Mahoney v. Loma Alta Prop. Owners Ass'n, Inc.

• Decision Date: 10 November 2011
• Docket Number: 2100909.
• Citation: 84 So.3d 907
• Parties: Carol MAHONEY v. LOMA ALTA PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

84 So.3d 907

Carol MAHONEY

v.LOMA ALTA PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

2100909.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

Nov. 10, 2011.

Richard L. Watters, Mobile, for appellant.

Jennifer L. Evans and James B. Pittman, Jr., of James B. Pittman, Jr., P.C., Daphne, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Carol Mahoney ("Mahoney") appeals from a judgment of the Baldwin Circuit Court awarding her $500 as an attorney fee and costs pursuant to the Alabama Litigation Accountability Act, § 12–19–270 et seq., Ala.Code 1975 ("ALAA"). We reverse and remand.

This is the fourth time these parties have been before this court. In Mahoney v. Loma Alta Property Owners Ass'n, 72 So.3d 649 (Ala.Civ.App.2011) ("Mahoney III "), we set out the factual and procedural history of the case and the previous appeals thusly:

"In Mahoney v. Loma Alta Property Owners Ass'n, 4 So.3d 1130 (Ala.Civ.App.2008) (‘ Mahoney I ’), we set out the facts and procedural history of the case as follows:

" ‘Loma Alta Property Owners Association, Inc. ("LAPOA"), sued Carol Mahoney in the Baldwin District Court, claiming breach of contract, account stated, and a property-owners-association lien on real estate occupied by Mahoney. LAPOA alleged that Ms. Mahoney was the owner of unit C–1 in Loma Alta Townhomes; that Ms. Mahoney was, therefore, bound by an agreement contained within the condominium declaration for the Loma Alta subdivision to pay property-owners-association fees, assessments, and late charges; and that Ms. Mahoney had failed to pay those fees, assessments, and charges. LAPOA asserted that it was entitled to recover from Ms. Mahoney damages, including late fees, interest, costs, and an attorney fee, and to have a lien on the real estate occupied by Ms. Mahoney.

" ‘Ms. Mahoney answered the complaint, admitted that she "owe[d] some money, but not the total amount claimed by [LAPOA]," and asserted that she was entitled to a setoff because LAPOA had failed to make needed repairs on the unit. On April 11, 2006, the district court entered a judgment in favor of LAPOA in the amount of $5,390, plus costs and an attorney fee of $500. Ms. Mahoney appealed that judgment to the Baldwin Circuit Court on April 25, 2006, for a trial de novo.

" ‘On May 19, 2006, Ms. Mahoney filed an amended answer in the circuit court, generally denying the allegations of LAPOA's complaint and asserting, among other things, that she did not have a contract with LAPOA. In addition, Ms. Mahoney asserted a claim under the Alabama Litigation Accountability Act ("ALAA"), § 12–19–270 et seq., Ala.Code 1975. On December 21, 2006, LAPOA amended its complaint, naming Ms. Mahoney's former husband, Joseph Mahoney, as a defendant. LAPOA alleged that Mr. Mahoney was the "owner" of unit C–1 in Loma Alta Townhomes and that Ms. Mahoney was a "resident" of the unit. LAPOA also added a claim alleging that, by virtue of the foreclosure of its property-owners-association lien, it was entitled to have Ms. Mahoney "evicted" from unit C–1.

" ‘The circuit court conducted a bench trial on January 26, 2007, at which only one witness—Mary Garey, the secretary/treasurer of LAPOA—testified. Garey explained that the property-owners-association fees and assessments represent the unit owners' proportionate share of the cost of maintaining and preserving the common areas of the condominium. Garey testified that Ms. Mahoney had resided in unit C–1 of the condominium since March 2000 and that she had paid some of the fees and assessments but that she had stopped paying, contending that she was entitled to set off against the balance the cost of needed repairs that LAPOA had failed to make on the unit Ms. Mahoney was occupying. Garey stated that, according to the condominium declaration, repairs to a unit are the responsibility of the individual unit owner, not LAPOA. Garey identified a document showing the past-due fees and assessments that, LAPOA claimed, were owed by Ms. Mahoney. Garey testified that Ms. Mahoney had never returned the invoices for fees and assessments to Garey with a request that the invoices be forwarded to someone else. Nor, according to Garey, had Ms. Mahoney ever informed LAPOA that she was not the owner of the unit in which she resided. Garey testified that LAPOA, by virtue of its contract with the owner of each unit, has a lien on any unit for which there are unpaid fees and assessments. Garey said that LAPOA had foreclosed its lien on unit C–1.¹

" ‘On cross-examination, Garey acknowledged that the owner of each unit is solely responsible for payment of the property-owners-association fees and assessments. Garey admitted that LAPOA had no deed showing that Ms. Mahoney was the owner of the unit in which she resided, that LAPOA had no contract with Ms. Mahoney, and that LAPOA had no document stating that someone other than the owner of the unit was responsible for payment of the fees and assessments on the unit that Ms. Mahoney occupied. On redirect examination, Garey affirmed the truth of the following inquiry by LAPOA's counsel: "We're simply asking [the circuit court] to confirm that we've got a judgment on this unit, whether it's owned [by] Ms. Mahoney or whoever it is, because that unit has not paid any dues and assessments, is that right?"

