Harrentsian v. Hill

Decision Date09 December 2016
Docket NumberDocket No. 43627
Citation385 P.3d 887,161 Idaho 332
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
Parties Antranick HARRENTSIAN, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Gennieve HILL and Frank Hill, Defendants–Respondents.

Antranick Harrentsian, appellant pro se.

Jones, Gledhill, Fuhrman, Gourley, P.A., Boise, attorneys for respondent. Chad E. Bernards argued.

W. JONES, Justice

I. NATURE OF THE CASE

In an appeal out of Ada County, Appellant, Antranick Harrentsian ("Appellant"), alleges that the district court erred in its enforcement of a constructive trust. Respondents, Gennieve and Frank Hill ("Respondents" or "Ms. Hill" or "Mr. Hill"), are the parents of Sarah Correa ("Correa"). Correa is the ex-girlfriend of Appellant. In 2008, Appellant entrusted Correa with $400,000. In 2009, Correa loaned $101,500 of the $400,000 to Respondents. Respondents used the funds to purchase a house in Boise, Idaho (the "Property"). Thereafter, Respondents spent nearly $40,000 of their own money to improve the Property. Also in 2009, Appellant sued Correa in California. The California lawsuit resulted in the creation of a constructive trust upon the $400,000. Appellant filed this lawsuit in an effort to recover the Property, which was acquired by Respondents with money subject to the constructive trust.

The district court found that Respondents were not aware that the money they received from Correa was wrongfully obtained. Accordingly, the district court ordered that title to the Property be transferred to Appellant, but that Respondents were entitled to an equitable lien against the Property for $33,689 for the improvements they had made. The district court provided Appellant with 180 days to satisfy the lien. Appellant timely appealed.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2008, while living in California, Appellant wrote three checks to Correa totaling $400,000. At the time, Correa was Appellant's girlfriend. The money was transferred to Correa with the intention that she would return it at a later time. Their relationship ended in early 2009.

In July, 2009, Correa transferred $101,500 to Respondents. At the time, Respondents resided in California. On October 7, 2009, Respondents wired $104,000 to their relatives who resided in Boise—the Bruces. On or about October 27, 2009, $96,000 of the $104,000 was paid to First American Title Company, on behalf of Respondents, to purchase the Property—a house at 417 N. 19 Street, Boise, Idaho. The Bruces wired $7,500 of the remaining $8,000 back to Respondents.1

Between December 2009 and May 2012, Respondents improved the Property with $39,189.08 of their own funds, that is, funds independent of the $101,500 transfer.

In September of 2009, Appellant sued Correa in California to recover the $400,000. A one-day trial was held, and on October 2, 2012, the California court entered judgment in favor of Appellant, finding that Correa had converted the $400,000. Accordingly, the California court imposed a constructive trust upon the $400,000.

Ms. Hill attended portions of a California trial against her daughter, Correa. Ms. Hill claims that she attended the trial in the interest of her daughter's safety. Respondents admit that they understood, albeit generally, that a judgment had been entered by the California court against their daughter. However, they claim that they did not understand the nature of the constructive trust. Similarly, they claim that they were unaware of the California court's specific findings.

To collect on the California court's judgment, Appellant filed the California case as a "foreign judgment" in Idaho on November 29, 2012. As a result, Appellant claims, without providing evidence, that the Ada County Sheriff's Office served a writ for continuing garnishment on Correa's employer. Further, Appellant alleges that, thereafter, Correa filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Appellant claims that he opposed Correa's attempt to discharge her debt and filed an adversary proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court. Appellant also claims that he filed a motion for summary judgment in the bankruptcy court seeking to make Correa's debt non-dischargeable, which was granted.

On January 5, 2015, Appellant filed this lawsuit to recover the Property acquired by Respondents with money subject to a constructive trust. In his complaint, Appellant argued that: (1) the constructive trust should apply to the Property owned by Respondents, and (2) Respondents would be unjustly enriched if they were permitted to retain the Property.

