accepted title to the Property in lieu of foreclosure, We conclude that it did and therefore affirm.

12 The underlying facts of this case are undisputed. Before 2006, Lavon McBride, owner of McBride Construction, owned the Property and developed it into a residential neighborhood. In June 2006, MeBride sold and conveyed the Property to Golden Crest Homes, Inc. Golden Crest executed a trust deed in McBride's favor (the MeBride Trust Deed), securing the repayment of a $240,000 promissory note (the McBride Note).

13 In September 2006, Golden Crest conveyed the Property to JMG Holdings LLC. 2 JMG later executed a trust deed in favor of the Stenquists, securing the repayment of a $300,000 promissory note by 'June 80, 2008 (the Stenquist Trust Deed and Note) JMG eventually defaulted on its obligations to McBride and the Stenquists,

4 In lieu of foreclosure, in January 2011, McBride accepted title to the Property via a quitclaim deed as satisfaction of the McBride Note. Specifically, in a document- titled "Es- *943 toppel Affidavit," JMG and MeBride agreed that "the consideration for said [quitclaim deed] was and is the full cancellation of that certain Note signed by [JMG] to [McBride] secured by that certain [MeBride] Trust Deed signed by [JMG] and recorded against the Property."

115 In December 2012, the Stenquists filed an action seeking foreclosure of the Stenquist Trust Deed and Note. In their amended complaint, the Stenquists asserted, among other things, that the McBride Trust Deed "had been extinguished ... by virtue of the Quit Claim Deed." They also contended that any security interest in the Property claimed by McBride was inferior to their security interest. McBride answered the Stenquists' complaint and filed a counterclaim, arguing that his interest in the Property "has never been subordinated to [the Stenquist Trust Deed]."

16 After discovery was completed and a bench trial had been scheduled, the Sten-quists filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that because the "McBride Note was satisfied in full by execution and delivery of the Quitclaim Deeds," the "MeBride Trust Deed no longer secures any obligation and it no longer enecumbers the Property." "Accordingly," they argued, "[the Stenquists] are entitled to judgment declaring that the McBride Trust Deed no longer encumbers the Property and [any of McBride's security] interests in the Property are junior to [the Stenquist Trust Deed and Note)." Alternatively, the Stenquists argued "(elven assuming the McBride Note was not satisfied in full, because of the merger doctrine, the McBride Trust Deed was merged into McBride's fee title ownership of the Property.”

17 In June 2014, the court granted the Stenquists' summary judgment motion. In its memorandum decision, the court concluded, "These facts, when applied to the law ..., establish the McBride Trust Deed was extinguished by virtue of JMG's satisfaction of the debt secured by the property in question." Further, it concluded, "As there is no additional debt left payable under the terms of the McBride Note having been fully satisfied, .. the McBride Trust Deed was extinguished and that [the Stenquist Trust Deed and Note] is superior to any identified claims of [MeBride].". Finally, the court determined that, because it "decided this motion based on the issue of satisfaction, it need not address the issues concerning merger."

18 McBride then sought to have the district court revise its decision, arguing that JMG's obligation to repay the McBride Note was not the only obligation secured by the McBride Trust Deed. Particularly, McBride argued JMG's "[tlax obligations," "maintenance obligations," and "duty to defend claims against the property [are] ongoing." The court denied MeBride's motion, concluding that "nothing therein justifies further modification" of the June 2014 memorandum decision.

T9 McBride appealed.

ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

10 The issue on appeal is whether the court erred in granting the Stenquists' summary judgment motion. A district court properly grants a summary judgment motion when "'there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law'" WebBank v. American Gen. Annuity Service Corp., 2002 UT 88, ¶ 10, 54 P.3d 1139 (omission in original) (quoting Utah R. Civ. P. 56(c). 3 "An appellate court reviews a trial court's legal conclusions and ultimate grant or denial of summary judgment for correctness, and views the facts and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Orvis v. Johnson, 2008 UT 2, ¶ 6, 177 P.3d 600 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

ANALYSIS

11 At the heart of McBride's appeal is the assertion that the McBride Trust Deed was not extinguished when the McBride Note was satisfied. Rather, McBride argues, under an exception to the merger doctrine, that its legal and equitable interests in the Property did not merge and that a "trust deed cannot expire automatically if it is against [MeBride's] interests." Thus, he asserts, the *944 court "must consider the parties' intent"-a question of fact-"before declaring that a trust deed has been satisfied." Finally, McBride argues that, based on the plain language of the McBride Trust Deed, it contemplated the satisfaction of multiple obligations, not just the satisfaction of the note.

Y12 McBride has not provided any support for the proposition that a trust deed can survive the satisfaction of the note or the debt it secures. Rather, he relies heavily on cases from our appellate courts and courts in other jurisdictions that consider the merger doctrine, which generally provides that whenever a greater interest and a lesser interest in the same property are held by the same person, without an intermediate interest or estate, the lesser interest generally merges into the greater. See, e.g., O'Reilly v. McLean, 84 Utah 551, 37 P2d 770, 773 (1934); Miller v. Martineau & Co., 1999 UT App 216, ¶ 30, 983 P.2d 1107; see also, eg., Federal Land Bank of Wichita v. Colorado Nat'l Bank of Denver, 786 P.2d 514, 515-16 (Colo. App. 1989); Altabet v. Monroe Methodist Church, 54 Wash.App. 695, 777 P.2d 544, 545-46 (1989). But, as McBride points out, these cases also demonstrate that "mergers are presumed only when equity demands." Federal Land Bank of Wichita, 786 P.2d at 515; accord O'Reilly, 37 P.2d at 773; Miller, 1999 UT App 216, ¶¶ 32-33, 983 P.2d 1107.

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

Related

United States v. Peck
139 F.4th 1158 (Tenth Circuit, 2025)
Stenquist v. McBride
387 P.3d 508 (Utah Supreme Court, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 UT App 180, 379 P.3d 941, 820 Utah Adv. Rep. 57, 2016 Utah App. LEXIS 186, 2016 WL 4491533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stenquist-v-jmg-holdings-llc-utahctapp-2016.