Sunset Realty, Inc. v. Antonini

836 So. 2d 1173, 2003 WL 184138
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 29, 2003
Docket36,788-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 836 So. 2d 1173 (Sunset Realty, Inc. v. Antonini) 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
Sunset Realty, Inc. v. Antonini, 836 So. 2d 1173, 2003 WL 184138 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

836 So.2d 1173 (2003)

SUNSET REALTY, INC., Plaintiff-Appellees,
v.
Alfred J. ANTONINI and Alva Jane Marquez Antonini, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 36,788-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 29, 2003.

*1174 Mayer, Smith & Roberts, L.L.P. by: David F. Butterfield, for Appellants.

Theus, Grisham, Davis & Leigh, L.L.P. by: Edwin K. Theus, Jr., Monroe, for Appellee.

Before CARAWAY, PEATROSS & DREW, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

This appeal arises from a summary judgment granted by the trial court in favor of the plaintiff, Sunset Realty, Inc. ("Sunset"), and against the defendants, Alfred J. Antonini and Alva Jane Marquez Antonini (collectively "the Antoninis"). The Antoninis appeal the judgment of the trial court. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.

FACTS

The Antoninis were the record owners of certain immovable property situated in Ouachita Parish. The property is described as:

The East one-half (E/2) of Lot Twenty (20) of that portion of the Fennell Estate situated South of DeSiard Road, being a portion of Ingleside Plantation, in Sections 21, 28, 37 and 38, Township 18 North, Range 4 East, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, as per plat recorded in Plat Book 8, page 27 of the records of said parish; said tract fronting 225.005 feet on the South line of Blanks Street and running back into said Lot Twenty (20) between parallel lines, one of which is the East line of Lot Twenty (20), a distance of 1749.08 feet, more or less, on said East line, to the South line of said Lot Twenty (20).

As a result of the Antoninis' failure to pay property taxes on this property for the tax year 1996, the Ouachita Parish Sheriff conducted a tax sale of the property on June 11, 1997. At the Sheriff's tax sale, the property at issue was sold to Charles R. Theus ("Theus") for the sum of $13,057.05. *1175 The Tax Collector's Deed conveying the property to Theus was recorded in the conveyance records in Ouachita Parish on June 18, 1997. The deed described the property as:

E½ Lot 20 Fennell Est. lying S of De Siard St & Frtg 225.005 Ft. on S side Blanks, depth S 1749.08 Ft. R-67606, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana.

Thereafter, Theus paid the property taxes on the property. On September 28, 2000, he sold the property to Sunset. On that same day, the Ouachita Parish Sheriff recorded a document entitled "Act of Correction" in the conveyance records in Ouachita Parish, substituting for the shortened description of the property in the Tax Collector's Deed recorded on June 18, 1997, a longer description of the property. The property was then described as:

The East one-half (E/2) of Lot Twenty (20) of that portion of the Fennell Estate situated South of DeSiard Road, being a portion of Ingleside Plantation, in Sections 21, 28, 37 and 38, Township 18 North, Range 4 East, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, as per plat recorded in Plat Book 8, page 27 of the records of said parish; said tract fronting 225.005 feet on the South line of Blanks Street and running back into said Lot Twenty (20) between parallel lines, one of which is the East line of Lot Twenty (20), a distance of 1749.08 feet, more or less, on said East line, to the South line of said Lot Twenty (20).

The deed which conveyed the property to Sunset and which contained the longer description was recorded in the conveyance records in Ouachita Parish on October 6, 2000. At no point did the Antoninis ever take any steps to redeem the property.

On September 10, 2001, Sunset sued the Antoninis to quiet the tax title of the property at issue, pursuant to the provisions of La. R.S. 47:2228. Mr. Antonini filed his answer on October 23, 2001, and Mrs. Antonini filed her answer on October 31, 2001. The Antoninis did not conduct any discovery, nor did they take any other action. On February 21, 2002, Sunset filed a motion for summary judgment, attaching to the motion and the supporting affidavit what it believed to be the Tax Collector's Deed conveying the property from the Antoninis to Theus. Also attached to the motion for summary judgment was the "Act of Correction" dated September 28, 2000, and the deed conveying the property from Theus to Sunset. The motion for summary judgment was set to be heard on March 13, 2002.

On March 11, 2002, the Antoninis filed an opposition to Sunset's motion for summary judgment, alleging that Sunset's motion was defective because of material issues of fact in dispute and because Sunset was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Among the issues of material fact alleged by the Antoninis to be in dispute were whether Sunset was the proper party plaintiff; whether a Mr. Joseph H. Hakim ("Hakim") (who had signed the deed for Sunset) had authority to act on behalf of Sunset in the transactions of the property at issue; whether the three-year redemption period to reclaim the property had expired; whether there were fatal defects in the chain of title for the property; whether Sunset legitimately acquired the property; and whether Sunset was actually a corporation. On the same day the Antoninis filed the opposition to Sunset's motion for summary judgment, Sunset filed a supplement to its motion for summary judgment because Sunset had erroneously attached to its original motion for summary judgment a Tax Collector's Deed that was not the Tax Collector's Deed of the property at issue.[1] In the supplement *1176 to its motion for summary judgment, Sunset attached the correct Tax Collector's Deed.

On March 13, 2002, the hearing was held on the motion for summary judgment. At the time of the hearing, Mr. Antonini was incarcerated in a federal prison in California. The trial judge granted Sunset's motion for summary judgment; but, because of Mr. Antonini's incarceration, the trial judge stayed the signing of a formal judgment for a period of 45 days to allow time for the defendants to "traverse if necessary.[2]" Mr. and Mrs. Antonini made no other filings; and, on May 8, 2002, the trial judge signed a formal judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Sunset, quieting Sunset's tax title to the property at issue. The Antoninis now appeal, raising the following assignments of error:

1. The trial judge erred in allowing Sunset to file a "Supplement" to its motion for summary judgment two days before the hearing, and without requiring Sunset to have it formally served; and
2. The trial judge erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Sunset when there were genuine issues of material fact concerning Sunset's ownership of the property.

DISCUSSION

Genuine Issues of Material Fact

We will first address the Antoninis' second assignment of error.

Our review of a motion for summary judgment is de novo. Independent Fire Insurance Company v. Sunbeam Corporation, 99-2257 (La.2/29/00), 755 So.2d 226. Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo under the same criteria that govern the district court's consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. McKoin v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, 36,429 (La.App.2d Cir.10/23/02), 830 So.2d 437. 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 the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." La. C.C.P. art. 966(B).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
836 So. 2d 1173, 2003 WL 184138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sunset-realty-inc-v-antonini-lactapp-2003.