Wippert v. BLACKFEET TRIBE, ETC.

654 P.2d 512, 201 Mont. 299, 1982 Mont. LEXIS 985
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 1, 1982
Docket82-022
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 654 P.2d 512 (Wippert v. BLACKFEET TRIBE, ETC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wippert v. BLACKFEET TRIBE, ETC., 654 P.2d 512, 201 Mont. 299, 1982 Mont. LEXIS 985 (Mo. 1982).

Opinions

MR. JUSTICE SHEA

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Wipperts appeal a Glacier County District Court judgment that the Blackfeet Tribe is entitled to enforce a tribal court judgment as a matter of comity, and that the Robertsons are entitled to recover certain cattle pasturage fees from the Wipperts. The Wipperts contend that the Tribe cannot enforce its tribal court judgment by filing a notice of that judgment as a lien in the District Court, and that it cannot be tacitly implied that the Wipperts, as assignors of the right to recover the pasturage fees, guaranteed that their assignee would pay those fees. We agree, and hold that a tribal court judgment can only be enforced in Montana courts by the institution of a special proceeding or action, but that the Tribe is entitled to enforcement of its judgment because the Wipperts themselves instituted an action to determine the validity of the judgment. We remand, however, for further consideration of whether the trial court determined the correct amount remaining unsatisfied on the judgment, and for amendment of the District Court judgment to provide that the Wipperts are not liable to the Robertsons for pasturage fees because the Wipperts assigned their right to those fees to the Robertsons without guaranteeing that the Wipperts would pay them.

[302]*302Prior to July 1, 1976, the Wipperts, adult Blackfeet tribal members, owned 2,427 acres in Glacier County, Montana, known as the Stone Ranch. In 1974, the Blackfeet Tribe loaned the Wipperts $46,773.28 due and payable to the Tribe with 10 percent interest not later than November 1, 1975. After the Wipperts defaulted on the loan, the Tribe obtained a $46,773.28 judgment (plus interest) against them in the Blackfeet Tribal Court on April 15, 1976. On April 21, 1976, the Tribe filed a notice of this judgment with the Glacier County Clerk and Recorder and the Glacier County District Court.

In June 1976, the Wipperts agreed to sell the Stone Ranch to the Robertsons and agreed to provide the Robertsons with a title insurance policy showing that the property was free and clear of all liens and encumbrances. When the title insurer discovered the Tribe’s notice of judgment, the Robertsons refused to accept title. In order to assure the Robertsons that this notice of judgment would be cleared from the title, it was agreed that $20,000 of the purchase price would be kept in escrow with the title insurance “. . .to cover the amount still remaining and unpaid to the Blackfeet Tribe [by] the Wipperts. . .Upon release of the judgment, the amount held in escrow, together with the interest thereon, shall be paid to [the Wipperts]. . .” It was also provided that if necessary to clear the judgment from the title, the escrow funds could be used to pay the judgment.

Before June 1976, the Wipperts had agreed that Mrs. Wippert’s brother, Larry Whitford, could put his cows to pasture on the Stone Ranch from June through October 1976 for $3,000 per month. The Wipperts and Robertsons then made a written, supplemental agreement that the Robertsons would honor the buy-sell agreement, abide by the terms of the pasturage agreement, and defer possession of the Stone Ranch until October 1, 1976, in exchange for $12,000 of the pasturage fee.

On July 1, 1976, the Wipperts conveyed the Stone Ranch [303]*303to the Robertsons by warranty deed. Almost a year later, on June 29, 1977, the Wipperts filed a complaint against the Robertsons and the Tribe, requesting that the Tribe set forth the nature of its claims to both the Stone Ranch and the escrow funds and that the court declare that the Tribe has no interest in or lien on either one. The Wipperts specifically requested that the court adjudicate the rights of all the parties in regard to the escrow funds.

The Wipperts also moved the court to strike the Tribe’s notice of judgment from the court records on the ground that it was not a document entitled by law to be placed on the records. The court granted this motion to strike, but a copy of the notice of judgment remained on record as a Us pendens in the Glacier County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

The Tribe counterclaimed for $17,171.55 (the amount allegedly remaining unpaid on the tribal court judgment) and asked that this amount be taken out of the escrow funds held specifically for the purpose of satisfying that part of the tribal court judgment which remained unpaid.

The Robertsons also counterclaimed and requested that $10,500, the amount allegedly remaining unpaid under the supplemental agreement relating to deferring possession and obtaining $12,000 of the pasturage fees, be awarded them from the escrow funds.

The trial court ruled in favor of both the Tribe and the Robertsons on their counterclaims. The court held that the tribal court judgment was entitled to full faith and credit as a matter of comity, regardless of whether the Tribe had a valid lien against the Wipperts’ property. On the Robert-sons’ counterclaim the trial court ruled that the supplemental agreement was more than a mere assignment of their right to the Robertsons to receive the pasturage fees paid by Larry Whitford for the use of the pasturage from June to October of 1976. Rather, the court held that the Wipperts had breached the supplemental agreement by not paying the $12,000 to the Robertsons.

The court held that because the Wipperts had asked it to [304]*304adjudicate the rights of all the parties and to quiet title to the escrow funds, section 70-2-202, MCA (procedural provisions applicable to quiet title actions), authorized the use of the escrow funds to satisfy both the Tribe’s and the Robert-sons’ judgments. The Wipperts appeal.

The Wipperts first contend that the judgment in favor of the Tribe on its counterclaim is not supported by any evidence that the Tribe possessed a valid lien against the Stone Ranch. Although we agree that the Tribe did not have a lien against the property, we also hold that the Wipperts, in their escrow agreement, agreed that the escrow funds could be used to satisfy any remaining tribal court judgment. The Wipperts, by this same agreement, also invited the Tribe to institute special proceedings to establish the validity of the tribal court judgment.

Tribal court judgments are treated with the same deference shown decisions of foreign nations as a matter of comity. Hilton v. Guyot (1895), 159 U.S. 113, 163-64, 16 S.Ct. 139, 143, 40 L.Ed. 95, 108; In re Marriage of Limpy (1981), 195 Mont. 314, 636 P.2d 266, 38 St.Rep. 1885; State ex rel. Stewart v. District Court (1980), Mont., 609 P.2d 290, 37 St.Rep. 635; Red Fox and Red Fox (Ore.App. 393), 542 P.2d 918; Wakefield v. Little Light (1975), 276 Md. 333, 347 A.2d 228; In Re Lynch’s Estate (1962), 92 Ariz. 354, 377 P.2d 199; Begay v. Miller (1950), 70 Ariz. 380, 222 P.2d 624. However, there is no Montana law which allows a tribe or foreign nation to place a lien

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Wippert v. BLACKFEET TRIBE, ETC.
654 P.2d 512 (Montana Supreme Court, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
654 P.2d 512, 201 Mont. 299, 1982 Mont. LEXIS 985, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wippert-v-blackfeet-tribe-etc-mont-1982.