Montana Metal Bldgs., Inc. v. Shapiro
| Decision Date | 15 July 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-661,96-661 |
| Parties | MONTANA METAL BUILDINGS, INC., Plaintiff and Respondent, v. David A. SHAPIRO, Individually and d/b/a Bridger Aviation Services, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Robert Cameron, Gregory O. Morgan; Morgan, Cameron & Weaver, Bozeman, for Defendant and Appellant.
Steven R. Milch; Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich, Billings, Terry B. Cosgrove, Michael E. Frank; Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich, Helena, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
David A. Shapiro (Shapiro) appeals from the order and decree entered by the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County, which granted the cross-motion for summary judgment filed by Montana Metal Buildings, Inc. (MMB) and foreclosed its construction lien. We reverse.
The issue on appeal is whether the District Court erred in granting MMB's cross-motion for summary judgment.
On April 14, 1994, MMB submitted a bid proposal to Shapiro, doing business as Bridger Aviation Services, for the construction of a 60' X 80' metal building on premises leased by Shapiro at the Three Forks Airport. Shapiro accepted the bid proposal and MMB began construction. Thereafter, MMB served a Notice of Claim and Construction Lien (Lien) on Shapiro on July 31, 1995. It specified that MMB claimed a lien against Shapiro's property in the amount of $26,889.43, as the balance due for materials and labor used in the construction of the metal building.
MMB subsequently sued Shapiro in District Court, seeking judgment in the amount of $26,889.43, plus interest on that amount from July 31, 1995, and an order of foreclosure on the Lien. In his answer to the Shapiro subsequently moved for summary judgment, asserting that the Lien was fatally flawed and, therefore, unenforceable as a matter of law. The bases for his motion were that the Lien insufficiently described the property to which it purported to attach and that statutory notice requirements had not been met. He filed affidavits in support of his motion. MMB opposed Shapiro's motion, contending that the Lien sufficiently described the property and that the notice provisions did not apply. MMB also filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, relying on its brief in opposition to Shapiro's motion and the affidavit of its president and requesting entry of judgment in its favor against Shapiro for the amounts prayed for in its complaint.
complaint, Shapiro denied that MMB was entitled to the relief requested and affirmatively alleged that he did not owe MMB any additional payments.
At the hearing on the summary judgment motions, the attorneys for both parties presented their arguments for and against the validity of MMB's Lien. Neither party presented testimony, although MMB entered a photograph of the Bridger Aviation Services building it had constructed for Shapiro into evidence.
The District Court subsequently entered a written order denying Shapiro's motion and granting MMB's motion. The court determined that no issues of material fact existed in the case and decreed that the amounts listed in MMB's complaint were due and owing, that they were a first and prior lien on the property and that MMB's Lien be foreclosed. The District Court certified its order as a final judgment for purposes of appeal pursuant to Rule 54(b), M.R.Civ.P., and Shapiro appeals that portion of the order which granted MMB's cross-motion for summary judgment and ordered foreclosure of the Lien.
Our standard in reviewing a district court's summary judgment ruling is de novo; we use the same Rule 56, M.R.Civ.P., criteria as the district court. Clark v. Eagle Systems, Inc. (1996), 279 Mont. 279, ----, 927 P.2d 995, 997 (citations omitted). Rule 56(c), M.R.Civ.P., provides, in pertinent part, that
[t]he judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
Summary judgment is an extreme remedy which should never be substituted for a trial if a material factual controversy exists. Clark, 927 P.2d at 997 (citations omitted).
The party seeking summary judgment must establish, in light of the pleadings and other evidence before the court, the absence of any genuine issue of material fact which would allow the nonmoving party to recover and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Clark, 927 P.2d at 997-8 (citations omitted). If, but only if, the party seeking summary judgment meets this burden, the nonmoving party must come forward with substantial and material evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact. Clark, 927 P.2d at 998 (citation omitted). "[A]ll reasonable inferences that might be drawn from the offered evidence should be drawn in favor of the party who opposed summary judgment." Clark, 927 P.2d at 998 (citations omitted).
Did the District Court err in granting MMB's cross-motion for summary judgment?
Shapiro argues that MMB did not establish the absence of genuine issues of material fact regarding entitlement to the relief prayed for in its complaint. Specifically, he contends that MMB presented no testimony or other evidence establishing that he owed the amount set forth in MMB's Lien and prayed for in the complaint, or any other amount. Because his answer to the complaint put the amount MMB sought to recover at issue, Shapiro asserts that genuine issues of material fact remain for trial which preclude summary judgment for MMB. Thus, we first address whether MMB met its initial burden as the party moving for summary judgment.
MMB's complaint alleged, in pertinent part, that it had an interest in certain property by virtue of the Lien attached to, and incorporated by reference in, the complaint. It also alleged that Shapiro owed it $26,889.43, plus interest, as reflected on invoices billed to Shapiro for the labor and materials used in the construction of the metal building. Copies of the invoices also were attached to, and incorporated by reference in, MMB's complaint. As a result of Shapiro's failure to pay, the allegations continued, MMB filed the Lien. The effect of attaching and incorporating the Lien and the invoices is to make those attachments a part of the complaint for all purposes. Rule 10(c), M.R.Civ.P.; see Gallatin Trust and Savings Bank v. Darrah (1968), 152 Mont. 256, 262, 448 P.2d 734, 737.
In his answer to the complaint, Shapiro denied that the described property was subject to MMB's Lien, denied that MMB had an interest in the property and denied that he owed the amount indicated in the invoices. Shapiro affirmatively asserted that he owed no further payments to MMB. The denials and affirmative allegation in Shapiro's answer effectively controverted the factual allegations in MMB's complaint on which its prayer for relief was based, thus putting those allegations in issue. See Rule 8(b), M.R.Civ.P.; Brown v. Ehlert (1992), 255 Mont. 140, 146, 841 P.2d 510, 514.
Rule 56(c), M.R.Civ.P., authorizes summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled...
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