BOARD OF COM'RS OF PITKIN COUNTY v. Timroth

• Decision Date: 08 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02SC704.,02SC704.
• Parties: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, Colorado, Petitioners v. Grant Curtis TIMROTH, Respondents.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

87 P.3d 102

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, Colorado, Petitioners v. Grant Curtis TIMROTH, Respondents.

No. 02SC704.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

March 8, 2004.

Rehearing Denied April 5, 2004.

John M. Ely, Pitkin County Attorney, Aspen, Colorado, Attorney for Petitioner. Montgomery Little & McGrew, P.C., Frederick B. Skillern, Greenwood Village, Colorado, Wright & Adger, LLP, Gary Wright, Aspen, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondent.

Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell, Lori Potter, Denver, Colorado, Attorney for Amicus Curiae Aspen Valley Land Trust, The Wilderness Society, Aspen Wilderness Workshop, and Wilderness Watch in Support of Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners.

Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners ("the County") seeks review of the court of appeals decision in Timroth v. Oken, 62 P.3d 1042 (Colo.App.2002). The court of appeals reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the County in a suit filed by respondent Grant Curtis Timroth ("Timroth"). Timroth had filed a complaint in Pitkin County District Court seeking to quiet title to a mining claim pursuant to C.R.C.P. 105 ("Rule 105").¹ The County asserted ownership of the claim based on a treasurer's deed² issued in 1964 for a tax sale held in 1908. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court quieted title in favor of the County, finding that extrinsic evidence demonstrated the validity of both the 1908 sale and the 1964 deed.

The court of appeals reversed the district court, holding that the 1964 deed was void on its face. It further held that while extrinsic evidence was admissible to prove the validity of the underlying tax sale, and indeed did so in this case, it was not admissible to rehabilitate a treasurer's deed that was void on its face. The court of appeals noted that the county was therefore entitled to the issuance of a new, valid, treasurer's deed. However, the County's entitlement to a new deed would be subject to the right of redemption by any party entitled to redeem, and the court of appeals found that disputed issues of fact remained regarding Timroth's right to redeem the property.

We granted certiorari on the issue of "[w]hether the court of appeals erred by refusing to admit extrinsic evidence under [Rule] 105 tending to support the validity of a treasurer's deed otherwise void on its face." We now reverse. We hold that Rule 105 requires courts to adjudicate all claims regarding real property in one action, and the issues and evidence before the trial court adequately presented a claim for reformation of the 1964 treasurer's deed. We further hold that under the facts of this case, the County was entitled to reformation of its treasurer's deed. The reformed deed relates back to the 1964 deed, and Timroth's claim of adverse possession therefore fails because one cannot adversely possess against the sovereign.

I. Facts and Procedural History

In 1892, the United States granted a patent in fee simple to Henry Powers and Powell Smith for the Twilight Lode Mining Claim, the property that is the subject of this dispute. Taxes were assessed in Pitkin County, and in 1908 a property tax sale was held for unpaid 1907 taxes. There were apparently no bidders at the sale. The property was therefore struck to Pitkin County and a tax certificate was issued to the County. In 1964, a treasurer's deed was issued to the County based upon the 1908 tax sale and certificate, and this deed was duly recorded.

In his complaint, Timroth alleged ownership on three grounds: a deed properly recorded in the chain of title, adverse possession pursuant to sections 38-41-101 to -103, 10 C.R.S. (2003), and possession and payment of taxes pursuant to section 38-41-108, 10 C.R.S. (2003). Timroth's complaint also alleged that the County's title claim failed because the treasurer's deed upon which it relied was void. Timroth further contended that the tax sale-and resulting tax certificate-underlying the County's treasurer's deed were void. In his motion for partial summary judgment, Timroth based these assertions on the fact that the recitals in the deed indicate that the property was struck to the County on December 12, 1908. The statute governing the tax sale required the sale to be commenced on or before the second Monday in November. § 5714, R.S. 1908 (now codified with amendments at § 39-11-109, 11 C.R.S. (2003)). A statutory exception allowed for commencing the sale later:

If, from any cause, real property can not be duly advertised and offered for sale on or before the second Monday of November, it shall be the duty of the treasurer to make the sale on any subsequent day in which it can be made, allowing time for the publication of notice, as provided in this act.

