Cla-Mar Management v. Harris
Cla-Mar Management v. Harris
Opinion of the Court
This action in summary ejectment was brought by plaintiff, Cla-Mar Management (Cla-Mar), against defendant, Linda Harris (Harris), on 3 July 1984 for possession of Lot No. 120, Schenley Square Mobile Home Park. In her “Motion to Dismiss and Answer,” Harris contended that Cla-Mar was not a legal entity with the capacity to sue, and denied that the lease term had ended. Based upon facts stipulated to by counsel and upon the legal arguments of counsel, the district court concluded that Harris did not have a lease for Lot No. 120, and accordingly, entered judgment for possession in favor of Cla-Mar. Harris appeals, but has included no exceptions or assignments of error in the record on appeal. Therefore, considering Rule 10(a) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure, the only question presented for review is whether the district court’s judgment is supported by the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. We conditionally rule in favor of Cla-Mar, for the following reasons.
I
On 1 June 1984, Cla-Mar assumed the management of Schen-ley Square Mobile Home Park (formerly known as “Central Park”). Harris had prior knowledge that Cla-Mar would assume management as indicated in the following Findings of Fact by the district court:
4. That on May 18, 1984, Defendant and all other tenants within the mobile home park were notified by Cla-Mar Man*302 agement that any tenant who did not apply for, and receive a new lease for their space to become effective July 1, 1984, and pay a new security deposit, would have to vacate their space in the mobile home park on or before June 30, 1984.
5. That on June 7, 1984, Defendant received an additional notice entitled ‘Official Notice to Vacate,’ from Plaintiff Cla-Mar Management stating that upon failure to sign a new lease and tender a security deposit of $150.00 prior to June 9, 1984, Defendant should vacate his or her lot in the mobile home park on or before June 30, 1984.
Harris received each of the notices described above and signed the new lease agreement. However, Harris did not tender the security deposit as required, and therefore, Cla-Mar did not sign or accept the new lease with Harris.
Prior to 28 June 1984, the mobile home park was subject to a federally-insured mortgage under the “207 Mortgage Insurance Program” of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which required HUD Commissioner approval for rent increases during the term of the mortgage. As of 28 June 1984, soon after Cla-Mar had assumed management of Schenley Square, the federally-insured mortgage was satisfied in full. Also, on 28 June 1984, an assumed name certificate for Cla-Mar Management was recorded in the office of the Wake County Register of Deeds.
II
Harris contends that Cla-Mar is not entitled to possession of Lot #120, because (1) “the judgment is not supported by findings of fact to show that defendant is holding over after the expiration of her term,” and (2) “the findings of fact do not support a conclusion of law that sufficient notice was received by defendant to terminate the lease even if a month-to-month tenancy is assumed.” We agree with Harris’ first contention and, therefore, remand the matter to the district court to make findings of fact on the nature of the tenancy (month-to-month or year-to-year) and on the lease term expiration date. As to Harris’ second contention, we conclude that the defendant received sufficient notice to terminate the lease under N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 42-14 (1984).
In its brief, Cla-Mar asserts that the parties stipulated as to the nature and term of the tenancy and further, that the trial court relied on the stipulations in awarding Cla-Mar possession. Unfortunately, the trial court failed to make the requisite findings of fact to reflect this consideration.
According to Cla-Mar, the contested stipulations were not included in the record on appeal, “because the lease term was never in issue in the court below and was not identified by appellant as an issue on appeal by the taking of an exception.” Yet, in her Answer, Harris had denied Cla-Mar’s allegations that the lease term ended 30 June 1984. And, although our standard of review is certainly severely constrained by Harris’ failure to include exceptions or assignments of error in the record on appeal, we still are left to determine whether the findings of fact and conclusions of law support the district court’s judgment. Since a landlord is not entitled to possession until the lease term expires, even with sufficient notice, G.S. Secs. 42-14 and -26 (1984), we believe that a judgment in favor of Cla-Mar requires findings of fact on the nature and term of the tenancy. We therefore remand to the trial court for further findings of fact on this allegedly stipulated issue.
Turning to the sufficiency of the notice issue, we note that the district court made Findings of Fact 4 and 5, cited above, before concluding: “That defendant received sufficient notice to vacate his or her lot in Schenley Square as required by N.C.G.S. Sec. 42-14.” G.S. Sec. 42-14 (1984) provides: “A tenancy from year
We summarily reject Harris’ further contention that the findings do not support a Conclusion of Law that she received sufficient notice. Both the 18 May and 7 June 1984 notices state in clear and unequivocal language what Harris had to do to continue leasing her space. We also summarily reject Harris’ argument that Cla-Mar could not lawfully require payment of a security deposit in the amount of $150.00 when the June rental was for $66.00. Harris’ reference to N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 42-51 (1984), which provides that a security deposit “shall not exceed an amount equal to . . . one and one-half months’ rent if a tenancy is month to month, and two months’ rent for terms greater than month to month” is inapposite. Harris ignores the fact that the $150.00 security deposit was to be submitted in connection with the new leases, which became effective 1 July 1984, under which the monthly rental was $145.00.
Finally, we summarily reject Harris’ contention that the lease proposed by Cla-Mar was invalid because it contained a rent
Believing that Cla-Mar was entitled to possession, if the lease term had expired 30 June 1984, and that Harris waived any further objections to the judgment when she failed to note exceptions and assign error in the record on appeal, we
Remand for further findings of fact.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CLA-MAR MANAGEMENT v. LINDA HARRIS
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published