Wag-Myr Woodlands Homeowners Ass'n v. Guiswite, 1247 MDA 2017

• Decision Date: 19 October 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1247 MDA 2017,1247 MDA 2017
• Citation: 197 A.3d 1243
• Parties: WAG-MYR WOODLANDS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, BY David MORGAN as Trustee Ad Litem, Appellant v. John L. GUISWITE and Michelle P. Guiswite, Thomas H. Jeffries and Shirley A. Jeffries, Judy A. Heimbach and Joan A. Stearns, as Co-Executrices of the Estate of James D. Holman, Deceased, Joan A. Stearns, Gayle N. Phillips, Betsy A. Phillips, Jeffrey A. Corson, Mary Ann McHale, Ronnie L. DeWalt, Melissa T. DeWalt, Anthony J. Hayes and Meredith L. Hayes
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

197 A.3d 1243

WAG-MYR WOODLANDS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, BY David MORGAN as Trustee Ad Litem, Appellant

v.John L. GUISWITE and Michelle P. Guiswite, Thomas H. Jeffries and Shirley A. Jeffries, Judy A. Heimbach and Joan A. Stearns, as Co-Executrices of the Estate of James D. Holman, Deceased, Joan A. Stearns, Gayle N. Phillips, Betsy A. Phillips, Jeffrey A. Corson, Mary Ann McHale, Ronnie L. DeWalt, Melissa T. DeWalt, Anthony J. Hayes and Meredith L. Hayes

No. 1247 MDA 2017

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 9, 2018

Filed October 19, 2018

Justin K. Houser, Lock Haven, for appellant.

Marc S. Drier, Jersey Shore, for Hayes, A. & M., appellees.

James N. Bryant, Millheim, for Stearns, Phillips, G., Phillips, B., Corson, Guiswite, J., Guiswite, M., Heimbach, McHale, DeWalt, R., DeWalt, M., and Jeffreies, appellees.

BEFORE: STABILE, J., NICHOLS, J., and PLATT, J.^*

OPINION BY NICHOLS, J.:

Appellant Wag-Myr Woodlands Homeowners Association,¹ by David Morgan as Trustee ad Litem ,² appeals from the judgment entered in favor of Appellees John L. and Michelle P. Guiswite, Thomas H. and Shirley A. Jeffries, Judy A. Heimbach and Joan A. Stearns, as co-executrices of the estate of James D. Holman, deceased, Joan A. Stearns, Gayle N. and Betsy A. Phillips, Jeffrey A. Corson, Mary Ann McHale, Ronnie L. and Melissa T. DeWalt, and Anthony J. and Meredith L. Hayes (collectively, Appellees).³ The judgment was entered after a nonjury trial at which the trial court determined that Appellees were not required to pay Appellant to maintain a shared easement used to access their properties. The trial court made this determination because a subdivision map was not admitted into evidence and the court could not determine whether Appellees were part of a planned residential community. Appellant claims that Appellees have a common law obligation to pay for the maintenance of the shared easement. We vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The trial court summarized the relevant background to this case as follows:

[Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.] purchased approximately 700 to 800 acres of land from Helen Wagner on December 2, 1993. [Appellees] obtained their real property as follows:

a. [Appellees] John L. Guiswite and Michelle P. Guiswite, by Deed dated October 1, 2003[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.] recorded in Record Book 2003, Page 6837[, including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcel].

b. [Appellees] Thomas H. Jeffries and Shirley A. Jeffries, by Deed dated February 26, 2002[,] from the Household Finance Corporation, recorded as instrument No. 2002-01531 and by Deed dated October 27, 2003[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.], recorded as instrument No. 2003-07498[, including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcel].

c. [Appellees] Judy A. Heimbach and Joan A. Stearns as Co-Executrices of the Estate of James D. Holman, deceased, by Deed dated August 4, 1999[,] and recorded in Record Book 1046, Page 140, by Deed dated November 3, 2000[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.] recorded in Record Book 1123, Page 570[,] and by Deed dated July 17, 2001[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.], recorded as Instrument No. 2001-0374[, all including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcels].

d. [Appellees] Gayle N. Phillips and Betsy A. Phillips by Deed dated November 8, 1990[,] from Francis Lee Wagner and Helen Wagner, recorded in Deed Book No. 450, Page 129[, including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcel].

e. [Appellees] Jeffrey A. Corson and Mary Ann McHale by Deed dated September 14, 1995[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.], recorded in Deed Book 767, [P]age 155[, including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcel].

f. [Appellees] Ronnie L. DeWalt and Melissa T. DeWalt by Deed dated May 20, 1999[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.], recorded in Deed Book 1029, Page 227[, including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcel].

g. [Appellees] Anthony J. Hayes and Meredith L. Hayes by Deed dated October 27, 2003[,] from [Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.], recorded as Instrument No. 2003-07511[, including an easement from Township Route 415 to the parcel].

On August 28, 2012, [Appellant] adopted bylaws which were duly recorded in the Office of Recorder of Deeds of Clinton County as Instrument No. 2012-3806. Amended bylaws were later adopted[,] which were dated June 27, 2013[,] and recorded as Instrument No. 2013-3250 in the Office of Recorder of Deeds of Clinton County.

