Kudloff v. City of Billings, 93-046

• Citation: 260 Mont. 371, 860 P.2d 140
• Case Date: September 21, 1993
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Montana

Page 140

860 P.2d 140 260 Mont. 371 Don KUDLOFF, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
CITY OF BILLINGS, a political subdivision of the State of
Montana; and Billie Krenzler, Marion Dozier, Betty Miller,
Dan Farmer, John Michunovich, Charles Tooley, Owen Neiter,
Ralph Stone, Richard E. Clark, and Norm Kolpin, all members
of the City Council for the City of Billings, Montana; and
James Van Arsdale, Mayor of the City of Billings, Montana,
Defendants and Respondents. No. 93-046. Supreme Court of Montana. Submitted on Briefs Aug. 26, 1993.
Decided Sept. 21, 1993.

Page 141

[260 Mont. 373] Robert L. Stephens, R.L. Stephens, P.C., Billings, for plaintiff and appellant.

Leo S. Ward, Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry & Hoven, Helena, for defendants and respondents.

NELSON, Justice.

This is an appeal from two Memoranda and Orders of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court granting summary judgment to the defendants. We affirm.

We restate the issues on appeal as follows:

1. Did the plaintiff have standing to maintain a "wrongful annexation" action after he sold the real property at issue?

2. Has there been a violation of plaintiff's constitutional rights which would support a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action?

The plaintiff, Don Kudloff (Kudloff), filed a complaint on March 2, 1990, alleging that the City and its city council members and mayor annexed his real property in violation of state statute. Kudloff also alleged that, in the process of annexing his property, the defendants violated his constitutional rights, giving rise to a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (§ 1983 claim). In his prayer for relief, Kudloff requested that the annexation be set aside and sought his attorney's fees and costs and $50,000 for emotional and physical pain and suffering.

The defendants denied the allegations of Kudloff's complaint and asserted a number of affirmative defenses, including immunity. After preliminary discovery, the City filed a motion for summary judgment based on its asserted immunity defense. In addition, the City argued that the mayor and city council members were entitled to absolute legislative immunity or, alternatively, qualified good faith immunity. Kudloff also filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that immunity was not available for a § 1983 claim and that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law under the facts of the case.

After some further discovery, briefing, and oral argument, the District Court entered its Memorandum and Order on December 13, 1991, granting summary judgment to the city council members and the mayor, on all counts, on the basis of immunity. The District Court also granted summary judgment to the City on Kudloff's § 1983 claim, but denied summary judgment to the City on the issue of the legitimacy of its annexation of Kudloff's property, treating Kudloff's [260 Mont. 374] complaint as a petition for court review under § 7-2-4741, MCA. Kudloff's motion for summary judgment was denied.

Thereafter, some additional discovery was conducted. On June 2, 1992, the City filed a second motion for summary judgment. The basis for this motion was that Kudloff had sold the real property and no

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longer had standing to maintain the lawsuit. On November 17, 1992, the District Court granted the City's motion for summary judgment, finding that Kudloff had no standing to attack the validity of the annexation procedures because he had sold the real property which was the subject of the pending action. From these summary judgments, Kudloff appeals.

Our standard in reviewing a grant of summary judgment is the same as that initially utilized by the district court. McCracken v. City of Chinook (1990), 242 Mont. 21, 24, 788 P.2d 892, 894. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), M.R.Civ.P.

I--DISMISSAL OF "WRONGFUL ANNEXATION" CLAIM

In Kudloff's complaint, he alleged that he owned the real property which the City annexed, and he requested that the annexation be set aside as void. A party vested with legal title is the real party in interest in a dispute involving real property. Blakely v. Kelstrup (1985), 218 Mont. 304, 306, 708 P.2d 253, 255. Clearly, at the time Kudloff filed his complaint, he was the real party in interest entitled to bring the action under Rule 17(a), M.R.Civ.P., which states that "[e]very action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest."

After the commencement of this action, Kudloff sold the subject real property. On June 24, 1992, in his response to the City's second motion for summary judgment, Kudloff stated that he "[did] not seek a judgment or injunction on annexing the property and clearly, based upon the relinquishment of the property, that is outside his scope of available remedies." Rather, Kudloff claimed that he sold the real property in order to mitigate his damages, and expressed his intent to seek damages for losses he alleged resulted from the "forced sale" of the real property.

However, Kudloff at no time amended his complaint to reflect his new intentions. In this case, an amended complaint was required when the theory of Kudloff's case and his alleged damages changed. [260 Mont. 375] The purpose of a complaint, and subsequent amendments, is to provide adequate notice to the defendants of the nature of the actions they must defend against and the remedy which is sought. Here, more than two years after the original complaint was filed, Kudloff changed entirely the nature of the action without providing the required notice to the defendants. Therefore, the District Court properly dismissed the "wrongful annexation" action.

II--ALLEGED CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

Kudloff also appeals the District Court's dismissal of his § 1983 claim. In order to support a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a constitutional right must have been violated by a person acting under color of state law. A...