" ‘The circuit court admitted the following documentary evidence offered by LAPOA: (1) the condominium declaration for the Loma Alta subdivision; (2) a statement of fees, assessments, and late charges sent by LAPOA to Ms. Mahoney on January 24, 2007, indicating a balance due of $6,150; and (3) a "Statement of Lien" filed in the Baldwin Probate Court on October 4, 2004, naming Carol Mahoney as the owner of "Lot C–1, Loma Alta, as recorded in Map Book 11, Page 176, in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Baldwin County, Alabama."

" ‘At the conclusion of Garey's testimony, LAPOA rested and Ms. Mahoney's counsel moved for a "directed verdict," ² arguing:

" ‘ "[T]here's been no proof of ownership [by] my client, Carol Mahoney, ... or that she's bound by any contract that they have failed to present in court showing that she's responsible for anything....

" ‘ "[LAPOA has] gone against the wrong person, and that's why we move for a directed verdict and ask for award of reasonable attorney's fees for having to fight this."

" ‘The circuit court denied the motion. On April 13, 2007, the court entered a judgment in favor of LAPOA and against Ms. Mahoney in the amount of $6,279.10 and awarded LAPOA an attorney's fee of $5,000. The court did not rule on Ms. Mahoney's ALAA counterclaim, but we conclude that it was implicitly denied. See Harris v. Cook, 944 So.2d 977, 981 (Ala.Civ.App.2006). On the same day, the circuit court entered a default judgment for the same amount in favor of LAPOA and against Joseph Mahoney. Ms. Mahoney filed a timely notice of appeal to this court on May 15, 2007.

" ‘ ¹ Section 35–8–17(4), Ala.Code 1975, a part of a chapter entitled "Condominium Ownership," provides that "[l]iens for unpaid assessments may be foreclosed by an action brought in the name of the [property owners'] association in the same manner as a foreclosure of a mortgage on real property."

" ‘ ² In actions tried without a jury, the proper motion is one for a judgment on partial findings, pursuant to Rule 52(c), Ala. R. Civ. P.’

" Mahoney I, 4 So.3d at 1131–33. In Mahoney v. Loma Alta Property Owners Ass'n, 52 So.3d 510 (Ala.Civ.App.2009) (‘ Mahoney II ’), this court further set out the facts and procedural history of the case as follows:

" ‘[In Mahoney I, ] [t]his court reversed the judgment in favor of Loma Alta Property Owners Association, Inc. ("LAPOA"), holding that LAPOA had wholly failed to prove that Ms. Mahoney was bound to pay the fees, assessments, and late charges claimed by LAPOA because LAPOA's contract obligated the owner of the condominium unit to pay those charges and the evidence conclusively established that Ms. Mahoney was not the owner of the unit. This court remanded the cause to the circuit court with instructions to adjudicate Ms. Mahoney's ALAA claim.

" ‘On remand, the circuit court vacated its judgment in favor of LAPOA, entered a judgment in favor of Ms. Mahoney, and summarily denied Ms. Mahoney's ALAA claim on September 17, 2008. Ms. Mahoney filed a postjudgment motion on October 2, 2008, complaining that the circuit court had, "without evidence or testimony entered a verdict for [LAPOA] as to the ALAA claim." She attached to her motion a foreclosure deed executed by LAPOA's attorney on October 10, 2006, and filed in the Baldwin Probate Court on October 16, 2006, averring that Joseph Mahoney had been the record title owner of the subject property since May 10, 2005.

" ‘Ms. Mahoney specifically requested a hearing on her postjudgment motion. The circuit court set the motion for a hearing on October 21, 2008. The record before us contains no transcript of the hearing. The parties agree, however, that Ms. Mahoney did not appear, that no evidence was presented, and that counsel for both parties presented oral argument to the trial court at the hearing. On October 28, 2008, the circuit court denied Ms. Mahoney's postjudgment motion. Ms. Mahoney timely appealed on November 13, 2008.’

" Mahoney II, 52 So.3d at 513–14.

"In Mahoney II, we held that,

" ‘[i]n the present case, as in Sanderson Group [, Inc. v. Smith, 809 So.2d 823 (Ala.Civ.App.2001) ], the record shows indisputably that LAPOA's action against Ms. Mahoney was groundless in law. All four of LAPOA's claims against Ms. Mahoney—breach of contract, account stated, property owner's lien, and eviction—hinged upon its proving that Ms. Mahoney was the owner of the property. LAPOA not only failed to prove that Ms. Mahoney was the owner, but it also presented as its only witness at the circuit-court trial someone who acknowledged "that LAPOA had no deed showing that Ms. Mahoney was the owner" of the property. Mahoney [I], 4 So.3d at 1132. LAPOA had access to its own condominium declaration, which

" ‘ "makes it clear that LAPOA's remedy

...