All [Appellees] already had possession of their properties and were utilizing and maintaining a roadway [ (Wag-Myr Lane) as the sole means of traveling] to and from their properties prior to the adoption of [b]ylaws by the HOA.... With the exception of [the Hayes Appellees], there is no mention in any of the [Appellees' d]eeds regarding the HOA existing or ever being formed. [The Appellees' deeds indicate that the owner shall have "a right-of-way for ingress, egress and regress ... from [Township Route 415]" to the premises over a fifty-foot wide roadway.⁴ ] The Hayes Appellees' deed does not require them to become part of the HOA but indicates that the maintenance on the roadway will be maintained by Wag-Myr [Woodlands, Inc. "until such time as a Homeowners Association is organized and responsibility for road maintenance transferred to the Homeowners Association."⁵ ] That statement is not contained in any of the non-Hayes [Appellees' d]eeds.

Trial Ct. Op., 7/14/17, at 2-4 (citations omitted).

After forming as an HOA in 2013, Appellant began to charge a yearly fee of $300 to its members. The fees were used to maintain and repair the only common areas in the HOA, which are Wag-Myr Lane and a gate installed on the roadway in 2004. N.T., 5/24/17, at 89; Compl., 7/26/16, at 12-13. Appellees were made aware of the $300 per year assessment fee via hand-delivered letters dated April 17, 2014, and February 26, 2015, and a mailed letter dated February 5, 2016. See Appellees' Exs. 31, 36, 43.

Appellant initiated this action by filing a complaint on July 26, 2016, asserting that even though Appellees were not members of the HOA, they were required to pay the HOA's entire yearly assessment fee of $300 per year plus interest for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016. Appellant brought its claim for HOA fees on a common law right to recover for maintenance costs for Wag-Myr Lane based upon the easement language in each of the Appellees' deeds.⁶

The non-Hayes Appellees filed an answer to the complaint, denying liability because the HOA was formed after they purchased their properties and the HOA bylaws did not affect them. See Answer to Compl., 8/19/16, at 3-4 (unpaginated). The Hayes Appellees did not file an answer.

Appellant did not file a motion for default or summary judgment.

Thereafter, the non-Hayes Appellees filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings or for summary judgment. At the January 26, 2017 argument, counsel for the non-Hayes Appellees conceded that they had a duty to pay for the maintenance of Wag-Myr Lane "[f]or their section." N.T., 1/26/17, at 10; see also id. at 6-7. The trial court denied the non-Hayes motion, indicating that "all [non-Hayes Appellees] have agreed that there is a common law obligation on behalf of [them] to pay some monies to maintain a right-of-way." Order, 1/27/17, at 2 (unpaginated).

On April 20, 2017, Appellant filed an amended complaint, seeking that the Hayes Appellees pay the full assessment fee of $300 per year as assessed and that the non-Hayes Appellees pay an undefined "proportionate share" to maintain the road. Am. Compl., 4/20/17, at 18. The non-Hayes Appellees filed an answer to the amended complaint, in which they denied liability for assessments on the basis that their properties were not part of a planned residential development. See Answer to First Am. Compl., 4/19/17, at 4, 7 (unpaginated). The Hayes Appellees did not file an answer to the amended complaint.⁷

A non-jury trial proceeded on May 24, 2017, in which HOA members testified on behalf of Appellant, and several of the non-Hayes Appellees testified on their own behalf. The pro se Hayes Appellees were present but neither of them testified.⁸

Of relevance to this appeal, David Morgan, the HOA president, testified to the maintenance and repairs Wag-Myr Lane required, as well as to the fact that the HOA took ownership of the easement from the developer, Wag-Myr Woodlands, Inc.⁹ N.T., 5/24/17, at 18. Mr. Morgan indicated the cost of repairs to maintain Wag-Myr Lane completed by contractors during the period from 2014 through 2016. Id. at 20, 26; see also Appellant's Ex. 2 (outlining expenses of the HOA for road and gate maintenance from 2014 through 2016); Appellant's Ex. 5 (providing calculations supporting various measures to apportion the cost of maintaining the right-of-way based on the actual cost of repairs and electricity). Mr. Morgan also indicated that electricity for the gate had to be paid for on a yearly basis and that he and other HOA members had completed trimming and some repairs on the road to save money. N.T., 5/24/17, at 19-20.

An HOA member, Joseph Messinger, also testified on behalf of Appellant. Mr. Messinger indicated that Appellees were observed using Wag-Myr Lane beyond the length of their easement to go deeper into the development. Id. at 58. Non-Hayes Appellees' counsel stipulated that the non-Hayes Appellees used Wag-Myr Lane to visit with other Appellees or HOA members. Id. at 59.

Several non-Hayes Appellees testified that they maintained their portions of Wag-Myr Lane. See id. at 69 (testimony of John Guiswite), 101, 104 (testimony of Jeffrey Corson). Many of the Appellees testified that they plowed their sections of the road when it snowed. See id. at 70-71 (testimony of John Guiswite), 79 (testimony of Thomas Jeffries), 95-96 (testimony of Gayle Phillips), 99-100 (testimony of Jeffrey Corson), 107-08 (testimony of Ronnie DeWalt). Additionally, Appellee Ronnie DeWalt testified regarding installation of the...