Groce v. Horry County a Political
| Decision Date | 24 March 2011 |
| Docket Number | 2011-UP-125 |
| Parties | Donald R. Groce, Appellant, v. Horry County a Political, Subdivision of South Carolina, Horry County Treasurer, a political Subdivision of South Carolina, Crystal Montgomery in the official capacity as delinquent tax manager, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Wiley B. Turner, and Scott Hollingsworth, Defendants and Wiley B. Turner, Third Party Plaintiff, v. Scott Hollingsworth, d/b/a Hollingsworth Rentals, LLC, Third Party Defendants, Of Whom Horry County a Political Subdivison of South Carolina, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Wiley B. Turner and Scott Hollingsworth, d/b/a Hollingsworth Rentals, LLC are the Respondents. |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Submitted December 1, 2010.
Appeal From Horry County Benjamin H. Culbertson, Circuit Court Judge.
William Isaac Diggs, of Myrtle Beach, for Appellant.
Emma Ruth Brittain, of Myrtle Beach, J. Matthew Dove, of Murrells Inlet, Jeffrey E. Johnson and Jarrod M. McPherson, of Conway Robert Thomas King, of Florence, for Respondents.
This is an appeal in a delinquent tax sale matter from the grant of a directed verdict in favor of Horry County, Horry County Treasurer, Crystal Montgomery in her official capacity as Delinquent Tax Manager, (hereinafter collectively referred to as the County), South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (the DMV), Wiley B. Turner, and Scott Hollingsworth, d/b/a Hollingsworth Rentals, LLC, wherein the trial judge determined Donald R. Groce failed, as a matter of law, to present evidence entitling him to prevail on any of his claims arising from the sale of his mobile home at a delinquent tax sale. Groce appeals asserting the trial court erred in (1) granting a directed verdict to Horry County in reliance on sections 12-51-40 and 31-17-320(A) of the South Carolina Code, where Groce properly complied with DMV mobile home application requirements for obtaining a certificate of title, (2) granting a directed verdict on the issue of damages in reliance on section 15-78-60(11) of the South Carolina Code when there was evidence of record the County failed to comply with the requirements of section 12-51-40(c), and (3) granting a directed verdict in Respondents' favor when the record shows the interest sold by the County was not that owned by the owner of record at the time of the sale. We affirm. [1]
This action arises from the sale of Groce's mobile home for delinquent taxes for tax year 2003, which were incurred prior to Groce's purchase of the mobile home from SouthTrust Bank. [2] Groce sought to set aside the tax sale and resulting tax deed, asserting the Delinquent Tax Collector failed to comply with the mandatory statutory requirements of section 21-51-40 of the South Carolina Code. Groce also asserted a cause of action for negligence against Horry County, the Horry County Treasurer, the Delinquent Tax Manager, and the DMV.
The matter came before a jury on September 15 and 16, 2008. The record reveals Groce purchased the 1995 General Mobile Home for $6, 875.00 in April 2004. Ronald Godbey was the previous owner of the mobile home. On May 18, 2004, Groce applied with the DMV for a Certificate of Title and Registration for the mobile home. Groce, who purchased the mobile home as a vacation home, included in the application to the DMV the physical address of the mobile home as the residence address that being Shell Cove Mobile Home Park, 600 Highway 15 Lot 11, Myrtle Beach, S.C. 29577. However, Groce listed his home address of 4948 U.S. Highway 21, Hamptonville, NC 27020 as his mailing address on the DMV application. The Certificate of Title was issued to Groce on June 7, 2004, and included only the address for the physical location of the mobile home in Myrtle Beach. [3] Groce testified that the County sold his mobile home for back taxes, but he never received a tax bill on the property, never saw a notice of levy on the property, never saw an advertisement for the sale of his property, and never received any notice of a right of redemption on the property. It is undisputed that, although Groce registered for and received title to the mobile home from the state DMV office, Groce never registered the mobile home with Horry County.
