United Savings and Loan Bank v. Pallis

27 P.3d 629
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 23, 2001
Docket47102-3-I
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 27 P.3d 629 (United Savings and Loan Bank v. Pallis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United Savings and Loan Bank v. Pallis, 27 P.3d 629 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

27 P.3d 629 (2001)
107 Wash.App. 398

UNITED SAVINGS AND LOAN BANK, a Washington corporation, Appellant,
v.
Christopher N. PALLIS and Jane Doe Pallis, husband and wife and the marital community comprised thereof; John E.Z. Caner and Phoebe B. Caner, husband and wife and the marital community comprised thereof, Respondents.

No. 47102-3-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 23, 2001.

*630 John Thomas Ludlow, Hanson Baker Ludlow & Drumheller, Bellevue, for Appellant.

Christopher N. Pallis, Seattle, for Respondents.

Richard Stephen White, Helsell Fetterman LLP, Seattle, for Respondents Caner.

PUBLISHED IN PART

COX, J.

This is the third appeal involving a dispute over a waterfront lot on Whidbey Island whose owners, Roger and Jan Shaffer, agreed to sell to two different purchasers— John and Phoebe Caner and Christopher Pallis. Relying on the trial court's first decision concluding that the Shaffer-Pallis purchase agreement was enforceable, Pallis obtained a loan from United Savings and Loan Bank ("United") to refinance his existing debt on the property. As part of the loan transaction, he granted United a deed of trust to secure his debt. This Court subsequently reversed the trial court's first decision, and title to the property was ultimately quieted in the Caners.

Thereafter, United commenced this foreclosure action against the Caners' property to which Pallis had previously given his deed of trust. United appeals the trial court's summary dismissal of its claim to foreclose its deed of trust. The Caners cross-appeal the trial court's dismissal of its claims against United for slander of title and wrongful recording of a lis pendens at the commencement of this foreclosure action. Because United is not a "purchaser in good faith" under RAP 12.8, it is not entitled to the protections of that rule. There being no other error, we affirm.

The facts of this residential real estate sale gone awry are recounted in more detail in two unpublished opinions of this Court.[1] In *631 1989, Roger and Jan Shaffer put their duplex on a waterfront lot in Whidbey Island up for sale.[2] After a series of negotiations with Christopher Pallis, who signed a sales agreement as a purchaser, the transaction failed to close. Pallis then recorded a lis pendens and sued the Shaffers for specific performance of the alleged agreement he had made with the Shaffers to purchase the property.[3]

Sometime during the Pallis-Shaffer negotiations, John and Phoebe Caner made an offer on the property, and the Shaffers made a counteroffer.[4] Months later, the Shaffers failed to close with the Caners due to Pallis' pending litigation. The Caners then recorded their own lis pendens, and sued the Shaffers for specific performance.[5] The trial court consolidated the Caners' action with that of Pallis.

On the eve of trial, the Shaffers entered into a settlement agreement with Pallis to convey the property to him. The settlement agreement contained a provision stating that the settlement agreement was void in the event the trial court determined that the Shaffer-Pallis purchase agreement was invalid or unenforceable.[6] The trial court granted the Shaffers' motion to dismiss the Caners' claims.[7]

The Caners appealed, but did not post a supersedeas bond to stay enforcement of the judgment.[8] The Shaffers then deeded the property to Pallis.[9] Pallis obtained a loan from United, evidenced by a promissory note and secured by a deed of trust against the property.[10] Approximately six weeks after United closed its loan, this Court reversed the order dismissing the Caners' lawsuit.[11] This Court then remanded the Caners' case for further proceedings.

The Caners reasserted their claims to the property, and the trial court granted the Caners' motion to add Pallis as a defendant.[12] The Caners and Shaffers settled, leaving Pallis as the sole defendant in the pending lawsuit. The trial court entered a judgment and a decree of specific performance for the Caners, quieting title in the Caners to the exclusion of the Shaffers and Pallis.[13] This ruling left Pallis with no interest in the property and with a loan in default to United.

Pallis appealed the second trial court decision.[14] United did not intervene in that appeal. But in its amicus curiae brief, it argued that neither the Caners' appeal nor their lis pendens defeated its acquisition of a valid interest in the property. This Court declined to address United's arguments, and affirmed the trial court's second decision.[15]

Pallis defaulted on the loan and United commenced this action to foreclose its deed of trust on the property. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court granted the Caners' motion for partial summary judgment, and denied United's motion for summary judgment. The trial court dismissed the Caners' counterclaims against United for slander of title and wrongful recording of a lis pendens under RCW 4.28.328.

United appeals the trial court's order. The Caners cross-appeal the trial court's dismissal of their counterclaims.

Purchaser in Good Faith

United's main contention is that the trial court erred in summarily dismissing its foreclosure *632 action. Specifically, United claims it is a "purchaser in good faith" under RAP 12.8, and thus not bound by subsequent judgments. It further asserts that RAP 12.8 conflicts with the lis pendens statute, and thus supercedes that statute. We disagree.

We may affirm an order granting summary judgment if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.[16] We consider all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.[17] We review questions of law de novo.[18]

Here, there is no disputed issue of material fact. Thus, for purposes of summary judgment, the legal question is whether United is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law because it is a "purchaser in good faith" under RAP 12.8 that acquired a valid interest in the property due to the Caners' failure to post a supersedeas bond following the first trial.

We apply principles of statutory construction to the interpretation of court rules.[19] "Apparent conflicts between a court rule and a statutory provision should be harmonized and both given effect, if possible."[20] In the absence of an express repeal, an existing statute is not abrogated by a new one, unless the later act is so inconsistent with the former that the two cannot have a concurrent operation, or unless the later act so fully covers the whole subject-matter of the prior act as to afford conclusive evidence that it was intended to supersede it entirely.[21]

The lis pendens statute, RCW 4.28.320, provides in part:

In an action affecting the title to real property the plaintiff, at the time of filing the complaint, or at any time afterwards,... may file with the auditor of each county in which the property is situated a notice of the pendency of the action....

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

Related

Otto Guardado, V. Mark Taylor, Et Ux
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
Norman And Rebecca Flint v. Allstate Indemnity Company
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2019

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
27 P.3d 629, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-savings-and-loan-bank-v-pallis-washctapp-2001.