Vaught v. Ratliff

509 So. 2d 647, 95 Oil & Gas Rep. 297, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 9502
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 13, 1987
DocketNo. 86-498
StatusPublished

This text of 509 So. 2d 647 (Vaught v. Ratliff) 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
Vaught v. Ratliff, 509 So. 2d 647, 95 Oil & Gas Rep. 297, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 9502 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

STOKER, Judge.

The plaintiffs filed suit against Jim Ratliff, Carol Ratliff and World Oil & Gas Exploration, Inc., for unpaid royalties and damages due pursuant to a mineral lease between the parties. The plaintiffs requested that a writ of sequestration be issued and that the movables located on the leased premises be seized pursuant to their lessor’s privilege. Among the movables seized were a Ford one-ton pickup truck, a 7½ X 10 mud pump, a set of tongs, and various tools located on the truck. Randy Ratliff, who is not a party to the lease, intervened in the proceeding asserting his ownership of these movables and asked that the writ be dissolved insofar as it affected his property. Intervenor alleged that the property was necessary to the operation of his business. The record reveals that intervenor did business as Diamond R Well Service and was employed by his father, Jim Ratliff, in the work-over operations on the plaintiffs’ property. After a trial on the merits of the intervenor’s claim, the trial court denied the inter-venor’s motion to dissolve the writ of sequestration. The trial court concluded that the Louisiana Mineral Code should be applied, exclusive of the Louisiana Civil Code, where a conflict between the two codes exists. The intervenor has appealed the trial court’s judgment.

The issue presented here is whether there exists any remedy at law for the intervenor to recover his property seized to secure a lessor’s privilege in the context of a mineral lease to which he was not a party.

The intervenor argues that LSA-C.C. art. 2707 provides a remedy. The plaintiffs argue that the Mineral Code does not provide that remedy and that the Mineral Code should be applied exclusively.

LSA-R.S. 31:146, et seq. provide for a lessor’s privilege in the context of a mineral lease. Those articles read as follows:

“§ 146. Lessor’s privilege
[649]*649“The lessor of a mineral lease has, for the payment of his rent, and other obligations of the lease, a right of pledge on all equipment, machinery, and other property of the lessee on or attached to the property leased. The right also extends to property of others on or attached to the property leased by their express or implied consent in connection with or contemplation of operations on the lease or land unitized therewith.”
“147. Right to seize property on premises or within fifteen days of removal
“The mineral lessor may seize the property subject to his privilege before the lessee removes it from the leased premises, or within fifteen days after it has been removed by the lessee without the consent of the lessor, if it continues to be the property of the lessee, and can be identified.”
“§ 148. Manner of enforcement
“The mineral lessor may enforce his right of pledge in the same manner as the right of pledge accorded other lessors.”

LSA-R.S. 31:2 provides that:

“The provisions of this Code are supplementary to those of the Louisiana Civil Code and are applicable specifically to the subject matter of mineral law. In the event of conflict between the provisions of this Code and those of the Civil Code or other laws the provisions of this Code shall prevail. If this Code does not expressly or impliedly provide for a particular situation, the Civil Code or other laws are applicable.”

The pertinent provisions of the Civil Code governing leases are:

“Art. 2705. Lessor’s privilege and pledge on movables of lessee, exemptions
“The lessor has, for the payment of his rent, and other obligations of the lease, a right of pledge on the movable effects of the lessee, which are found on the property leased.
“In the case of predial estates, this right embraces everything that serves for the labors of the farm, the furniture of the lessee’s house, and the fruits produced during the lease of the land; and in the case of houses and other edifices, it includes the furniture of the lessee, and the merchandise contained in the house or apartment, if it be a store or shop.
“But the lessee shall be entitled to retain, out of the property subjected by law to the lessor’s privilege, his clothes and linen, and those of his spouse and family; his bed, bedding and bedstead, and those of his spouse and family; his arms, military accoutrements, and the tools and instruments necessary for the exercise of the trade or profession by which he gains his living and that of his family; one cooking stove and utensils of said stove; plates, dishes, knives, forks and spoons; all pots, pans and other cooking utensils; one dining table, and dining chairs necessary for himself and family. Amended by Acts 1934, No. 107: Acts 1979, No. 711, § 1.”
“Art. 2707. Movables belonging to third persons
“The lessor may lawfully seize movables belonging to a third person, when they are contained in the house or store by his own consent, express or implied. The owner is entitled to recover his property, but only by asserting his ownership prior to the judicial sale, in the manner provided by Article 1092 of the Code of Civil Procedure. If he fails to do so, the property may be sold as though it belonged to the lessee.
Amended by Acts 1984, No. 66, § 1.”
“Art. 3218. Lessor’s privilege, nature and extent
“The right which the lessor has over the products of the estate, and on the movables which are found on the place leased, for his rent, is of a higher nature than mere privilege. The latter is only enforced on the price arising from the sale of movables to which it applies.
It does not enable the creditor to take or keep the effects themselves specially. The lessor, on the contrary, may take the effects themselves and retain them until he is paid.”
[650]*650“Art. 3219. Method of enforcement of lessor’s privilege
“The privilege of the lessor is enforced on the property subject to it, in the manner described in the title: Of Lease.”

The conflict in this case arises as a result of the 1984 amendment of LSA-C.C. art. 2707. The issue is one of law, not of facts. Prior to 1984 this article did not contain a provision for asserting a claim of ownership of seized movables by intervention through utilization of LSA-C.C.P. art. 1092. That article provides:

“Art. 1092. Third person asserting ownership of, or mortgage or privilege on, seized property
“A third person claiming ownership of, or a mortgage or privilege on, property seized may assert his claim by intervention. If the third person asserts ownership of the seized property, the intervention may be filed at any time prior to the judicial sale of the seized property, and the court may grant him injunctive relief to prevent such sale before an adjudication of his claim of ownership.

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Bluebook (online)
509 So. 2d 647, 95 Oil & Gas Rep. 297, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 9502, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaught-v-ratliff-lactapp-1987.