Category Archives: Missouri law

Meth on property doesn’t mean rescission or damages

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Harry Styron

Goldiluxe bought property from Abbott  for $140,000 without seeing it, relying on a property inspector’s report and a real estate agent’s video. The property included land, with a house, a cabin and three mobile homes.

Goldiluxe paid $50,000 down and gave Abbott a note for $90,000. A few months later, the police raided the property and made arrests for meth-related crimes. Goldiluxe’s owner visited the property and found two mobile homes on the property to be junk.  She had the two junk mobile homes removed from the property and moved one new mobile home onto it. Goldiluxe continued collecting rent for another year after the police raid, eventually falling behind on mortgage payments to Abbott.

To stop the foreclosure, Goldiluxe got an injunction, and also asked the court Read the rest of this entry →

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Variance for cell tower pokes a hole in Columbia’s height ordinance

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Harry Styron

Boards of adjustment can grant variances from zoning ordinances. But why should they?

What purpose is served by a government agency playing favorites?

The Missouri court of appeals affirmed the Columbia board of adjustment’s decision to allow Sprint to erect a 95-foot cell tower, disguised as a flagless pole, in a zoning district where structures taller than 41 feet were prohibited.

The court’s decision, The Highlands Homes Association v. Board of Adjustment, dated December 22, 2009, Read the rest of this entry →

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The Constitution still keeps the government at bay, but lets jerks get by

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Harry Styron

Eddie Wade, heading north from Fayetteville, was stopped at a roadblock, where he was arrested for driving drunk. The trial judge dismissed the charges, and the sheriff appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. The dismissal was upheld. Not because Eddie Wade was sober, but because the Benton County Sheriff set up his roadblock in Washington County.

Eldon Bugg befriended an elderly woman at church and borrowed money from her, signing a promissory note. He created a false paper to show that his debt had been repaid. Her estate sued him for the debt and got a judgment. He refused to pay, though the court found that he had the ability to pay. Citing him for contempt of court, the judge ordered him to be locked up. The Missouri Court of Appeals ordered his release. As every American knows (or knew during the week that they studied the Constitution) the U. S. Constitution abolished imprisonment for debts.

These appellate decisions, handed down this week–Wade v. Benton County Sheriff and Estate of Downs v. Bugg— show that Read the rest of this entry →

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Charity to animals is basis for property tax exemption

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Harry Styron

Property taxes in Missouri and most states apply to all property that isn’t exempted by a provision of the state constitution or statutes. The exemptions from Missouri real estate taxes are listed in section 137.100 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, which includes government property and

All property, real and personal, actually and regularly used exclusively for religious worship, for schools and colleges, or for purposes purely charitable and not held for private or corporate profit….

Note that the exemption is based on use not ownership.

A recent opinion of the Missouri court of appeals, M’Shoogy Animal Rescue v. Andrew County Assessor, reversed the determination of the State Tax Commission, which had indicated that rescue and medical treatment of  animals was not the kind of charitable use that would exempt a facility from property tax.

The Andrew County assessor and board of equalization and the State Tax Commission all argued that Missouri law had never allowed property tax exemptions for facilities devoted to charitable activities other than those charities that help humans.

Indeed, the court of appeals had to turn to cases from other states, many of which had reasoned that humans benefit from charity to animals, to find precedents for recognizing charity to animals as an activity benefiting humans, thereby justifying a charitable tax exemption.

Is this legislation from the bench? If so, should we agree with it?

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Lawyers cringe when neighbors fight

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Harry Styron

If you want to see a lawyer cringe, ask how he or she likes property line disputes or fights over trees near property lines.

The case of Lau v. Pugh shows why lawyers (including trial judges and appellate judges) hate such cases. After all the fighting and expense, nobody is happy. Here’s how it often plays out. Read the rest of this entry →

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You owed it, you paid it, but I can’t keep it?

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Harry Styron

Sounds funny. But it’s not.

Moore Equipment sells John Deere farming equipment in Chillicothe, Missouri. Moore sold Sholten a big tractor with a warranty on the drive train. Moore’s warranty to the buyer was backed by PRS, an insurance company. If Moore had to make the warranty good, PRS would pay Moore.

Sholten sold the tractor to Callen, with the warranty transferred to Callen. The tractor’s drive train failed and it was taken to another mechanic–not Moore– for repairs, and a claim was filed with PRS. PRS reviewed the claim and sent a check to Moore for nearly $20,000. Moore cashed the check. PRS notified Moore that the check was sent to Moore by mistake. Read the rest of this entry →

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It’s time: HOA budgets for 2010

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Harry Styron

Homeowner associations (HOAs) generally have fiscal years that correspond to calendar years, which means that it’s time for HOA boards to begin work on their 2010 budgets, so that the new budget–which establishes the HOA board’s authority to collect assessments and spend money–is in place before the start of 2010.

Missouri HOAs, other than condominium owners associations (COAs), don’t have any special statutes to follow. Instead, they are governed by corporation statutes and by their recorded covenants and by their bylaws, which are often not recorded.

Here’s an overview of the sources of general and financial powers of HOAs and COAs: Read the rest of this entry →

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The long arm of the law doesn’t always reach a guarantor

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Harry Styron

The United States is a fairly friendly and respectful federation, at least when it comes to enforcing judgments so that creditors can get paid. This arrangement encourages commerce.

If a lender gets a judgment in one state, that judgment can be registered with the court of another state, and the lender can use the local court and sheriff to apply the tools of debt collection: garnishment of bank accounts and accounts receivable and asking the sheriff to seize and sell the debtor’s property.

If the judgment from the other state is not premised on personal jurisdiction over the out-of-state defendant, then the court where the defendant or his property is located may not Read the rest of this entry →

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It ain’t fraud if you know better

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Harry Styron

Owning a business is the dream of a lot of people, but buying a business can be a nightmare. To facilitate the process, business brokers attempt to hook up sellers and buyers, and they know that getting a worn-out seller with a naive buyer is a very tricky endeavor that often goes sour before or after the sale.

Everybody knows that nobody wants to sell a gold mine, but they do want to put the best face on what they’ve got to sell and make a plausible story for why the owner wants out. Often the sale is due to the “owner’s health,” which can mean just about anything. Sometimes, the seller or the seller’s agent pooh-poohs the scant income on the tax returns, implying that the business throws off a lot of cash that never gets reported.

Business brokers run the full gamut from extraordinarily knowledgeable and helpful to pure cosmeticians. There is one business brokerage firm that I love to work with because of their expertise and integrity–the Kingsley Group, in Springfield, Missouri. Read the rest of this entry →

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Default judgments: sometimes they stick

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Harry Styron

A September 25, 2009 decision of the Missouri Court of Appeals’ Southern District, First Community Bank v Hubbell Power Systems, underscores that the trial judge doesn’t have to set aside a default judgment, even if it’s promptly requested, and even though Missouri’s court rules and case law disfavor default judgments in favor of giving the litigants their days in court.

When a civil lawsuit is filed in a Missouri’s circuit court and the defendant is served with a summons and copy of the plaintiff’s petition, the defendant has 30 days to file a response. If the defendant does not file a response, Read the rest of this entry →

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