Peggy Fouty, the manager of titles and registration at the DMV stated that the physical location of the mobile home is the address required to be on the actual title issued for the mobile home. Fouty further testified the title history of a mobile home registered with the DMV is available to those who qualify for the information. According to Fouty, a title history submitted into evidence for this mobile home showed Ronald Godbey first owned the home, followed by Donald Groce then Hollingsworth Rentals, and finally, Wiley Turner. Additionally, the title history showed a mailing address for Donald Groce at 4948 U.S. Highway 21, Hamptonville, NC. [4] While Fouty agreed the title history on this mobile home would be available to Horry County, as Horry County would qualify for the information, the County would have had to fill out an application to obtain the title history. Fouty further testified, though Horry County may have access to the DMV's Phoenix system database, the information would be limited, and she could not state what access Horry County would have, as each county's technology is different. Further, back in 2005, county access would have been even more limited to the DMV's mobile home records, as the information available to the counties had evolved over the years.
Crystal Montgomery, the Delinquent Tax Manager for the Horry County Treasurer's Office, testified to the procedure her office generally uses to collect delinquent taxes. Montgomery stated the information kept in the Delinquent Tax Office's computer is input by the Assessor's Office. She testified, while her office has access to the Phoenix database, which is the same database used by the DMV, access to the DMV's database is limited. Further, any change in ownership is placed into the Delinquent Tax Office's database through the Assessor's Office.
In regard to this particular mobile home, the Delinquent Tax Office sent the first notice through regular mail, addressed to Ronald Godbey. The letter was sent to Ronald Godbey as the owner instead of Groce because the home was not registered with Horry County in Groce's name. The taxes remained unpaid and the Delinquent Tax Office then sent a certified letter addressed to Ronald Godbey at an address in Cameron, North Carolina. The signature card was returned, dated May 6, 2004, with the signature of "Candie Godbey." At some point, notice of the 2003 unpaid taxes on the mobile home was also sent to SouthTrust as the listed lienholder of a security interest in the mobile home.
When the taxes continued to be unpaid, the Delinquent Tax Office posted a levy on the property on October 8, 2004. Montgomery testified Jonathan Hyman posted this particular levy on the property, which is printed in duplicate. The levy notice indicated the taxes were due from 2003 and the property to be sold was that of Ronald Godbey. The notice included the number 998-00-56-002, which identifies the actual mobile home, and the number 181 05 11 045, which indicates the parcel of land where the mobile home sits. Handwritten on the notice, directly above the 045 portion of the parcel number is "048*." Below three lines of printed information at the bottom of the levy notice is "Wrong Map # Not at (045), " with a hand drawn arrow from this notation to the parcel number. Below that was an additional handwritten notation of "No Sticker." Montgomery testified the handwritten 048 could have meant Hyman went to parcel 045, discovered the mobile home he was looking for was not in that place, went back to the office where he researched and discovered the mobile home was on parcel 048, and then went back to 048 and found the mobile home there. This did not raise any concerns for Montgomery, as this was a common occurrence with mobile homes since mobile homes are often moved and map numbers are sometimes changed. Montgomery also stated the "No Sticker" notation on the levy notice did not raise a concern either as she believed that when Hyman went to parcel 045, there was a home located on that parcel that did not have a sticker. She noted the fact that Hyman brought the carbon copy of the levy notice back to the office, and not the whole levy sign, meant that he found the mobile home in question.
After posting the levy, the Delinquent Tax Office advertised the sale of the property in the local newspaper on November 18, November 24, and December 2, 2004. The advertisements included the mobile home number and parcel number included on the levy notice, and listed it as the property of Ronald Godbey. When the taxes remained unpaid, the property went to tax sale on December 6, 2004, and was purchased by Hollingsworth Rentals. A bill of sale for the mobile home was subsequently issued to Hollingsworth Rentals on December 27, 2005.
Montgomery testified, because her office was unaware Groce was the owner of the property prior to sale, no notice was sent to him prior to the tax sale. During the one-year-redemption period the Delinquent Tax Office would research phone books and records on their computers to see if there was any updated information. A screen print from the DMV office pulled from the Phoenix system, which was used by the Delinquent Tax Office to research mobile homes, was submitted into evidence. This printed document listed Groce as the owner of the mobile home in question, and included the physical address of the mobile home in Myrtle Beach and a handwritten notation of "New Owner?" at the bottom. It did not provide...
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