Glasgow Enterprises, Inc. v. Bowers
| Decision Date | 30 May 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. ED 87131.,ED 87131. |
| Parties | GLASGOW ENTERPRISES, INC., Plaintiff/Respondent, v. Robert K. BOWERS, Kimberly M. Bowers, Contimortgage Corporation, and John Doe(s), Defendants, Teresita Parks and Novastar Mortgage, Inc., Defendants/Appellants. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Thomas A. Connelly, Thomas A. Connelly, PC, St. Louis, MO, for respondent.
Steven M. Cohen, Berger, Cohen & Brandt, L.C., Clayton, MO, for appellants.
Plaintiff, a purchaser of real property at a delinquent tax sale pursuant to Chapter 140, filed a lawsuit to quiet title pursuant to section 140.330 RSMo (2000).1 The petition named as defendants the record owners at the time of the tax sale and their mortgagee, along with an individual who purchased the property after the ninety-day redemption notices had been mailed and that individual's mortgagee. The trial court entered summary judgment in plaintiff's favor, and the individual purchaser and her mortgagee appeal. They claim that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because 1) there were genuine issues of material fact about whether they knew of the prior tax sale, 2) the county collector failed to comply with section 140.290 by not maintaining a permanent record book, and 3) plaintiff failed to comply with section 140.405 by not giving them a redemption notice. We affirm.
The following facts, relevant to the issues on appeal, were undisputed in the summary judgment record. Robert K. Bowers and Kimberly M. Bowers, husband and wife, were record owners/grantees of a parcel of real property located in St. Louis County at 1810 Millshire Drive (the property). On March 16, 1999, Mr. and Mrs. Bowers executed a deed of trust to Contimortgage Corporation (Contimortgage), which was subsequently recorded in the Office of Recorder of Deeds for St. Louis County (Recorder's Office).
On August 26, 2002, plaintiff, Glasgow Enterprises, Inc., purchased the property at a sale for delinquent taxes conducted by the Collector of Revenue of St. Louis County (the Collector) for $4,479.00, which amount represented unpaid taxes, costs and charges for the years 1999, 2000, and 2001. The Collector gave plaintiff a certificate of purchase for the property. The certificate of purchase informed plaintiff that it would be eligible to receive a deed to the property after the close of business on August 26, 2004, and further informed plaintiff of the requirements of section 140.405.
On or about March 22, 2004, plaintiff obtained a title company letter report on the property's title status. The title company reported that it had made a search of the deed, mortgage, judgment, and tax records relating to the property, that Mr. and Mrs. Bowers were the grantees in the last recorded deed, and that Contimortgage had an unsatisfied mortgage of record.
On or about May 12, 2004, plaintiff sent letters by certified mail to Mr. and Mrs. Bowers and Contimortgage at their respective addresses, notifying them of their ninety-day right to redeem the property. Thereafter, plaintiff filed an affidavit with the Collector, averring that it sent a letter of notification to all parties and lien holders. Neither Mr. and Mrs. Bowers nor Contimortgage redeemed the property during the ninety-day redemption period.
On July 23, 2004, Mr. and Mrs. Bowers executed a general warranty deed to Teresita Parks, which was subsequently recorded in the Recorder's Office. That same day, a deed of trust from Ms. Parks to Novastar Mortgage, Inc. (Novastar) was also recorded in the Recorder's Office.
On August 31, 2004, plaintiff was issued a Collector's deed for taxes (Collector's deed) to the property, which it subsequently recorded in the Recorder's Office.
On November 19, 2004, plaintiff filed a petition seeking an order declaring and quieting title to the property in plaintiff or, alternatively, a judgment in quantum meruit in the amount of its costs incurred in purchasing the property. The petition named Mr. and Mrs. Bowers, Contimortgage, Ms. Parks, Novastar, and John Doe(s) as defendants. Plaintiff alleged that it purchased the property at a third sale for delinquent taxes conducted by the Collector on August 26, 2002, and that it had received and recorded the Collector's deed. Plaintiff further alleged that it paid the amount bid in full; that on May 12, 2004, pursuant to section 140.405 et seq., it caused proper notice to be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all interested parties and those then having a beneficial interest, informing them of their right to redeem; and that on the same date, it notified the Collector by affidavit that it had given proper notice to anyone with a publicly recorded interest in the property. It also alleged that the ninety-day period of redemption under section 140.405 and the two-year period of redemption under section 140.340 had both passed, and that it was entitled under section 140.240, as grantee of a Collector's deed, to an absolute estate and fee simple, free and clear of all prior liens on the property.
