Wood River Development, Inc. v. Armbrester

547 So. 2d 844, 1989 Ala. LEXIS 331, 1989 WL 71239
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMay 26, 1989
Docket87-751
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 547 So. 2d 844 (Wood River Development, Inc. v. Armbrester) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wood River Development, Inc. v. Armbrester, 547 So. 2d 844, 1989 Ala. LEXIS 331, 1989 WL 71239 (Ala. 1989).

Opinion

SHORES, Justice.

This is an appeal from the confirmation of a judicial foreclosure sale.

In July 1985, William B. Armbrester and Carrie Lee Armbrester sold to Wood River Development, Inc. (“Wood River”), a parcel of undeveloped land located in Talladega County, for $200,000. In accordance with the terms of the sale, Wood River paid to the Armbresters $40,000 down and executed a purchase money note and mortgage for the outstanding balance of $160,000, to be paid in three equal annual installments of $53,333.33 each, plus accrued interest. James Keith Howard and Dennis Abbott, the shareholders of Wood River, personally guaranteed the note.

Wood River subsequently developed the property and platted it into lots. The mortgage provided in part:

“In the event a part or portion of the property is platted into lots, Mortgagor shall be entitled to releases from the mortgage upon the payment of Three Thousand and no/100 — ($3,000.00)—Dol-lars per lot_ No release shall be required to be given by the Mortgagees if there is any unremedied default in the performance of the terms of this mortgage or the note secured hereby.”

Wood River failed to pay the 1986 ad valorem taxes on the subject property. The Armbresters paid the ad valorem taxes that were due, in the amount of $854.42, to prevent the property from being sold for delinquent taxes. The Armbresters considered Wood River in default of the mortgage, and refused to execute releases on the 60 lots not yet released from the mortgage. Wood River contended that the Armbresters’ refusal to release the lots from the mortgage made it impossible for Wood River to make the mortgage payment that was due on July 13, 1987.

On July 28, 1987, Wood River filed a complaint seeking a preliminary injunction enjoining the Armbresters from initiating mortgage foreclosure proceedings and seeking a judgment declaring that Wood River was not in default of the note and [846]*846mortgage. The payment due on July 13, 1987, was not made.

On August 5,1987, the Armbresters filed a motion to dismiss, an answer to Wood River’s complaint, a counterclaim against Wood River, and a third-party complaint against Howard and Abbott, seeking foreclosure on the mortgage and a judgment on the note against Wood River, Howard, and Abbott (“appellants”).

Before a hearing was held, the parties entered into a stipulation and agreement that provided, in pertinent part, that the case would be continued for a period of 60 days, during which time Wood River was authorized to sell all or part of the subject property at auction. Ninety per cent of the gross proceeds received from the sale of each lot, or $3,000 per lot, whichever was greater, was to be paid to the register of the court and held subject to further proceedings in the case. The agreement further provided that, upon compliance with the preceding payment provisions, the Armbresters would release from their mortgage the lots sold and that all the parties could attend the auction and bid.

An auction was held on September 19, 1987, by the J.P. King Auction Company. The property brought in excess of $170,-000. During the auction, Fred Wedell, acting as an agent for Wood River, was the successful bidder on 40 of the lots.

After the auction, the Armbresters refused to execute releases on the 20 lots that individuals other than Fred Wedell had purchased, contending that they did not have an obligation to release any of the lots from the mortgage unless, in accordance with the payment provisions in the stipulation and agreement, Wood River paid the money into the court on the lots its representative had bid in.

A hearing was held on December 7,1987, at which the trial court rendered a judgment in the amount of $121,289.17, against the appellants, for the balance due on the note plus accrued interest and the 1986 ad valorem taxes, and ordered Wood River to ' complete the sale as to the lots purchased by the individuals other than Wedell and also ordered the Armbresters to execute releases on these lots. The court ordered the register to pay the 1987 ad valorem taxes from the $1,000 deposited into the court by Wood River, and to file a report with the court by February 8, 1988, indicating the lots sold and the amount of funds thereby generated, and to proceed with foreclosure of the lots not sold. Due to some outstanding second mortgages and mechanics liens arising out of the development of the property, none of the sales was closed.

The appellants filed a motion to amend the judgment, pursuant to Rule 59, A.R. Civ.P. On February 8, 1988, the trial court overruled the motion, but did amend the judgment to include the accrued interest to date and to fix attorney fees at $10,000, which increased the amount of the judgment to $133,714.95, and the court ordered the register to proceed with foreclosure of the mortgage. The appellants then filed a motion to amend the February 8 judgment.

On March 14, 1988, the register conducted a foreclosure sale, at which the Arm-bresters purchased the property for a high bid of $16,500. Neither Howard nor Abbott attended the foreclosure sale. The appellants filed a motion to vacate the foreclosure sale.

We remanded the case to the trial court to allow it to rule on the appellants’ motion to amend, the motion to vacate the foreclosure sale, and all other pending matters, so as to have an adjudication on all issues between the parties.

On remand, the trial court overruled the appellants’ motion to amend the judgment of February 8, 1988, and granted the appellants’ motion to vacate the foreclosure sale, conditional upon the appellants’ filing a bond in the amount of $125,000 to guarantee an opening bid of $100,000. Abbott had testified that he could procure the bid if the judge would order a resale of the property. The appellants filed a bond guaranteed by Abbott and two of his relatives.

On May 26, 1988, the Armbresters filed an objection to the bond submitted by the appellants. The trial court required the language of the bond to provide for a for[847]*847feiture of its entire amount if a $100,000 opening bid was not procured. The appellants did not file another bond conforming to the judge’s order, and the trial judge confirmed the foreclosure sale of March 14, 1988, and entered a deficiency judgment against the appellants in the amount of $122,061.36. Wood River, Howard, and Abbott appeal from the final judgment of the trial court.

The appellants contend that the trial court erred in confirming the foreclosure sale, because the property was purchased by the Armbresters for $16,500. They argue that when property is purchased at a judicial sale by someone who is not a stranger to the case, for an amount much less than the market value, the sale should not be confirmed and a resale should be ordered, citing Jetton v. Jetton, 502 So.2d 756 (Ala.1987); Hicks v. Hicks, 362 So.2d 861 (Ala.1978). This rule of law does not apply to the facts of this case. In Hicks and Jetton, the judicial sales involved selling property for division, where redemption is not an available post-judicial sale remedy. Where redemption is available, no such standard as to price is applied. Justice Simpson, writing for the Court in Roy v. O’Neill, 168 Ala. 354, 52 So. 946 (1910), stated the rule:

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Bluebook (online)
547 So. 2d 844, 1989 Ala. LEXIS 331, 1989 WL 71239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wood-river-development-inc-v-armbrester-ala-1989.