Summary
The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal reversed a district court judgment granting a writ of mandamus and ordering cancellation of a notice of lis pendens concerning immovable property. The court held that a petition alleging breach of a lease agreement was sufficient, on its own, to constitute an action affecting title under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 3751. The court ordered the lis pendens reinscribed and remanded for further proceedings.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a petition for damages arising from an alleged breach of a lease contract is an action affecting title to immovable property under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 3751 and therefore provides a sufficient basis for recording a notice of lis pendens.
- Whether the district court erred by granting mandamus and ordering cancellation of the notice of lis pendens.
Holdings
- A suit arising from a breach of a lease contract is, by itself, an action affecting title to immovable property and is a sufficient basis for a notice of lis pendens; a separately recorded lease is not required.
- The district court erred in granting MOF's petition for mandamus and ordering cancellation of the notice of lis pendens.
Key quotations
“The question of whether the lis pendens in this case was improperly recorded turns on a determination of whether the interest asserted in the underlying suit is an action affecting title.” (at 4)
“In other words, a suit seeking cancellation of a lease or, as in this case, a suit arising under a breach of lease contract, are each a sufficient basis on their own to affect title.” (at 5)
Factual background
Anita Clark leased Apartment 207 at the Parc Fontaine Apartments, owned by MOF. Her attorneys, DeVonn Jarrett and Lamont Hills, filed a petition for damages alleging claims arising from the lease, including breach of the lease contract. A notice of lis pendens was recorded on the property, after which MOF sought mandamus relief to cancel it. Clark later recorded her lease in the conveyance records.
Procedural history
Jarrett and Hills filed a petition for damages on behalf of their client, Anita Clark, arising from her lease of an apartment owned by MOF. A notice of lis pendens was subsequently recorded. MOF petitioned for a writ of mandamus to cancel the notice, and the district court granted the petition, ordering cancellation. Jarrett and Hills timely filed a suspensive appeal.
Remand instructions
The lis pendens must be reinscribed in the parish records, and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.