Plaintiff thereafter filed a motion for summary judgment. Ms. Parks and Novastar filed an amended answer and a counterclaim seeking an order declaring and quieting title to the property in themselves.
After the hearing on plaintiff's summary judgment motion, the trial court entered summary judgment in plaintiff's favor against Ms. Parks and Novastar on the quiet title count. The court also dismissed the John Doe(s) without prejudice. In a separate order and judgment, the trial court denied Ms. Parks and Novastar's counterclaim as moot and further denied plaintiff's alternative quantum meruit count as moot.2 Ms. Parks and Novastar (hereinafter, defendants) appeal.
Summary judgment is designed to permit the trial court to enter judgment, without delay, when the moving party has demonstrated, on the basis of facts on which there is no genuine dispute, a right to judgment as a matter of law. ITT Commercial Finance v. Mid-Am. Marine, 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993); Rule 74.04. Our review is essentially de novo. ITT, 854 S.W.2d at 376. We take as true every fact set forth in the moving party's motion, unless the non-movant has denied it in its response to the motion. Id. The non-moving party's response must show the existence of some genuine dispute about one of the material facts necessary to the plaintiff's right to recover. Id. at 381. We may affirm a summary judgment under any theory that is supported by the record. Id. at 387-88.
For their first point, defendants assert that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment because there was a genuine issue of material fact about whether they knew of the prior tax sale of the property and because the Collector failed to comply with section 140.290. This point does not comply with Rule 84.04(d)(1) because it contains two separate claims of error that should have been set out in two separate points. In re Marriage of Cohen, 884 S.W.2d 35, 37 n. 1 (Mo.App.1994). In addition, the point fails to set out any legal reasons that support either claim of error. Rule 84.04(d)(1)(B) specifically requires a point to "state concisely the legal reasons for the appellant's claim of reversible error[.]" "The requirement that the point relied on clearly state the contention on appeal is not simply a judicial word game or a matter of hypertechnicality on the part of appellate courts." Thummel v. King, 570 S.W.2d 679, 686 (Mo. banc 1978). The purpose of this rule is to notify the opposing party of "the precise matters that must be contended with and to inform the court of the issues presented for review." In re Marriage of Weinshenker, 177 S.W.3d 859, 863 (Mo.App.2005). Although we do not condone these violations of Rule 84.04(d)(1), we will exercise our discretion to review in more detail the two claims made in this point.
Defendants first argue that a disputed issue of material fact existed over whether they had actual or constructive notice of the tax sale. They claim that there are facts in their response to the summary judgment motion that show that they did not have notice, whereas there are facts in the summary judgment motion and sur-reply that show they did have notice. Defendants specifically argue that plaintiff's title expert and their title experts did not agree on essential facts.
The experts' affidavits do not dispute the facts. All of the experts relied on data from the St. Louis County Department of Revenue website. Defendants' experts looked at data on the website page entitled "Real Estate Tax Amounts Due" for the property. They averred that this page stated that no taxes were due on the property, and that there was no information on the page indicating or stating that the property had ever been sold at a tax sale. One of defendants' experts further opined that "[t]o the best of [his] knowledge," the website did not state information in June 2004, that would have indicated whether the Collector had issued a certificate of purchase. On the other hand, plaintiff's expert looked at data on the website page entitled "Real Estate Tax History" for the property. He explained why the information on that page would indicate to a title examiner that the property had been involved in a tax sale.
These affidavits do not contradict each other on any fact. Defendants' experts basically recite that the website page that they consulted does not patently contain particular information and one expert opines that, to the best of his knowledge, no pages on the website indicate whether a certificate of purchase had been issued; whereas plaintiff's expert points to a page that he opines contains...
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