§ 5715, R.S.1908 (now codified with amendments at § 39-11-110, 11 C.R.S. (2003)). However, neither the tax certificate nor the treasurer's deed recited any cause for the sale's delay. Moreover, the deed did not indicate when the sale commenced, and by statute property could not be struck to the County on the first day it was offered at a tax sale. § 5713, R.S.1908 (now codified with amendments at § 39-11-108, 11 C.R.S. (2003)).

In its cross motion for summary judgment, the County attacked Timroth's claims of record ownership of the property and payment of taxes. Timroth's deed was a special warranty deed received from Tyrone Austin Thompson in 1988. Thompson had received his interest from John Francis Powers III in 1979 by quitclaim deed. The County maintained this was a wild deed, as no recorded conveyance indicates how John Francis Powers III received his interest in the property. The County also asserted that neither Timroth nor his predecessors in title ever paid any property taxes.³ With respect to Timroth's adverse possession claim, the County noted that a claim of adverse possession cannot lie against the sovereign.

The district court dismissed Timroth's complaint. The court admitted extrinsic evidence offered by the County explaining the delay in the tax sale. The district court therefore held that the resulting tax deed was rehabilitated and thus valid. With respect to Timroth's claims of superior title, the court noted that the County had responded to Timroth's complaint by refuting his claims of ownership, and supported its contentions with affidavits and other evidence. Because Timroth, in his reply to the County's summary judgment motion, did not attempt to counter this evidence, the court held that Timroth held no claim to the property.

The court of appeals reversed the trial court. The court of appeals held that extrinsic evidence was admissible to show the validity of the tax sale, but it was not admissible to rehabilitate a treasurer's deed that was void on its face. Thus, the court noted that the County was still entitled to the issuance of a valid treasurer's deed. However, the right to a corrected treasurer's deed remained subject to the right of redemption of anyone who was entitled to redeem the property. The court of appeals upheld the district court's determination that Timroth's claim of title based on his deed issued from Tyrone Austin Thompson failed because Timroth had provided no evidence to counter the County's assertion that the deed was not in the recorded chain of title. The court of appeals also upheld the trial court's determination that Timroth could not claim ownership based on payment of taxes, again because Timroth had not refuted the County's contention that no taxes had been paid or offered by Timroth or any of his predecessors in interest.

With respect to Timroth's claim of adverse possession, however, the court of appeals held that the County had not actually refuted Timroth's assertion. The County had merely declared that adverse possession cannot lie against the sovereign. Because the court of appeals had already determined that the County only possessed the right to a valid treasurer's deed and did not have preexisting legal title to the property, the court of appeals held that Timroth's adverse possession claim had not been defeated, and material questions of fact remained on that issue.

II. Analysis

A. Rule 105 Requires a Complete Adjudication of Rights

Rule 105 provides for a "complete adjudication of the rights of all parties" in any action brought "with respect to any real property.... The court in its decree shall grant full and adequate relief so as to completely determine the controversy and enforce the rights of the parties." Prior to the enactment of Rule 105, the form of the complaint determined the nature of the suit. See Vogt v. Hansen, 123 Colo. 105, 111-12, 225 P.2d 1040, 1043 (1950)

(noting that the rules of the old code "making specific provision for different forms of real-property action had been supplanted by Rule 105(a)"); cf. Miller v. Stoner, 107 Colo. 317, 319, 111 P.2d 903, 904 (1941) (declaring in a pre-Rule 105 case that the "complaint states a good cause of action to remove a cloud [and][d]efendants could not convert it into a suit to quiet title").

After the enactment of Rule 105, only one form of property action remained, and "[i]t is not form but substance which determines the nature of the action." Levy v. Welsh, 44 Colo.App. 360, 612 P.2d 1135, 1137 (1978), aff'd, 200 Colo. 36, 612 P.2d 80 (1980). Thus, even though the pleadings do not raise a particular issue, if the evidence before the court makes the issue apparent, the court must reach that issue in order to grant full and appropriate relief. Keith v. Kinney, 961 P.2d 516, 519 (Colo.App.1997); see also Stubbs v. Standard Life Ass'n, 125 Colo. 278, 280-81, 242 P.2d 819, 820 (1952)

(declaring that "while the decree in form follows the old terminology of quieting title" the action set out the basis of a reformation claim and thus complied sufficiently with Rule 105); Hodge v. Terrill, 123 Colo. 196, 202-03, 228 P.2d 984, 987 (1951) (noting...