City of Harrisburg v. Leigh
City of Harrisburg v. Leigh
Opinion of the Court
Defendant appeals a general judgment that condemns real property that she owns, vests title to that property with the City of Harrisburg, and awards her compensation for the taking, and from a supplemental judgment that allows an award of part of her attorney fees and costs. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in awarding just compensation for only the fair market value of the land that was acquired, as opposed to compensating her for the value of the land and improvements to the property. She also contends that the court erred in reducing the amount of her allowed attorney fees because she did not obtain a larger amount of compensation. We agree with both of defendant’s contentions. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.
The relevant facts are undisputed. Defendant owned a small parcel of land in Harrisburg. In 1996, mistakenly believing that it owned the parcel, the city constructed a municipal water well and waterworks on the property without defendant’s knowledge. Since that time, the city has used the well and waterworks to supply its water utility. After the mistake was discovered in 2007, the city filed claims for adverse possession and easement by prescription, and defendant filed a counterclaim for ejectment. In July 2008, a judgment was entered in defendant’s favor. That judgment provided that
“plaintiff has no right, title, or interest in the Property, is wrongfully withholding possession of the Property and shall relinquish possession of the Property, including, but not limited to, decommissioning the well it constructed on the Property, to defendant before September 1, 2008.”
(Emphasis added.) However, the city failed to relinquish possession of the property or decommission the well prior to September 1, 2008. Instead, on August 27, 2008, the city declared by resolution that the property was needed for public use. See ORS 35.235(1) (requiring condemnor to declare by resolution or ordinance the need to acquire property for a particular purpose). The next day, the city offered defendant $7,425 as just compensation for the property. Defendant did not accept the city’s offer, and, on September 2, 2008 — one
At the condemnation trial, defendant asserted that the ejectment judgment conclusively established that she was the owner of the property, including its improvements, and that, accordingly, she was entitled to compensation for the value of the property as improved. Defendant also argued that the city had abandoned any interest it may have had in the well by failing to decommission it by September 1, 2008. The city responded that it owned the well and that defendant was therefore not entitled to compensation for its value. The trial court agreed with the city, concluding as follows:
“As both parties know, the well was constructed on Defendant’s property by mistake some years before any controversy arose. After the mistake was discovered, Plaintiff filed a claim for adverse possession and Defendant filed a counterclaim for ejectment. That case was decided in favor of the Defendant landowner. Of particular note was the specific language used in the judgment. After finding that the landowner was entitled to ‘exclusive possession of the property’ and that the city had no ‘right, title, or interest in the property,’ the court ordered the city to ‘relinquish possession of the property, including, but not limited to, decommissioning the well it constructed on the property, to defendant before September 1, 2008.’ * * * From this language, Defendant asserts that since the city did not in fact decommission the well and relinquish possession of the property, that Defendant then became owner of the well and other improvements. From the unambiguous language of the judgment, the city had the right to ‘decommission’ the well. That process includes removing the pump, fencing, etc and cementing the well shaft. If the court had contemplated a ‘forfeiture,’ it could and should have so ordered. By ‘decommissioning’ the well the city would necessarily have the right to remove items like the pump for their use. As it turned out, the city filed a condemnation suit on the first legal day after September 1, 2008.1 do not find that the pump, well equipment, fencing,*562 etc was forfeited to Defendant by operation of the court’s order in the prior case.”
(Boldface in original.) The court concluded that the value of the unimproved property was $11,000. Accordingly, in a general judgment, the court credited defendant with receiving $7,425, which she had withdrawn from the court, and ordered the city to tender the remaining $3,575 “to the defendant by and through her attorney.”
The court also determined that defendant was entitled to attorney fees. See ORS 35.346(7)(a) (a defendant is entitled to reasonable attorney fees where the compensation awarded at trial is greater than the condemner’s highest written offer of settlement prior to the condemnation action). Defendant requested $63,225.75 in attorney fees. After a hearing, the court entered a supplemental judgment awarding defendant $45,000 in attorney fees and $9,045.35 in costs. In doing so, the court explained that it was
“troubled by the claim that the entire well, pump, enclosure, fence, etc. would be forfeited to Defendant because the City did not vacate by the time set out in the prior court order. I do not feel that this is a reasonable interpretation of the order and I question whether time expended on that issue by Defendant’s counsel was reasonable. * * * It is difficult to tell what amount of time was expended on this part of the case. I also note that I felt that the land value claimed by Defendant was substantially inflated. This certainly doesn’t mean that the Defendant doesn’t get to claim attorney fees, because the statute specifically grants the same but when the verdict is slightly over the offer made by Plaintiff ($7,500 compared to $11,000) and the demand from the landowner ($115,000, down from $150,000) is roughly ten times the value determined, it raises questions about the ‘value’ of attorney services dedicated to proving the inflated amount.”
Defendant filed a satisfaction of general judgment and supplemental judgment, acknowledging that she had received $3,575 in compensation (in addition to the $7,425 that she had withdrawn from the court) and $54,045.35 for attorney fees and costs.
On appeal, defendant reiterates her argument from below that the court erred in concluding that she was not
The city responds, first, that defendant waived her right to appeal both the general and supplemental judgments by accepting the award of $3,575 in additional compensation
We first address the city’s contention that defendant waived her right to appeal. The city argues that ORS 35.365
Whether ORS 35.365 precludes defendant from appealing either judgment is a question of statutory interpretation. When construing a statute, we examine the text of the statute in context, along with any relevant legislative history, to discern the legislature’s intent. State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 171-72, 206 P3d 1042 (2009).
