Lavidas v. Smith
Decision Date | 13 August 1999 |
Docket Number | No. 2 CA-CV 98-0208.,2 CA-CV 98-0208. |
Citation | 195 Ariz. 250,987 P.2d 212 |
Parties | Louis LAVIDAS and Koula Lavidas, husband and wife, Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. Lorne M. SMITH, a single man, Defendant/Appellant. |
Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
Karman Law Offices, P.C. By Howard H. Karman, Casa Grande, Attorneys for Plaintiffs/Appellees.
Wilenchik & Bartness, P.C. By Dennis I. Wilenchik and Robert C. Brown, Phoenix, Attorneys for Defendant/Appellant.
¶ 1 Defendant/appellant Lorne Smith appeals from the trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs/appellees Louis and Koula Lavidas quieting title to them on a 100-acre parcel of property in Pinal County. Based on our interpretation of former A.R.S. § 42-381(B) as applied to former § 42-463(A),1 we vacate the trial court's summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.
¶ 2 Although the facts relating to the central legal issue in this appeal are essentially undisputed, we view the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to Smith. Ramirez v. Health Partners of S. Arizona, 193 Ariz. 325, 972 P.2d 658 (App.1998). In 1987, Smith and the Lavidases acquired a 200-acre parcel of property in Pinal County as tenants in common. Two years later, Smith and the Lavidases voluntarily partitioned the property into two, 100-acre parcels and conveyed by quit claim deeds one parcel to the Lavidases and the other to Smith. Because the county tax records apparently did not immediately "catch up" with the partition, and because neither Smith nor the Lavidases paid the property taxes on the property in 1989 or 1990, taxes became delinquent for the entire parcel.2 In 1991, a third party, William Alexander, purchased the 1989 and 1990 tax liens on the property from the county.
¶ 3 In 1996, after waiting the requisite five-year period pursuant to former A.R.S. § 42-461, Alexander began administrative foreclosure of the right of redemption in order to obtain a treasurer's deed to the property. The county treasurer then published notice of application for a treasurer's deed in a newspaper of general circulation in Pinal County on August 22 and 29, 1996, pursuant to § 42-463(A). The published notice, however, did not include "the amount of taxes, interest, penalties and charges for which the tax lien was sold," as required by § 42-463(A)(4). That information was included in a notice that the treasurer previously had sent to the Lavidases by certified mail pursuant to former § 42-462, but that notice was returned undelivered due to the expiration of the forwarding order. In October 1996, the county issued a treasurer's deed to Alexander, who recorded the deed in November. Thereafter, Alexander contacted Smith, who purchased the entire property back from Alexander in April 1997.
¶ 4 After discovering in March 1997 that the county treasurer had issued a treasurer's deed to Alexander, the Lavidases filed this action seeking to quiet title to their half of the property and to bar Smith from having or claiming any interest in it. In moving for summary judgment, the Lavidases contended that the deed to Alexander was invalid because the county treasurer's published notice failed to strictly comply with § 42-463(A). Smith opposed the motion and also moved for summary judgment, contending that the published notice "substantially complied with the requirements" of that statute.
¶ 5 The trial court granted the Lavidases' motion and denied Smith's cross-motion. In so ruling, the court concluded that § 42-463(A) "makes clear what the Treasurer should do" and, because "the Treasurer's published notice failed to comply with the statute," the treasurer's deed issued to Alexander was "void and of no force or effect." Accordingly, the court quieted title in favor of the Lavidases as to their parcel and barred Smith "from having or claiming any right or title" to it. This appeal followed the trial court's entry of judgment in favor of the Lavidases pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ariz. R. Civ. P., 16 A.R.S., and its denial of Smith's motion for reconsideration.
¶ 6 "On appeal from a summary judgment, we review de novo whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the trial court erred in applying the law." Ramirez, 193 Ariz. 325, ¶ 6, 972 P.2d 658, ¶ 6. In addition, issues involving statutory interpretation are questions of law subject to this court's de novo review. Id.
