Western Energy Corporation v. Stauffer
Western Energy Corporation v. Stauffer
Opinion
[¶1] Western Energy Corporation appealed from a district court judgment finding its quiet title action to be barred by applicable statutes of limitation and laches and awarding the mineral interests at issue to the Stauffers. We affirm the judgment.
I
[¶2] On May 25, 1959, L.M. and C.S. Eckmann agreed to convey property to William and Ethel Stauffer through a contract for deed. The contract for deed included a reservation of the oil, gas, and other mineral rights in the property and described a five-year payment plan. After the payment plan concluded in 1964, the Eckmanns were to convey the property to the Stauffers by warranty deed. On June 29, 1959, just over a month after the contract for deed was signed, the Eckmanns conveyed the property to the Stauffers through a warranty deed. The warranty deed did not contain a mineral reservation, but stated that it was given "in fulfillment of a contract for deed issued on the 25th of May, 1959."
[¶3] Numerous conveyances, oil and gas leases, and similar transactions were completed by both the Eckmanns and Stauffers, as well as their successors in interest, between the execution of the warranty deed in 1959 and the filing of this quiet title action in 2016. The Stauffers executed an oil and gas lease covering the property and minerals in 1974, conveyed the property and minerals to themselves as tenants in common in 1983, and through transfers occurring between 2010 and 2013 the property *434 and minerals came to be owned by Cynthia Stauffer individually and the Estate of Robert Stauffer. The Eckmanns entered into similar agreements conveying the minerals beginning in 1978. Western Energy Corporation ("Western") obtained its interests in the subject minerals through mineral deeds executed in 1989 and 1990. The original parties to the warranty deed are all now deceased. Western filed this action to quiet title in 2016.
[¶4] Western and the Stauffers submitted stipulated facts to the district court. Although brought as a quiet title action, the relief requested was actually reformation of the warranty deed. The district court found reformation barred by the statutes of limitation under N.D.C.C. §§ 28-01-15(2) and 28-01-42 as well as by the doctrine of laches. Further, the district court concluded the discrepancy between the contract for deed and the warranty deed is not enough to establish mutual mistake. Because it found that Western had not met its burden of proof to establish mutual mistake at the time of conveyance, the district court entered judgment quieting title of the minerals to the Stauffers.
II
[¶5] In an appeal from a bench trial, the district court's findings of fact are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard of review and its conclusions of law are fully reviewable.
Sauter v. Miller
,
[¶6] Statutes of limitation are designed to prevent plaintiffs from sleeping on their legal rights and bringing stale claims to the detriment of defendants.
Tarnavsky v. McKenzie County Grazing Ass'n
,
[¶7] The district court found that because Western or its predecessors in interest failed to commence an action within 10 years after the 1959 warranty deed was executed, or when the mistake should have reasonably been discovered, N.D.C.C. § 28-01-15(2) bars the current claim. While Western concedes that N.D.C.C. § 28-01-15(2) is the appropriate statute of limitations to apply to its claim, Western argues the district court erred in finding the claim for relief was barred by the statute of limitations because the court made no finding as to when the discrepancy was discovered. Section 28-01-15, N.D.C.C., states:
The following actions must be commenced within ten years after the claim for relief has accrued:
...
2. An action upon a contract contained in any conveyance or mortgage of or instrument affecting the title to real property *435 except a covenant of warranty, an action upon which must be commenced within ten years after the final decision against the title of the coventor;
The language of N.D.C.C. § 28-01-15(2) requires bringing an action upon a contract contained in any conveyance or instrument affecting title to land within ten years after the claim for relief accrues.
Locken v. Locken
,
[¶8] Similar issues were addressed by this Court in
Wehner v. Schroeder
,
[¶9] Here, the district court found numerous transactions involving the property and mineral rights occurred in the decades since the warranty deed was executed and recorded. The district court found these transactions, including a completed title opinion, gave all parties reason to review the title record. An examination of the title record would have disclosed the difference between the contract for deed and the warranty deed. The district court thus concluded that any alleged mutual mistake was, or should have been, discovered with reasonable diligence in 1959 when the documents were executed, or in the intervening fifty-nine years since the execution of the warranty deed. We conclude the district court's finding is not clearly erroneous.
[¶10] Additionally, Western was not a good faith purchaser and is "charged with notice of properly recorded instruments affecting title" of real property.
Wehner
,
III
[¶11] Because the ten-year statute of limitations under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-15(2)
*436 bars the action, we do not address other issues raised. The judgment is affirmed.
[¶12] Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.
Jerod E. Tufte
Daniel J. Crothers
Lisa Fair McEvers
Jon J. Jensen
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WESTERN ENERGY CORPORATION, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Cynthia J. STAUFFER; Kenneth Stauffer; Kari Sue Stauffer; Kenneth Stauffer, Trustee of the Stauffer Grandchildren's Trust Dated April 20, 2012; William Stauffer (Deceased); Ethel Stauffer (Deceased); Linda Myer; Robert Scott Stauffer (Deceased); Robert W. Stauffer (Deceased); Cassandra Stauffer; Katherine Stauffer; Stauffer Family Disclaimer Trust; Cody Stauffer, Defendants and Appellees and Martha J. Lee; Timothy R. Lee ; Patience Mullendore McNulty Campbell Land and Mineral Trust, Created on the 24th Day of June, 1991; U.S. Petroleum Inc.; Thomas N. Berry & Company; Rex R. Byerly and Linda A. Byerly, as Joint Tenants; And All Persons Unknown Claiming Any Interest or Encumbrances Upon the Mineral Interest in the Complaint, Defendants
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published