Hubbard Hill Estates, Inc. v. Mick
| Decision Date | 24 July 2013 |
| Docket Number | No. 20A03–1301–SC–24.,20A03–1301–SC–24. |
| Citation | 990 N.E.2d 995 |
| Parties | HUBBARD HILL ESTATES, INC., Appellant–Defendant, v. R. Wyatt MICK, Jr., individually and, as personal representative of the Estate of Harriet M. Seilon, Deceased, Appellee–Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
HUBBARD HILL ESTATES, INC., Appellant–Defendant,
v.
R. Wyatt MICK, Jr., individually and, as personal representative of the Estate of Harriet M. Seilon, Deceased, Appellee–Plaintiff.
No. 20A03–1301–SC–24.
Court of Appeals of Indiana.
July 24, 2013.
Appeal from the Elkhart Superior Court; The Honorable Charles C. Wicks, Judge; Cause No. 20D05–1205–SC–2932.
Randy J. Spitaels, Kindig & Sloat, P.C., Nappanee, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Michael A. Derucki, Bingham & Loughlin, P.C., Mishawaka, IN, Attorney for Appellee.
MATHIAS, Judge.
Hubbard Hill Estates, Inc. (“Hubbard Hill”) appeals a judgment in favor of R. Wyatt Mick, Jr. (“Mick”), individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Harriet M. Seilon (“the Estate”) for overpaid rent from Harriet M. Seilon's (“Seilon”) account at the Hubbard Hill retirement community. The Elkhart Superior Court issued a total award of $3,150.00 plus costs, awarding $729.19 to Mick personally and $2,420.81 to the Estate. Hubbard Hill argues that the trial court's award is not supported by the evidence.
We agree and reverse.
On July 27, 1994, Seilon entered into a written lease agreement with Hubbard Hill for a studio apartment home in the Hubbard Hill assisted living community. Rent at the time of the original agreement was at $970 per calendar month, increasing over the course of time to $2,005 per calendar month. Amenities in her monthly rent included use of common areas, utilities, laundry, housekeeping, nursing care, nursing assessments, meals, and transportation. The lease was terminable at will by the tenant at any time, for any reason whatsoever, and keys were to be returned at the time that the tenant vacated the apartment. Hubbard Hill could terminate a lease upon necessary transfer or discharge of the tenant from the facility, or for health, safety or other reasonable purposes. Hubbard Hill also provided more intensive nursing care in a separate section of its facilities, specialized nursing care, medications, and other basic necessities at additional costs.
Seilon continued to reside in Hubbard Hill's assisted living section for the majority of her remaining eighteen years. She handled her own financial affairs until sometime in 2007, when she and her nephew, Mick, opened a joint account so he could handle her finances.
On December 3, 2010, Seilon was transferred to the nursing section of Hubbard Hill. Upon Seilon's transfer, Mick paid $6,090.00 for the costs of care in that section of the facility for the remaining twenty-nine days in the month of December. Seilon's regular assisted living apartment rent, in the amount of $2,005.00 was also paid early in the month. Since Seilon was in the nursing home section for most of December, her regular assisted living food credit of $290 was refunded, but Hubbard Hill received and kept $1,715.00 of her rent payment for December. In total, Hubbard Hill received a sum of $9,172.14 in payment on Seilon's account in December 2010.
Seilon passed away on December 16, 2010. Hubbard Hill credited $3,150.00 to Seilon's account, as a refund for pre-paid nursing care for fifteen days at $210 per day. Seilon's furnishings, clothing, and other personal effects remained in her studio apartment in the assisted living section until December 31, 2010. Mick agreed to have the furniture and other items distributed to Hubbard Hill's employees, but asked the head nurse of the assisted living section if he could keep Seilon's antique Hammond B3 organ with Leslie speaker in Seilon's apartment until the weather improved.1 The head nurse apparently allowed Mick to keep the organ in Seilon's apartment. Mick did not discuss storage facilities or fees with the Hubbard Hill business office. Mick also testified that he offered to have the organ moved out of the room to a different part of the facility, but was told that with ongoing construction, such a move was not feasible.2 Hubbard Hill also refused to rent the apartment to another tenant while the organ remained in the apartment for fear of damaging it.
From January 1, 2011 until March 18, 2011, the organ was stored in the apartment.3 Mick retained the key to the apartment until March 18, and he communicated periodically with Hubbard Hill regarding ongoing bills and removal of the organ. Meanwhile, Hubbard Hill did not show the apartment, and charged the full rental value ($2,005.00 per month) for the entire time that the apartment was used for storage. Hubbard Hill did credit Seilon's account with $840.41, since the apartment was vacated on the eighteenth of March.
In total, less food costs, Hubbard Hill collected $5,233.99 after Seilon's death. Hubbard Hill received full payment for rent for the months of December 2010,4 January 2011, February 2011, and a pro-rated amount for March 2011. Including the $3,150.00 credited after Seilon's death, Seilon's account had sufficient funds to satisfy the majority of the additional rent payments. However, Mick, as personal representative for the Estate was billed for and sent two additional checks to Hubbard Hill: $336.25 on February 9, 2011, and $392.94 on May 11, 2011. Hubbard Hill deposited the entirety of this $729.19, which it applied to continued payment of full rent of the apartment.
On May 24, 2012, Mick filed his small claims complaint in Elkhart Superior Court. The complaint was classified as a refund of overpayment for nursing care. Mick only claimed he was owed a refund of $3,150.00 for nursing home care, which is equal to $210 per day for the fifteen days remaining in December after Seilon's death. On September 25, 2012, a bench trial was conducted, and the trial court took the matter under advisement. Hubbard Hill argued at the trial that Mick was not entitled to the refund since it had been applied to the full rental payments on the studio apartment for January and February 2011. Mick argued that Hubbard Hill could have rented the apartment and that he had discussed with a head nurse that the storage costs for the organ would not be equal to the usual rental cost.
The trial court issued a judgment on November 1, 2012 in favor of Mick. The trial court correctly noted that the dispute arose primarily from miscommunication between the parties. Additionally, the trial court found that Hubbard Hill had placed undue weight on the retention of keys in determining whether Seilon's lease had been terminated, and that it had options under law to remove the organ. Further, the trial court characterized the amount of money collected by Hubbard Hill, even if the $3,150.00 were refunded to Mick, as an amount that “would far exceed the amount of storage charges normally charged in the community even for a climate controlled facility.” Appellant's App. p. 12. As a result, the trial court concluded that Hubbard Hill had been adequately compensated for its storage of the organ, and that allowing Hubbard Hill to retain the $3,150.00 refund would constitute unjust enrichment. The trial court thereafter ordered that Mick, individually, be awarded $729.19, and as personal representative of the Estate, Mick also received a money judgment of $2,420.81. In total, the trial court awarded Mick and the Estate $3,150.00.
Hubbard Hill filed its motion to correct error on December 4, 2012 and argued that Mick had failed to meet his burden to present evidence as to a reasonable charge for storage and that the trial court had taken improper judicial notice of the fair market value of storage facility use. The trial court denied Hubbard Hill's motion, stating that Mick had no...
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