As noted, ORS 35.365 provides, in part, that,
“[i]f the defendant withdraws the compensation awarded by the court orjury, the defendant waives the right of appeal; and, if the defendant does not, such sum shall remain in the control of the court, to abide the event of the appeal.”
(Emphases added.) The statute, by its terms, applies only to “compensation awarded by the court or jury” and not to attorney fees or costs. (Emphasis added.) Moreover, it precludes a defendant from appealing a judgment awarding compensation only when that compensation has been tendered to the court by the condemner and withdrawn by the defendant. See also ORS 35.325 (“Upon the assessment of the compensation by the jury, the court shall give judgment appropriating the property in question to the condemner, conditioned upon the condemner’s paying into court the compensation assessed by the jury[.]” (Emphasis added.)). Here, the general judgment awarding compensation ordered the city to tender $3,575 “to the defendant by and through her attorney.” Nothing in the record suggests that defendant withdrew that compensation from the court. As such, ORS 35.365 does not preclude defendant from appealing either the general judgment awarding compensation or the supplemental judgment awarding attorney fees and costs.
Nor did defendant waive her right to appeal by accepting the benefits of the general and supplemental judgments. Under the common law, it is well established that “a party may appeal a judgment after accepting
We therefore turn to the merits of defendant’s contention that the trial court erred in concluding that she was not entitled to compensation for the value of the property as improved. As noted, defendant contends that the 2008 judgment ejecting the city from the property established that she was the owner of the land and its improvements on the date that the city filed its condemnation action. On that basis, defendant contends that she is owed additional compensation for the increased value of the property that is attributable to those improvements. The city responds that the ejectment judgment “did not forfeit the well or associated improvements to defendant but, rather, required that the well be decommissioned.” In the city’s view, the trial court correctly concluded that the city owned the well and that, accordingly, it was not obligated to compensate defendant for any increase in the value of the property attributable to it.
Here, prior to commencement of the condemnation action, the parties litigated the issue of ownership of the property. As a result of that litigation, judgment was entered in favor of defendant, ejecting the city and establishing that the city had “no right, title, or interest in the Property” and determining that the city was “wrongfully withholding possession ofthe Property.” (Emphasis added.)That judgment is conclusive as to ownership and the right to the possession of the property, including the well. See ORS 105.055(1) (“[T] he judgment in an action to recover the possession of real property is conclusive as to the estate in the property and the right to the possession thereof, so far as the same is thereby determined, upon the party against whom the judgment is given, and against all persons claiming from, through or under such party, after the commencement of the action.”). Accordingly, we agree with defendant that, read in context, the judgment’s requirement that the city decommission the well by September 1, 2008, did not establish ownership of the well; rather, it provided the city with an equitable right to recover the value of the improvements until that date. That right was extinguished when the city failed to do so by the deadline.
In this case, the value of the property is measured as of September 2, 2008 — the date that the condemnation
As noted, prior to filing its condemnation action, the city attempted to establish ownership of the property through adverse possession. The result of that action (and defendant’s counterclaim for ejectment) was a judgment that provided that the city had “no right, title, or interest in
Finally, we consider whether the court erred in reducing defendant’s attorney fee award. “We normally review the amount of an award of attorney fees for abuse of discretion. However, when the trial court bases its award on a legal conclusion, we review both the conclusion and the award for errors of law.” Cascade Corp. v. American Home Assurance Co., 206 Or App 1, 14, 135 P3d 450 (2006), rev dismissed, 342 Or 645, 165 P3d 1176 (2007). In this case, the trial court reduced defendant’s attorney fee award based, at least in part, on its erroneous conclusion that defendant’s interpretation of the ejectment judgment was unreasonable, and on the small size of the compensation award. The trial court erred in doing so. See id. (because the appellant was entitled to a larger judgment, the trial court erred in relying on the small size of the judgment in determining attorney fee award); see also City of Bend v. Juniper Utility Co., 242 Or App 9, 33-34, 252 P3d 341 (2011) (“Because we have partially reversed the trial court’s award of just compensation, we likewise reverse the accompanying attorney fee award.”). Accordingly, we vacate the supplemental judgment and remand for the trial
General judgment reversed and remanded for entry of judgment awarding additional compensation for any increase in fair market value of the property that is attributable to its improvements; supplemental judgment vacated and remanded for reconsideration.
Defendant’s withdrawal of the compensation ($7,425) deposited by the city for immediate possession under ORS 35.265 did not waive her right of appeal. See ORS 35.285(2) (withdrawal of deposit from the court does not waive right of appeal).
ORS 35.365 provides, in relevant part:
“If the defendant withdraws the compensation awarded by the court or jury, the defendant waives the right of appeal; and, if the defendant does not, such sum shall remain in the control of the court, to abide the event of the appeal.”
The city does not argue that the date of the condemnation was the earlier time when it entered the property and constructed the well. Notably, the ejectment judgment determined that the city had “no right, title, or interest in the Property,” including any possessory right by virtue of an earlier appropriation of the property, and that the city was “wrongfully withholding possession of the Property.”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CITY OF HARRISBURG, an Oregon municipal corporation, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Ellen LEIGH
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published