On April 6, 2015, Appellant filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Respondents received the funds from Correa as a gift and could not be considered good faith purchasers without notice because they were aware that Correa "had been completely dependent upon [Appellant] for financial support for the prior five years and that she hadn't worked outside the home during that time." Further, Appellant argued that because Respondents were not good faith purchasers they were not entitled to recover for the improvements they made to the Property. Lastly, Appellant argued that Respondents would be unjustly enriched if they were not held liable for past due property taxes and rental income. In sum, Appellant requested that: (1) the Property be conveyed to him; (2) Respondents be paid nothing for the improvements they made to the Property; (3) Respondents pay past due property taxes on the Property; (4) Respondents remit all income they have received for renting the Property; and (5) Respondents pay the costs of the lawsuit.

In response, Respondents disputed three material facts. First, they argued that the money they received from Correa was a loan, not a gift. Second, they argued that they believed, in good faith, that the source of the $101,500 was a gift from Appellant to Correa. Third, they argued that they had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by their daughter at the time they were loaned the $101,500, or at any of the times they spent their own money to improve the Property. Specifically, Respondents clarified that they did not take the position that Appellant was not entitled to $101,500. On the contrary, they agreed that Appellant was entitled to that amount. However, they argued that they were entitled to compensation for the "$40,000 plus of improvements" they made to the Property. In sum, Respondents argued that summary judgment was improper because a genuine issue of material fact existed, that is, whether Respondents were aware, at the time they purchased and improved the Property, that Correa had wrongfully obtained the funds.

The record indicates a somewhat irregular progression of court proceedings following Appellant's April 6, 2015 motion for summary judgment. First, the district court held a summary judgment hearing on May 11, 2015. Then, on June 22, 2015, a one-day trial was held. At trial, Appellant attempted to offer a number of documents into evidence. Respondents objected to the admission arguing, inter alia , that the documents had been requested in discovery, but not produced.

Specifically, Respondents' discovery request stated:

[Y]ou are requested, within 30 days of the date of this document was served upon you, to permit the inspection and copy[ing] of documents and things requested below at the offices of Stewart, Taylor and Morris, PLLC, 12550 West Explorer Drive, Suite 100, Boise, Idaho 83713 or at such other time and place as the parties agree in writing. As an alternative to producing documents for inspection and copying, accurate, legible, and complete copies of requested documents may be attached to your responses and served within the same time period.

Appellant argued that Respondents' request was unreasonable because it required him to travel from California to Idaho to produce the documents. Further, he argued that the documents he was attempting to admit were attached to his summary judgment pleadings. Ultimately, the district court excluded the admission of Appellant's exhibits because the exhibits were requested but not produced in discovery.2

On August 3, 2015, Appellant's motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part. The district court found that there were no issues of material fact with respect to the following: (1) Respondents are Correa's parents; (2) Correa is the ex-girlfriend of Appellant and the mother of his two children; (3) Appellant wrote three checks totaling $400,000 in 2008; (4) Correa wrote checks to Respondents in July 2009 totaling $101,500 and these funds were included in the $104,000 that was transferred to Respondents' relatives who resided in Boise; (5) the Property was acquired by Respondents on October 27, 2009 for $96,000; and (6) the Property was, at the time of the district court's ruling, in Respondents' names. The district court found that there were issues of material fact with respect to the following: (1) whether the improvements to the Property were made in good faith by Respondents, and (2) whether Appellant would be unjustly enriched by receiving the Property without compensating Respondents for the improvements made thereto.

Also on August 3, 2015, the district court issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The district court found that the transfer of $101,500 from Correa to Respondents was a loan not a gift. It noted that

At the time the money was transferred, it was intended that the money would be repaid to [Correa] at some point. The [c]ourt infers from the circumstances that the loan, like many transactions between parents and children, was vague or uncertain in many of its terms. There was no stated interest rate and no exact due date. The loan was to be repaid upon resale of the house.

Further, the district court found the following testimony of Ms. Hill credible: (1) that she was unaware, at the time the funds were received from Correa, that Correa had wrongfully obtained and held the funds; (2) that she believed Correa had received the funds from App...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT