W.a.C. Inc. v. Day

649 So. 2d 971, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 4208, 1994 WL 694190
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 24, 1993·No. No. 93 CA 0370·Published

Opinion

JiLOTTINGER, Chief Judge.

This case concerns the rights of a holder of a first mortgage with respect to actions tak[972] en and revenues collected by a keeper appointed by a holder of a second mortgage.

FACTS

The plaintiff in this suit, W.A.C., Inc. (W.A.C.), is the current owner of a first mortgage on a group of apartment buildings known as The Redwood Apartments (Redwood). It brought suit to foreclose on the mortgage by executory process. W.A.C. also sought to have the keeper appointed by the second mortgagee replaced by its own, to have the second mortgagee’s keeper held liable for tax penalties it incurred due to his failure to pay taxes, and to force the keeper appointed by the second mortgagee to turn over the rental income he collected during his tenure.

The essential facts in this case are not in dispute. A group of buyers purchased Redwood, mortgaged it, then sold it to a second buyer who assumed the first mortgage, took out a second mortgage, and then defaulted. Upon default, the |2holder of the second mortgage brought suit on its note and had a keeper appointed to administer the property. Approximately two years after the owners defaulted, the first mortgage was sold to W.A.C., which then took the present actions to enforce the mortgage. A brief chronology is necessary to describe the chain of events leading up to this suit:-

March 7, 1974: First mortgage recorded by Capital Bank and Trust Company in the amount of $204,350.00.

April 12, 1977: Second mortgage recorded by Margaret Vondell Ogden Rogers Trust (Trust) to secure a promissory note in the amount of $54,630.60.

May 27, 1988: The holder of the second mortgage, upon mortgagor’s failure to make required payments, secured a judgment appointing J. Randolph Ogden as keeper of the property subject to the mortgage.

October 25, 1988: Trust secured a judgment on the note secured by the mortgage and a recognition of its lien and privilege on the property.

July 15, 1991: First mortgage assigned and transferred from F.D.I.C. to W.A.C.

December 12, 1991: W.A.C. filed suit on the note secured by the mortgage.

December 16, 1991: Trust secured a writ of garnishment over the rental income collected by its keeper.

ACTION OF THE TRIAL COURT

The trial court recognized W.A.C.’s mortgage and right to executory process. The property was seized by W.A.C. on May 1, 1992. The trial court also allowed W.A.C. to appoint its own keeper and revoked the order of sequestration and appointment of keeper previously granted to the second mortgagee. Apparently, the aforementioned actions were ruled upon ex parte on January 14, 1992.

The trial court ordered a hearing on the issues relating to the liability of the second mortgagee’s keeper to the first mortgagee and the right to the rental payments collected by the second mortgagee’s keeper.

IsThe trial court ruled that the keeper appointed by the second mortgagee is appointed for the benefit of the second mortgagee and that the revenues collected in excess of expenses are for the benefit of the second mortgagee. The court further held that the keeper owed no duty to the first mortgagee as the relief of the first mortgage holder is to seize and sell the property.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

In appealing, W.A.C. assigns the following errors:

1. The trial court erred by ruling that a keeper appointed pursuant to La.R.S. 9:5137 et. seq. may pay rents collected during sequestration to a second mortgagee in preference to the first mortgage.

2. The trial court erred by allowing an inferior creditor to sequester and retain rents and revenues when a superior creditor has a recorded mortgage containing a mortgage and assignment of rents.

3. The trial court erred by ruling that a keeper’s failure to act as a prudent administrator in not paying property taxes does not cause loss to the first mortgagee who is [973] forced to pay penalties on those taxes to enforce the first mortgage.

I

W.A.C. argues that according to La. R.S. 9:5138 rental income collected by the second mortgagee’s keeper should be applied to the debt secured by the first mortgage. The specific language which W.A.C. cites is, “[a]ll revenues or other accounts received by the keeper during his administration first shall be applied to the costs and expenses incurred by him in the administration or preservation of the property, and any balance shall be applied to the debt secured by the mortgage.” W.A.C. further argues that this language, read in pari materia with the civil code articles on ranking of mortgages, leads to the conclusion that the rents belong to the first mortgagee. Specifically, W.A.C. cites La.Civ.Code art. 3397 as authority for the proposition that a. mortgagee, from the date of registry, has the benefit of being Upreferred to mortgagees whose registry is posterior.1

It is the position of W.A.C. that the ruling of the trial court creates a conflict between the civil code articles and the revised statutes in that the Code gives preference to the first mortgagee and the court’s interpretation of La.R.S. 9:5138 gives preference to the second mortgagee. It is W.A.C.’s contention that the trial court’s ruling undermines the policy behind chronological ranking and encourages inferior mortgagees to sequester property, collect rents and reduce its claim before foreclosing under its mortgage.

Initially, we note that the trial court’s ruling is in apparent agreement with the legislative intent in adopting the keeper statutes. La.R.S. 9:5137, which provides for the appointment of a keeper, states, in part, that “[t]he designation of a keeper of the property in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 9:5136 is for the benefit of the seizing credi-tor_” Furthermore, the civil code articles addressing the ranking of mortgages pertain to the priorities of creditors to act upon the property and to receive the proceeds from the seizure and sale of the property. See, La.Civ.Code art. 3307(1) and (3). The code articles do not address the right to receive income from the property when seized by an inferior creditor, and therefore, we find no conflict between the Revised Statutes and the Code.

II

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W.a.C. Inc. v. Day, 649 So. 2d 971, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 4208, 1994 WL 694190 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

649 So. 2d 971 (W.a.C. Inc. v. Day) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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