Second Refuge Church of Our Lord v. Lollar
| Decision Date | 21 November 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. S07A1170.,S07A1170. |
| Citation | 653 S.E.2d 462 |
| Parties | SECOND REFUGE CHURCH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, INC. v. LOLLAR et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Charles E. Phillips Sr., Phillips and Associates, College Park, Charles Madden Cork III, Macon, for Appellant.
Arthurlyn Combs-Hixson, Atlanta, for Appellees.
This appeal involves a dispute over the ownership of church property in Fulton County. In 2003 the plaintiff, a nonprofit religious corporation, filed a complaint to quiet title to improved real property that had served as the congregation's temporal home since the mid-1960's. The need for the lawsuit arose out of the estrangement of the congregation from its founding pastor and his decision in 1998 to broker a deal to sell the property to a congregation in Cobb County. A special master was appointed who ultimately recommended that the trial court cancel a 1990 quitclaim deed to the property as a forgery and hold that the Cobb County congregation held title to the property in fee simple absolute by virtue of the 1998 warranty deed procured by the estranged founding pastor. Following a hearing, the trial court adopted the special master's report and recommendations, and the religious corporation appealed. The record amply supports the concurrent finding of the special master and the trial court that the 1990 quitclaim deed is a forgery. However, the special master and the trial court erred in concluding that the 1998 warranty deed conveyed fee simple absolute title to the Cobb County congregation. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
1. In 1962, Rev. Alphaeus Eddie Days began conducting religious services in his home in Fulton County. By 1965, the worshipers had coalesced into a religious body calling itself the "Second Refuge Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ" with Rev. Days as its pastor. On February 15, 1965, Rev. Days purchased an existing church building and the surrounding real property located at 60 Johnson Road for the congregation's use. The 1965 warranty deeds from the prior owners conveyed the property to Rev. Days "as Trustee of Second Refuge Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ten years later, the congregation reorganized as a Georgia nonprofit religious corporation. The initial directors of the corporation were Rev. Days, his assistant pastor Rev. Johnny P. Clowers, and an attorney. The initial directors approved the articles of incorporation and by-laws which, among other things, provided that the statutorily required annual meeting would occur each year in April, set the terms of office for directors of the corporation at one year, and stated that on the death, removal, or resignation of a director, the majority of the remaining directors would appoint his or her successor to the board. The by-laws specified that a conveyance of church property would be valid "only if signed by the corporation acting through an Officer following authorization by the Board of Directors." The board elected Rev. Days as president of the corporation and Rev. Clowers as secretary and treasurer. A week later, Rev. Days announced to the assembled congregation that he was stepping down as pastor and calling Rev. Clowers to lead the church but said that he "would be back" at some unspecified point in the future. Rev. Days and his family continued attending services at the property for many years following this announcement.
In April 1976, the directors signed a joint consent and adopted meeting minutes in lieu of the annual meeting as permitted by statute. According to the minutes, the board accepted Rev. Days's resignation as pastor, president, and director effective as of the date of his announcement to the congregation that he was handing over the day-to-day operations of the congregation to Rev. Clowers. The board also accepted the resignation from the board of the initial director who was an attorney. Rev. Clowers and two others were elected as directors for the coming year, and Rev. Clowers was selected to be the new president of the corporation.
In the late 1980's, Rev. Clowers and Rev. Days began having disagreements about how the congregation should be run, and their relationship turned acrimonious. Rev. Days ceased attending services on a regular basis, although he continued to support the church financially, and members of his family attended worship services and other functions. In early 1990, soon after the security deed financing the original purchase of the property had been satisfied, the board of directors published a series of notices in the newspaper informing the public that Rev. Days was no longer a trustee or director of the church and was not authorized to conduct business on the congregation's behalf. On April 27, 1990, the board recorded a claim of prescriptive ownership to the property in the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk's Office.
