Williams v. Kimes

25 S.W.3d 150, 2000 Mo. LEXIS 58, 2000 WL 1052163
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedAugust 1, 2000
DocketSC 82151
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 25 S.W.3d 150 (Williams v. Kimes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Kimes, 25 S.W.3d 150, 2000 Mo. LEXIS 58, 2000 WL 1052163 (Mo. 2000).

Opinions

WILLIAM RAY PRICE, Jr., Chief Justice.

This is the third occasion we have written on this case. Originating as a quiet title lawsuit, we now hold that the purchasers at a void foreclosure sale are entitled to recoup their purchase money with payment secured by an equitable- lien on the property. All other issues are barred either by a failure to preserve those issues for appeal or by the doctrine of the law of the case.

I.

Aubra Robert Wrather’s will devised 72 acres to his daughter “Reba Wrather La-Font, and her bodily heirs, in fee simple.” While Wrather’s estate was being probated, the estate borrowed $97,704.84 from the Farmer’s Bank of Portageville (“bank”) to pay federal estate taxes. Reba Wrather LaFont and the estate’s executor executed a deed of trust covering the 72 acres in favor of the bank. The probate division authorized the bank’s encumbrance and, in December 1970, distributed the 72 acres to Reba Wrather LaFont and her bodily heirs subject to the deed of trust.

In 1988, the loan to the estate went into default and the bank foreclosed. At that time, the bank was owed $86,400.00. The executor and LaFont received proper notice of trustee’s sale, but the presumptive bodily heirs did not receive such notice. At the 1988 foreclosure sale, the 72 acres was purchased by Sherman D. Kimes, Elaine Kimes, Albert W. Kimes, and Nina Mae Kimes. As a result of the foreclosure sale, the bank released its lien on the property.

In 1990, the Kimeses conveyed the 72 acres to a family trust. In 1993, LaFont died, leaving two surviving children, Anita Kay Williams and James G. LaFont. Reba Wrather LaFont’s third child had passed away in 1986, survived by Heather Maria Hobbs and Lesley Suzanne Hobbs. They sold their interest in the land to Anita Kay Williams and W.A. Williams in 1994.

In Williams v. Kimes, 949 S.W.2d 899 (Mo. banc 1997) (“Williams I ”), this Court considered whether LaFont’s presumptive bodily heirs were “owners” under section 443.325.3(2) such that they were entitled to actual notice of the foreclosure sale. We held that as holders of a contingent remainder with an interest capable of conveyance, they were “owners” under section 443.325.3(2). Id. at 900. The case was remanded with directions to award the land to the Williamses and for proceedings in accordance with section 527.150.2 regarding the parties’ other claims for damages, credits, and other relief. Id. at 901.

The circuit court responded to Williams I by awarding possession and fee simple title to the Williamses and concluding that the Williamses were entitled to fair market rental value of $100 per acre, per year, starting from Reba Wrather LaFont’s death on October 13, 1993, to when the Williamses went into possession in late August of 1997 (total rent value of $28,-800.00). The circuit court further found the Williamses improved the property by grading the land, which increased the value by $13,008.20. The court also found the Williamses would benefit by cotton planted in 1997 prior to the Kimeses leaving the property. The Williamses would realize money from the sale of this cotton in the amount of $2,385.00, after subtracting expenses incurred. Thus, the Williamses’ damages in rents was $28,800.00 less the $2,385.00 realized from the cotton sale, offset against the $13,008.20 resulting in a [153]*153“net” damage award of $13,406.80 against the Kimeses.

The circuit court “denied [the Kimeses’] request for recoupment of their purchase price and the imposition of an equitable lien in the amount of that purchase price.” 996 S.W.2d at 44. This conclusion apparently resulted from language in Williams I that “[t]he Kimeses purchased only La-Font’s life estate.” 949 S.W.2d 901.

