Willamette Landing Apartments - 89, LLC v. Burnett

382 P.3d 512, 280 Or. App. 703, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1052
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 8, 2016
Docket11C24969; A152926
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 382 P.3d 512 (Willamette Landing Apartments - 89, LLC v. Burnett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Willamette Landing Apartments - 89, LLC v. Burnett, 382 P.3d 512, 280 Or. App. 703, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1052 (Or. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

DEVORE, J.

Defendant first appeals a general judgment that awarded plaintiff, his landlord, possession of the apartment that he rents. Defendant next appeals a supplemental judgment that awarded plaintiff $103,308.43 in attorney fees. Defendant also appeals the order denying his motion for relief from the judgments, based on plaintiffs acceptance of the value of two years’ occupancy disbursed from defendant’s deposit for an undertaking on appeal. Finally, defendant moves for review of the most recent order on his supersedeas undertaking, which allows plaintiff to receive the value of a third year’s occupancy during appeal and which requires defendant to provide for a fourth year a higher deposit than was required for the first two years. We affirm the judgments, allow the motion for review, and affirm the order on the supersedeas undertaking.

FACTS

We begin with the facts relevant to the general judgment. "Because the jury returned a verdict in plaintiffs favor, we state the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Stuart v. Pittman, 350 Or 410, 413, 255 P3d 482 (2011). In March 2011, defendant rented an apartment at the Willamette Landing apartment complex. The complex is owned by plaintiff, Willamette Landing Apartments - 89, LLC. In July, plaintiff posted a “Notice of Entry” that told defendant that in four days an employee intended to enter the apartment to paint the front door and to inspect the premises. By email, defendant refused consent to entry. In September and October, plaintiff again posted notices that expressed its intent to enter defendant’s residence. Each time, defendant wrote plaintiff refusing to allow entry.

In November, plaintiff sent to defendant a “Notice of Termination for Cause” that stated that, due to defendant’s refusals to allow entry, defendant was in material noncompliance with the rental agreement and with ORS 90.322.1 The [706]*706parties exchanged further communications, but defendant continued to refuse to allow plaintiff to enter the premises.

Plaintiff filed an eviction complaint that alleged that plaintiff was entitled to possess the apartment based on defendant’s unreasonable refusal to permit entry for maintenance. In its caption, the complaint identified the “Plaintiffs) - (Landlord or agent)” as “WILLAMETTE LANDING.” Defendant answered by denying all the substantive allegations, raising three affirmative defenses, and pleading four counterclaims, but defendant did not allege that the complaint was deficient in any way. Defendant’s answer identified the “Landlord/Plaintiff’ more completely as “WILLAMETTE LANDING - 89, L.L.C.”

Several months later, plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend its complaint to show plaintiff as “Willamette Landing Apartments-89, L. L. C., dba Willamette Landing.” Defendant opposed the motion and argued that plaintiffs failure to properly name itself in the original complaint meant that its case should be dismissed. The trial judge initially denied both motions but entertained defendant’s motion to reconsider and allowed additional briefing on the issue. Still unpersuaded, the trial court granted leave to amend.

AMENDMENT

On appeal, defendant relies on ORS 105.130 to challenge the trial court’s decision to allow amendment and to [707]*707deny his motion to dismiss the complaint. In pertinent part, ORS 105.130 provides:

“(1) Except as provided in this section and ORS 105.135, 105.137 and 105.140 to 105.161, an action pursuant to [the FED statutes] shall be conducted in all respects as other actions in courts of this state.
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“(4) An action pursuant to ORS 105.110 [(providing that circuit courts have jurisdiction over FED actions)] shall be brought in the name of a person entitled to possession as plaintiff. The plaintiff may appear in person or through an attorney. In an action to which ORS chapter 90 applies, the plaintiff may also appear through a nonattor-ney who is an agent or employee of the plaintiff or an agent or employee of an agent of the plaintiff.”

ORS 105.130. Defendant contends that, because FED actions “shall be brought in the name of a person entitled to possession as plaintiff,” FED complaints must list, at the outset, the complete name of the landlord and that the failure to do so cannot be cured after filing.

The statute’s text, context, and legislative history do not support defendant’s interpretation. See State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 164-65, 206 P3d 1042 (2009); PGE v. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 317 Or 606, 610-12, 859 P2d 1143 (1993). Nor do the rules of civil procedure. Subsection (1) of ORS 105.130 provides that, with exceptions not relevant here, FED actions are to be conducted “in all respects as other actions in courts of this state.” That section dovetails with ORCP 1 A, which provides that the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure “govern procedure and practice in all circuit courts of this state * * * for all civil actions and special proceedings whether cognizable as cases at law, in equity, or of statutory origin except where a different procedure is specified by statute or rule.” Thus, because ORS 105.130 does not specify that a party cannot amend an FED complaint to correct a misnamed plaintiff, we apply the rules on amending a complaint found in the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure. Under those rules, when a party requests to amend a pleading after a responsive pleading is served, the pleading may be amended “by leave of court or by written consent of the [708]*708adverse party.” ORCP 23 A. Leave to amend “shall be freely given when justice so requires.” ORCP 23 A.

Defendant reads the statute’s admonition that FED actions “shall be brought in the name of a person entitled to possession as plaintiff’ as a bar on any correction of the name of a plaintiff. The Oregon Supreme Court has recognized that nothing in ORS 105.130 creates a procedure for amending an FED action that is different than the procedures provided in the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure. Balboa Apartments v. Patrick, 351 Or 205, 207, 212, 263 P3d 101 (2011) (dealing with amendment to correct apartment number). Similarly, we find nothing in the statute to forbid amendment to provide a more complete description of a landlord’s business name. The purpose of ORS 105.130 is simply to identify that the proper party plaintiff is the entity entitled to possession.

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Related

Willamette Landing Apartments - 89, LLC v. Burnett
387 P.3d 501 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
382 P.3d 512, 280 Or. App. 703, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1052, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willamette-landing-apartments-89-llc-v-burnett-orctapp-2016.