¶ 7 During the relevant time frame, § 42-463(A) provided:
1996 Ariz. Sess. Laws, ch. 166, § 37. At that time, § 42-381(B) provided:
B. The county treasurer shall secure the payment of unpaid delinquent taxes by using the provisions of this article and articles 7, 8 and 8.1 of this chapter to sell the tax liens provided for in section 42-312 and to foreclose the right to redeem. Insubstantial failure to comply with these provisions does not affect the validity of the assessment and levy of taxes, nor any tax lien on real property for delinquent unpaid taxes, nor the sale of a tax lien or the foreclosure of the right to redeem by which tax collection is enforced.
1995 Ariz. Sess. Laws, ch. 200, § 1.
¶ 8 "The primary rule of statutory construction is to find and give effect to legislative intent." Mail Boxes, Etc., U.S.A. v. Industrial Comm'n, 181 Ariz. 119, 121, 888 P.2d 777, 779 (1995). As our supreme court recently stated:
If a statute is clear and unambiguous, we apply it without using other means of statutory construction. When an ambiguity exists, however, we attempt to determine legislative intent by interpreting the statute as a whole, and consider "the statute's context, subject matter, historical background, effects and consequences, and spirit and purpose." If neither the statute's text nor the statement of legislative intent resolves the exact issue before the court, "we must resolve any ambiguity by considering the legislature's overall purposes and goals in enacting the body of legislation in question."
Aros v. Beneficial Arizona, Inc., 194 Ariz. 62, ¶ 12, 977 P.2d 784, ¶ 12 (1999) (citations omitted).
¶ 9 In addition, we must construe interrelated statutory provisions together, in the context of the overall statutory scheme, and aim to achieve consistency among them. Wallace v. Casa Grande Union High Sch. Dist. No. 82 Bd. of Governors, 184 Ariz. 419, 909 P.2d 486 (App.1995). "Whenever possible, we adopt a construction of a statute that reconciles it with other statutes, giving force to all statutes involved." Lewis v. Arizona Dep't of Econ. Sec., 186 Ariz. 610, 614, 925 P.2d 751, 755 (App.1996). See also Chaparral Dev. v. RMED Int'l, Inc., 170 Ariz. 309, 313, 823 P.2d 1317, 1321 (App.1991) ().
¶ 10 The parties agree that the only omission in the treasurer's publication notice was its failure to specify the amount of the taxes, interest, penalties, and charges as prescribed in § 42-463(A)(4).3 Smith contends § 42-463(A), when read in conjunction with § 42-381(B), is "directory" rather than mandatory and, therefore, the treasurer's deed to Alexander is valid because the county substantially complied with the requirements of § 42-463(A). The Lavidases, on the other hand, contend the legislature intended the provisions of § 42-463(A) to be mandatory by repeatedly using the word "shall" in the statutory language. Thus, they argue, "the treasurer must follow the letter of the statute, and if not, the issuance of the deed is invalid, and the grantee therein takes nothing."
¶ 11 Our supreme court has differentiated mandatory from directory statutes as follows:
* * *." Id.
* * * ." Id. at 547.
Department of Revenue v. Southern Union Gas Co., 119 Ariz. 512, 513-14, 582 P.2d 158, 159-60 (1978) (citations omitted). See also Watahomigie v. Arizona Bd. of Water Quality Appeals, 181 Ariz. 20, 887 P.2d 550 (App.1994).
¶ 12 The parties essentially contend that the outcome of our statutory analysis in this matter turns on a blanket construction of § 42-463(A) as either mandatory or directory. We disagree. Because neither interpretation gives meaningful operation to both statutes, we deem the parties' all or nothing approach, based on labeling § 42-463(A) as either mandatory or directory, inappropriate. Rather, we analyze both statutes together in the context of the facts presented...
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