Around the same time, a quitclaim deed pertaining to the property was recorded in the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk's Office. The 1990 quitclaim deed purported to convey the property from Rev. Days in his capacity as trustee of the congregation prior to its incorporation to four relatives and other individuals closely associated with Rev. Days "as Trustees of Second Refuge Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc." Eight years later, in 1998, Rev. Days brokered a deal to sell the church property to Trinity World Church ("Trinity") in Cobb County for $30,000. On March 23, 1998, a warranty deed was recorded in the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk's Office that purported to convey the property from the four grantees named in the 1990 quitclaim deed to the trustees of Trinity. The Trinity trustees executed a $15,000 security deed in favor of the 1990 grantees, satisfied several tax liens against the property, and paid the remainder of the $30,000 purchase price directly to Rev. Days.
Shortly thereafter, the congregation obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent Rev. Days and his family from continuing to disrupt Sunday morning services at the property. When Trinity learned of the congregation's claim that it owned the property rather than Rev. Days, it attempted to back out of the deal, and Rev. Days refunded some of the funds Trinity had paid him. The congregation attempted to resolve the matter through negotiations with Trinity's trustees and agreed to reimburse Trinity for any legitimate bills of the congregation that Trinity had paid. The negotiations failed to produce a solution in 1998 and again in 2003, and on September 11, 2003, the congregation filed suit to quiet title to the property against all the world in the Fulton County Superior Court.
In its complaint, the congregation alleged that it owned the property both as holder of record title and by prescription. The congregation attached to the complaint all recorded documents pertaining to title to the property, including the 1990 quitclaim deed of unknown provenance. Trinity answered and counter-claimed for title to the property, and Rev. Days intervened and sought title to the property as well. The congregation filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the 1990 quitclaim deed was a forgery and that the 1998 warranty deed to Trinity's trustees based on it was therefore invalid. The congregation asked the trial court to cancel both deeds and declare that fee simple absolute title to the party rested in the congregation. Trinity and Rev. Days opposed the motion, disputing the congregation's claim that the 1990 quitclaim deed was a forgery. The trial court concluded that there was a disputed issue of material fact and denied the congregation's motion for summary judgment.
The trial court appointed a special master to investigate and prepare a report with findings of fact and conclusions of law. At the hearing before the special master, Rev. Days and Trinity reversed course, claiming that the 1990 quitclaim deed ostensibly signed by Rev. Days was indeed a forgery. However, they argued that it was the congregation's title, not Trinity's, that depended on the 1990 quitclaim deed. Following a hearing greatly hindered by the lack of preparation and incivility of counsel for both sides, the special master issued her report.
The special master found that the reference in the 1965 warranty deeds to Rev. Days "as Trustee of Second Refuge Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ" was simply an honorary designation having no effect on title to the property. She therefore concluded that the 1965 warranty deeds conveyed the property to Rev. Days in fee simple absolute. As for the 1990 quitclaim deed, the special master found that it was a forgery, as the congregation had claimed all along and as Rev. Days and Trinity had belatedly conceded at the hearing. The special master did not explicitly address the congregation's argument that since the 1990 quitclaim deed was a forgery, the 1998 warranty deed based on it was also invalid. Instead, she concluded, without analysis, that the 1998 warranty deed vested fee simple absolute title to the property in Trinity's trustees.
On November 20, 2006, the trial court adopted the special master's report and entered judgment in favor of Trinity's trustees. The congregation appealed.
2. The analysis begins with the 1965 warranty deeds. The deeds conveyed the property from the prior owners to Rev. Days "as Trustee of Second Refuge Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ." The special master acknowledged that the 1965 warranty deeds conveyed title to Rev. Days as a trustee but found as a matter of fact that Rev. Days used the word "Trustee" merely as an honorary title. Based on this finding, the special master concluded that the 1965 warranty deeds did not create a religious land trust in favor of the congregation but instead passed title to Rev. Days in fee simple absolute. The congregation argues that the trial court's legal conclusion does...
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