Troxler v. Breaux

105 So. 3d 944, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 330, 2012 WL 5933068, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1521
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 27, 2012
DocketNo. 12-CA-330
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 105 So. 3d 944 (Troxler v. Breaux) 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
Troxler v. Breaux, 105 So. 3d 944, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 330, 2012 WL 5933068, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1521 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

JUDE G. GRAVOIS, Judge.

12Appellant, Depp Troxler, has appealed a trial court judgment rendered in this domestic dispute on November 15, 2011. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS

On July 16, 2010, Depp Troxler filed suit against appellee, Melinda Breaux, alleging that he was evicted from a home in which he and Ms. Breaux had lived; that the home was jointly owned; that Ms. Breaux’s actions constituted fraud; and that he was “entitled to receive his one-half interest in the property together with the items of furniture and fixtures in the house for which he paid personally or in the alternative, that defendant be condemned to pay the plaintiff for his one-half interest in the value of the house and contents.” Ms. Breaux answered the petition, denying that Mr. Troxler had any ownership interest in the house, alleging that she had purchased the home on her own. She admitted she had borrowed $10,000 from Mr. Troxler that she still owed him, and asserted she had attempted to repay him, but he had refused her offer of payment. She further admitted that he may also be entitled to the return of certain furniture and appliances that had been purchased for the home. Ms. Breaux further alleged that money deposited by Mr. |sTroxler into the joint account they maintained was actually used to pay bills incurred by the household during the time they lived together.

Prior to trial, the parties stipulated that the house and property in question was in Ms. Breaux’s name alone and belonged to her, and that Mr. Troxler had loaned Ms. Breaux $10,000, which was still owed by her.

At trial, both parties testified and confirmed that in December 2008, Ms. Breaux purchased a home in Hahnville, Louisiana, and that they had lived together in this home from December 2008 until October 2009. Mr. Troxler testified that he was working in Alaska during this time period and actually lived in the home for only a total of four months. Ms. Breaux agreed that Mr. Troxler was working in Alaska during that time, but testified that he was at the home for more than four months during that time. She admitted that he worked only one six-week period in Alaska during that time, and that at all other times, he worked only two- or three-week periods in Alaska, followed by comparable time off which he spent at the home in Hahnville.

The parties also agreed that in 2008, they converted Ms. Breaux’s separate checking account into a joint account. Mr. Troxler testified that he deposited $4,000 into this account on November 25, 2008 to pay bills and expenses for the home. They further agreed that they both deposited funds into this account over the next ten months and that the household expenses [947]*947were paid out of this account. These expenses included the mortgage note on the house, and the cable, telephone, electricity, gas, and water bills for the house. Mr. Troxler explained that their banking was done on-line and that they would communicate with each other while he was working in Alaska. He testified that Ms. Breaux would regularly tell him how much money she needed and he would give her permission to transfer these amounts into the joint checking account from his separate account. Mr. Troxler |4submitted a list of on-line transfers from his separate account to the joint account and deposits that he made to the joint account, which transfers and deposits totaled $33,219.35. He went through the bank statements of the joint account from December 2008 until October 2009 and specifically identified which deposits he made into the account and which deposits were made by Ms. Breaux.

Mr. Troxler further testified that during this time, he also purchased various items with his separate funds for the house, including a refrigerator, a washer and dryer, furniture (consisting of bunk beds), lawn equipment, an air compressor, pots and pans, decorative items, and other miscellaneous items. He stated that all of these items were still in the house when he was evicted from the house in October 2009. When he left, he did not take any of these items with him; he took only his personal items with him at that time. He testified that the mortgage note on the house was paid from the joint account from December 2008 until September 2009.

On cross-examination, Mr. Troxler testified that he lived at this home with Ms. Breaux when he was not in Alaska. He admitted that he did not live anywhere else during this time. He stated that during the ten months that he lived in the house, everything he bought went into the house. He did not, however, have any receipts for any of the items he claims he purchased for the home. He admitted that Ms. Breaux had offered to repay him the $10,000 loan he had made to her.

Ms. Breaux testified that Mr. Troxler had loaned her $10,000 that she had not yet paid back. She admitted that Mr. Troxler had purchased items for the house, including a washer and dryer, beds, lawn equipment, and an air compressor, all of which were still at the home. She stated that she had offered all of these items to him. She testified that she no longer had the refrigerator that had been purchased by Mr. Troxler; it broke down and she had to purchase a new one to replace it. She testified that Mr. Troxler did not purchase any pots and pans for the Rhome; rather, the pots and pans in the home were the ones that she had prior to moving into the home. She testified that she did not have possession of any receipts for any of the items that Mr. Troxler claims he had purchased for the home.

At the conclusion of the trial, the parties submitted post-trial memoranda. The court then rendered judgment in the amount of $10,000 in favor of Mr. Troxler and against Ms. Breaux. The judgment further ordered Ms. Breaux to allow Mr. Troxler to retrieve the washer and dryer, bunk beds, lawn equipment, and air compressor from the home. This timely appeal by Mr. Troxler followed.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

The trial court erred in failing to award the plaintiff all of the funds which were spent on behalf of the defendant.

In his only assignment of error, Mr. Troxler argues that he spent a total of $32,770.78 “on the house and furnishing and other living expenses” during the ten-month period from December 2008 until October 2009 that he lived with Ms. [948]*948Breaux. He contends that during this time period, he was only physically present in the house for four or five months. He states that “his payments were building up her equity position in the house, which she retains, and for which he got no credit.” He contends that the trial court judgment is unreasonable because “she keeps the house and he gets some used furniture and equipment in return.” He argues that “she has been unjustly enriched and he has been prejudiced by that enrichment.” He states that he does not know the condition of the movables in the house and argues that “an equitable solution would be to award [him] a money judgment of $12,000 to $15,000 and allow [her] to keep the movables.”

|fiIn support of his position, Mr. Troxler cites Civil Code article 2298, which provides, in pertinent part:

A person who has been enriched without cause at the expense of another person is bound to compensate that person. The term “without cause” is used in this context to exclude cases in which the enrichment results from a valid juridical act or the law. The remedy declared here is subsidiary and shall not be available if the law provides another remedy for the impoverishment or declares a contrary rule.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
105 So. 3d 944, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 330, 2012 WL 5933068, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1521, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/troxler-v-breaux-lactapp-2012.