Plaisted v. LaBrie, 2012–596

• Decision Date: 16 July 2013
• Docket Number: No. 2012–596,2012–596
• Citation: 165 N.H. 194,70 A.3d 447
• Parties: Robin PLAISTED v. Jeffrey A. LABRIE
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court

165 N.H. 194
70 A.3d 447

Robin PLAISTED
v.
Jeffrey A. LABRIE

No. 2012–596

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Submitted: March 14, 2013
Opinion Issued: July 16, 2013

70 A.3d 448

Myers Associates, PLLC, of Lebanon (Howard B. Myers on the brief), for the plaintiff.

Law Offices of Simpson & Mulligan, PLLC, of Lebanon (James L. Mulligan on the memorandum of law), for the defendant.

BASSETT, J.

165 N.H. 194

The plaintiff, Robin Plaisted, appeals an order of the Superior Court (Tucker, J.) granting the motion of the defendant, Jeffrey A. LaBrie, to dismiss as time-barred her petition seeking proceeds from the sale of property that she claims to have once owned. We affirm.

The plaintiff alleges the following facts, which we accept as true for purposes of this appeal. Elter–Nodvin v. Nodvin, 163 N.H. 678, 679, 48 A.3d 908 (2012). In May 2002, the plaintiff and the defendant entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Ocwen Federal Bank FSB to purchase property located at 10 Nelson Street in Woodsville. The parties initialed each page of the agreement and signed as buyers; however, the defendant signed only on behalf of Blue Star Consulting (Blue Star)—a New Hampshire corporation of which he was the sole shareholder, officer, and director. On July 19, a quitclaim deed listing Blue Star as sole grantee was recorded with the Grafton County Registry of Deeds.

165 N.H. 195

On July 31, the plaintiff wrote, and the defendant cashed, a check made out to "Jeff LaBrie" in the amount of $19,500. The check noted that it was "[f]rom R. Plaisted for full payment for 50% of 10 Nelson [Street] Property." On August 15, the defendant, as president of Blue Star, signed a "Declaration of Ownership" stating that Blue Star granted to the plaintiff a fifty percent interest in the property. Two years later, on October 15, 2004, Blue Star sold the property for a profit of $98,855.97 and wired the proceeds to a bank account "[f]or the benefit of Blue Star Consulting (Jeff LaBrie)."

In October 2011, the plaintiff petitioned the trial court, seeking a declaration that she had been a one-half owner of the property, as well as an order requiring the defendant to pay her one-half of the sale proceeds. The defendant moved to dismiss, contending that the plaintiff had "failed to allege either facts or law upon which the Court could conclude ... that she had, or now has, any claim to title of

70 A.3d 449

the subject property," and, thus, her claim was "personal in nature." He maintained that, since her claim was personal in nature, it was time-barred under the three-year statute of limitations. See RSA 508:4 (2010). The plaintiff objected, arguing that, pursuant to Shuris v. Morgan, 118 N.H. 154, 384 A.2d 489 (1978), her claim for the proceeds from the sale of the property was based upon her ownership interest in the property, and, thus, the twenty-year statute of limitations for the recovery of real estate applied. See RSA 508:2 (2010). The trial court granted the defendant's motion, and this appeal followed.

In reviewing the trial court's grant of a motion to dismiss, our standard of review is whether the allegations in the plaintiff's pleadings are reasonably susceptible of a construction that would permit recovery. Kilnwood on Kanasatka Condo. Unit Assoc. v. Smith, 163 N.H. 751, 752, 48 A.3d 840 (2012). We assume that the plaintiff's pleadings are true and construe all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to her. Id. We then engage in a threshold inquiry that tests the facts in the petition against the applicable law, and if the allegations constitute a basis for legal relief, we must hold that it was improper to grant the motion to dismiss. Id.

The plaintiff argues that her cause of...