Holder v. Serodino
| Decision Date | 16 September 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. M2014-00533-COA-R3-CV,M2014-00533-COA-R3-CV |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
| Parties | CARLTON C. HOLDER v. VICTOR P. SERODINO, III, ET AL. |
Appeal from the Chancery Court for Sequatchie County
Jeffrey F. Stewart, Chancellor
This appeal arises from a dispute over an easement for a private airstrip. The original owner of the land sub-divided it into six tracts, with the plan of selling them to buyers interested in purchasing property with access to the airstrip. Three of the tracts were sold to Appellant and one was purchased by Appellee. After unsuccessful efforts to sell portions of their land holdings, the original owner and Appellant executed and recorded a purported abandonment of the easement. Upon discovering that the purchasers of the final two tracts sold by the original owner were building fences across the airstrip, Appellee brought suit seeking to assert his easement rights, among other claims. The trial court found that an express and, in the alternative, implied easement for the airstrip had been created. However, because the purchasers of the two tracts had been informed that the easement was abandoned, the court terminated the easement where it crossed those two tracts. In addition, the trial court found that the original owner and Appellant had committed the tort of libel of title in executing and recording an abandonment of easement without joining Appellee as a party to the agreement. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part, and Remanded
Tad K. Wintermeyer, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellant, Victor P. Serodino, III.
Daniel M. Stefaniuk and William J. Rieder, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellee, Carlton C Holder.
OPINIONRichard D. Pincelli purchased land located in Sequatchie County, Tennessee, from Emma P. Casey through two separate transactions on April 12, 1994, and January 6, 1995. Each of the two warranty deeds were subject to an identical restrictive covenant stating that, for a period of twenty-five years, "[n]o buildings shall be erected and maintained other than one single family dwelling on each tract and buildings normally appurtenant thereto including barns for horses and similar structures." The land conveyed was also subject to various utility easements.
Mr. Pincelli eventually subdivided a portion of his land into six ten-acre tracts ("tracts I-VI"),1 with the plan of building what came to be known as the "Doe Run Airstrip" (the "Airstrip") across the six tracts and then selling them to purchasers interested in an airpark community. Mr. Pincelli completed construction of the Airstrip in 1995, when he still owned all of the land comprising the Airstrip. Mr. Pincelli initially used the Airstrip for his motorized hang glider.
In the fall of 1995, Mr. Pincelli approached Appellant, Victor P. Serodino, for a loan of $9,500 to maintain and extend the Airstrip. In return, Mr. Pincelli granted Mr. Serodino the right to use the Airstrip and the right of first refusal for future sales of the tracts. Both Mr. Pincelli and Mr. Serodino made use of the Airstrip to land their private aircraft. Mr. Serodino testified that, from the time he began using the Airstrip in 1995 until 2010, he took off and landed on the Airstrip "a thousand times, plus or minus."
On April 17, 2001, Mr. Pincelli conveyed tracts I—III to Mr. Serodino by general warranty deed. The deed provided that "[t]he above described property is subject to a right of way for an airstrip 3000' x 200', presently known as 'Doe Run Airstrip', as set forth in an Agreement dated 04/17/01." The referenced agreement, which was prepared by Mr. Serodino and signed by both Mr. Pincelli and Mr. Serodino prior to execution of the deed, provided further details concerning the Airstrip easement. Among other things, the agreement specified who might use the Airstrip, the location of the easement, and the effect of future transfers of property subject to the easement as follows:
Although the deed transferring tracts I-III was recorded, the agreement between Mr. Pincelli and Mr. Serodino was not.
On July 20, 2001, Mr. Pincelli conveyed tract IV to Carlton C. Holder, the appellee, by general warranty deed. The deed to Mr. Holder stated that it was "subject to an agreement dated April, 2001, regarding the airstrip located on the above described property." Immediately prior to transferring the property, Mr. Pincelli made Mr. Holder sign an agreement regarding the Airstrip, which was nearly identical to the Pincelli-Serodino agreement.2
Approximately six years later, Mr. Pincelli conveyed tract V—the lot immediately east of Mr. Holder's—by general warranty deed to Neal B. Parker on July 10, 2007. Despite his earlier agreement with Mr. Serodino, the deed lacked a reference to a right of way for the Airstrip or Mr. Pincelli's prior agreements with Mr. Holder andMr. Serodino. However, the deed did provide that the transfer was "subject to any and all existing easements."
Mr. Parker testified that the Airstrip appeared long disused when he first inspected the property; the grass on the Airstrip was at knee height. Upon inquiry, Mr. Pincelli responded that the property had been used as an airstrip but that it had been abandoned. Mr. Parker stated that he never would have purchased the property if he knew that it contained an easement for an airstrip.
On July 1, 2008, Mr. Pincelli conveyed the final tract subject to the Airstrip easement, tract VI, to Jerry S. Sloan and Glenna Ramer by general warranty deed. Once again, the deed made no mention of the Airstrip or the agreements Mr. Pincelli executed with Mr. Holder and Mr. Serodino. Like the deed to Mr. Parker, the deed provided that tract VI was "subject to any and all existing easements."
Mr. Sloan and Ms. Ramer subsequently transferred tract VI to Bruce A. and Kathleen Cunningham. The Cunninghams then transferred the property by warranty deed on September 18, 2009, to Larry D. Baggett and his wife, Bethel S. Baggett. Although containing the language that tract VI was "subject to any and all existing easements," the deed made no reference to the Airstrip or the agreements relating to it.
The Baggetts had previously purchased a different tract of land from Mr. Pincelli directly. When making this purchase, Mr. Baggett noticed an old windsock and hangar foundation on tract VI. He asked Mr. Pincelli whether there was an airstrip on the tract, and Mr. Pincelli told him that it had been abandoned.
Following his purchase of tract IV in 2001, Mr. Holder traveled extensively for work. As a result, he spent very little time at the property. He only landed on the Airstrip once, sometime in May 2001, before purchasing tract IV. Nonetheless, Mr. Holder testified that he intended to retire to the property, and the primary reason he had purchased it was to make use of the property and the Airstrip during his retirement.
In September 2010, on a visit to his property, Mr. Holder noticed that Mr. Parker and the Baggetts were in the process of erecting fences across the Airstrip where it intersected with their respective properties. At this stage, some of the fence posts were connected by string.
In researching his easement rights, Mr. Holder discovered a document entitled "Abandonment of Easement and Rights for Doe Run Airstrip," which had been executed and recorded by Mr. Pincelli and Mr. Serodino on July 8, 2010. The document purported to abandon the easement for the Airstrip, providing, in pertinent part, as follows:
[W]e, Richard D. Pincelli and Victor P. Serodino, III, the sole parties to that certain right of way for an airstrip 3000' x 200' presently known as "Doe Run Airstrip" as set forth in Agreement dated 04/17/01 and recited in Deed from Richard D. Pincelli to Victor P. Serodino, III, dated April 17, 2001 . . . do hereby forever release, abandon and terminate all easements, rights, and benefits in and to the Doe Run Airstrip . . . .
Mr. Serodino later testified that he entered into the abandonment with Mr. Pincelli in order to entice Jerry S. Sloan to purchase tracts I and II.
Mr. Serodino conveyed tracts I and II to Mr. Sloan on July 9, 2010—the day after the abandonment was executed. In preparing the property for sale, Mr. Serodino's real estate agent, John Mitchum, approached Mr. Holder to inquire about any interest he may have in the Airstrip easement. Mr. Holder advised Mr. Mitchum of his interest in the Airstrip, although he failed to produce...
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