Investors Alliance, LLC v. Bordeaux

• Decision Date: 15 April 2014
• Docket Number: No. ED 99804.,ED 99804.
• Citation: 428 S.W.3d 693
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Parties: INVESTORS ALLIANCE, LLC, Plaintiff/Respondent, v. Inez BORDEAUX, Defendant/Appellant.

428 S.W.3d 693

INVESTORS ALLIANCE, LLC, Plaintiff/Respondent,
v.
Inez BORDEAUX, Defendant/Appellant.

No. ED 99804.

Missouri Court of Appeals,
Eastern District,
Division Four.

April 15, 2014.

[428 S.W.3d 694]

Michael–John Voss, St. Louis, MO, for appellant.

Alan J. Baker, St. Louis, MO, for respondent.

PHILIP M. HESS, Judge.
I. Introduction

In this rent and possession case, Inez Bordeaux (Defendant) appeals the judgment of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis following a trial de novo in favor of Investors Alliance, LLC (Plaintiff) for unpaid rent pursuant to § 535.070.¹ Defendant's sole point is that the trial court erred by entering judgment in Plaintiff's favor because Plaintiff failed to provide Defendant with notice of the property's transfer of ownership, which is “a statutory prerequisite to recovery,” and therefore Plaintiff was not entitled to recover the unpaid rent. We reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand for entry of a judgment in Defendant's favor.

II. Factual Background

On November 18, 2011, Defendant signed a lease for certain residential property located in St. Louis City and began residing at the property. The lease's duration was for approximately one year and it required Defendant to pay $750 per month in rent. At the time of the lease's execution, Lucio Santiseban owned the property and Baybridge managed the property. The lease required Defendant to remit rent to Baybridge.

Unbeknownst to Defendant, Santiseban sold the property to Bhavin Shah on November 30, 2011, 12 days after the lease's execution. According to Defendant, she never received “any notice” of the property's transfer of ownership. During the lease, Defendant stopped paying rent because of maintenance issues.

In June 2012, Defendant received a letter notifying her that Plaintiff would be managing the property and that all rent should be remitted to Plaintiff. Defendant did not pay rent to Plaintiff for the months of June, July, August, September, October, or November 2012. Nor did Defendant remit any rent to Baybridge for those months.

In August 2012, Plaintiff, acting as Shah's agent, filed a petition for rent and possession under §§ 535.010 and 535.020, which permit a landlord to recover possession of the premises and any unpaid rent. Subsequently, an associate circuit judge entered an order entitling Plaintiff to recover possession of the premises and awarding Plaintiff $6,200 in unpaid rent, late fees, and attorney fees.

[428 S.W.3d 695]

Defendant timely filed a petition for a trial de novo.² At the hearing, Defendant asserted that Plaintiff was not entitled to recover rent because Plaintiff had failed to provide Defendant with notice of the property's transfer of ownership, as required by § 535.081. In response, Plaintiff argued that notice is not a required element of proof under § 535.090 and, therefore, Plaintiff was entitled to the recovery of rent under § 535.070. ³ Plaintiff did not assert that it provided Defendant with the notice required under § 535.081.

Thereafter, the trial court issued a written judgment in Plaintiff's favor. The trial court found that Plaintiff did not provide Defendant “adequate and timely notice” consistent with § 535.081. However, the trial court concluded that the statute did not preclude Plaintiff's recovery of the unpaid rent because notice is not an element of a claim for rent under § 535.090 and the covenant to pay rent runs with the land under Cooper v. Ratley, 916 S.W.2d 868 (Mo.App.S.D.1996). The trial court explained, in pertinent part:

Section 535.090 RSMo. contains the pleading requirements for a rent and possession action by a purchaser, and states that if such requirements are met, “the plaintiff shall be entitled to recover possession and unpaid rent accruing after the transfer and while the tenant was in possession.” Notice pursuant to Section 535.081 RSMo. is not an element of the landlord's claim.

It appears that the only real consequence of not providing the notice as set forth in Section 535.081 RSMo. is that the tenant may not know to whom to pay the rent, and may pay the rent to the wrong party.... Because of [sic] the covenant to pay rent runs with the land, the tenant would not be relieved of the obligation to pay rent by the failure of the landlord to provide the notice as set out in Section 535.081.

The trial court's judgment awarded Plaintiff $4,100 in rent and additional costs.⁴ Defendant appeals.

III. Standard of Review

Defendant's sole point raises an issue of statutory construction, which is an issue that we review de novo. Mitchell v. Residential Funding Corp., 334 S.W.3d 477, 497 (Mo.App.W.D.2010). Further, because the judgment appealed stems from a court-tried case, our review is also controlled by Rule 84.13(d) and the principles articulated in Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976). Wedgewood Square Ctr. Ltd. P'ship v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., 347 S.W.3d 582, 585 (Mo.App.S.D.2011). Accordingly, we must affirm the judgment unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Kavanaugh v. Ealy, 364 S.W.3d 759, 761 (Mo.App.E.D.2012).

IV. Discussion

In her point, Defendant asserts that Plaintiff is not entitled to recover rent

[428 S.W.3d 696]

under § 535.070 because Plaintiff failed to provide statutory notice of the property's transfer of ownership under § 535.081, which Defendant argues is a “statutory prerequisite to recovery.” Defendant asserts that the plain language of § 535.081 limits a purchaser's right to recover rent to those instances in which the purchaser provides “adequate and timely notice” of transfer of ownership and that a purchaser's failure to provide the required notice precludes the right to recover rent under § 535.070. According to Defendant, the trial court's contrary interpretation ignored the plain language of § 535.081 and wrongly relied on Cooper. Plaintiff responds, consistent with the trial court's interpretation of the statute, that the notice referred to in § 535.081 is not a “required element” of proof under § 535.090.

Initially, we note that no binding Missouri case has applied, or interpreted the meaning of § 535.081. Thus, to determine whether the trial court properly interpreted the statute, we must analyze the language of the relevant provisions. Our primary goal in construing statutory language is to discern the legislature's intent. Anani v. Griep, 406 S.W.3d 479, 482 (Mo.App.E.D.2013). The best indicator of that intent is the plain and ordinary meaning of the language used. Id. The Court must view the language in context, giving each word its commonly understood meaning, unless otherwise defined. Garland v. Director of Revenue, 961 S.W.2d 824, 827 (Mo. banc 1998). In the absence of statutory definitions, we may rely on dictionary definitions to determine the meaning of the language used. Gash v. Lafayette County, 245 S.W.3d 229, 232 (Mo. banc 2008). Statutes on the same subject are read in pari materia and should be construed harmoniously. South Metro. Fire Prot. Dist. v. City of Lee's Summit, 278 S.W.3d 659, 666 (Mo. banc 2009). When the language is clear and unambiguous, judicial construction of the language used is not permitted and this Court must apply the language as written. Anani, 406 S.W.3d at 482;City of Wellston v. SBC Communications, Inc., 203 S.W.3d 189, 192 (Mo. banc 2006). Further, this Court should avoid an interpretation that renders meaningless any portion of the statutory language. White v. White, 293 S.W.3d 1, 9 (Mo.App.W.D.2009).

Section 535.081, which is at the center of this dispute, is contained in Chapter 535. Generally, Chapter 535 provides landlords an efficient statutory remedy to collect past-due rents and regain possession of leased property through procedures established to achieve this purpose. Section 535.081 and its related provisions, §§ 535.070 and 535.090, are applicable when an owner sells leased property, the tenant fails to pay rent to the purchaser of the property, and the purchaser seeks to recover rent and...