The Kimeses appealed from that judgment. In Williams v. Kimes, 996 S.W.2d 43 (Mo. banc 1999) (“Williams II”), we considered the effect of invalidity of the sale resulting from the insufficient notice. The Kimeses sole point relied on stated:

The trial court erred in entering judgment in favor of the Williams and against the Kimes on the Kimes’ claim for recoupment of their 1988 foreclosure sale purchase price for the subject real estate (together with interest and less a credit for fair rental value of the property) and for the imposition of an equitable hen against the property to secure payment of same because this Court in the initial appeal of this matter invalidated the foreclosure sale as to the Williams’ remainder fee interest and parties’ to an effective foreclosure sale are entitled to be restored to their status quo ante positions in that the Kimes effectively satisfied an indebtedness of the Williams (and them predecessors in interest) to which the real property would have been subject even if the Williams had received personal notice of the foreclosure sale, and the trial court’s failure to allow re-coupment of their purchase price by the Kimes resulted in a wind-fall ‘gift’ of 72-acres of real property to the Williams without payment on them part of either the federal estate tax liability or the bank loan indebtedness associated with the property, which was paid by the Kimes.

The Williamses argued only that the sale was effective to transfer the life estate interest, but did not extinguish the contingent remainder interests. The Williamses did not argue that the bank’s lien on the property was not valid.

We stated that “[f]ailure to provide notice of a foreclosure sale to owners of the foreclosed property is a substantial defect sufficient to render the sale void and prevent the transfer of title in the property.” Id. at 45. Because the foreclosure sale was void and no title passed, the parties must be placed in their ex ante positions. Id. at 46. To the extent Williams I implied the Kimeses purchased a life estate, Williams II clarified that they purchased no title at all, as the sale was void.

The circuit court’s response to Williams II was to enter substantially the same judgment. The sale was declared void but the Kimeses’ request for recoupment of their purchase money secured by an equitable hen was not granted. The circuit court noted that to put the parties back to their ex ante position, the bank needed to be a party to this litigation. The circuit court also entered the same net damage award of $13,406.80 against the Kimeses as it did after Williams I.

The Kimeses appeal from that judgment. Their two points argue: 1) they are entitled to a recoupment of the purchase price secured by an equitable lien on the property, and 2) the posW1988 foreclosure sale activities and events should be disregarded, thus eliminating the “net” damage award of $13, 406.80 entered against them.

II.

A.

Now before us for the third time, this case is largely controlled by the doctrine of the law of the case:

The doctrine of law of the case governs successive appeals involving substantially the same issues and facts, and applies appellate decisions to later proceedings in that case. State v. Phillips, 324 S.W.2d 693, 694 (Mo.1959); State v. Allen, 363 Mo. 467, 251 S.W.2d 659, 660 (1952).

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

Related

Medlin v. RLC, Inc.
516 S.W.3d 871 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2017)
Stephen Smith, Dorothy Smith v. Capital Region Medical Center
458 S.W.3d 406 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2014)
Simms v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC
44 F. Supp. 3d 927 (E.D. Missouri, 2014)
American Family Mutual Insurance v. Coke
413 S.W.3d 362 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2013)
Jenkins v. Jenkins
406 S.W.3d 919 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2013)
American Standard Insurance Co. of Wisconsin v. Stinson
404 S.W.3d 303 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
Kieffer v. Icaza
376 S.W.3d 653 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2012)
American Eagle Waste Industries, LLC v. St. Louis County
379 S.W.3d 813 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2012)
Missouri Public Service Commission v. Hurricane Deck Holding Co.
302 S.W.3d 786 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2010)
Adoption of N.L.B. v. C.L.
274 S.W.3d 619 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2009)
In Re Adoption of NLB
274 S.W.3d 619 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2009)
Kuykendall v. Gates Corp.
237 S.W.3d 249 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2007)
Walton v. City of Berkeley
223 S.W.3d 126 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2007)
Glass v. First National Bank of St. Louis
191 S.W.3d 662 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2006)
Woods Ex Rel. Woods v. Cory
192 S.W.3d 450 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2006)
In Re Estate of Corbin
166 S.W.3d 102 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
25 S.W.3d 150, 2000 Mo. LEXIS 58, 2000 WL 1052163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-kimes-mo-2000.