Ironwood Commons Cmty. Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Randall

246 Ariz. 412

439 P.3d 1193

IRONWOOD COMMONS COMMUNITY HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiff/Appellee,

v.Shannon K. RANDALL, Defendant/Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CV 17-0381

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1.

FILED April 4, 2019

Dessaules Law Group, Phoenix, By Douglas C. Wigley, Jonathan A. Dessaules, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant

Maxwell & Morgan PC, Mesa, By B. Austin Baillio, Rebecca L. Easton, Chad M. Gallacher, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee

Judge Michael J. Brown delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Kenton D. Jones and Judge Jon W. Thompson joined.

BROWN, Judge:

¶1 Shannon K. Randall appeals the trial court’s ruling that an affidavit of renewal filed in the superior court of the county in which a transcript of a justice court judgment was docketed, instead of in the superior court of the county in which the judgment was obtained, complied with statutory renewal requirements. She also challenges the court’s award of post-judgment attorneys’ fees and costs. For the following reasons, we affirm the ruling that the judgment was properly renewed and the award of costs for the subsequent garnishment proceeding. We vacate, however, the award of attorneys’ fees and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

¶2 In 2011, the Casa Grande Justice Court (Pinal County) entered judgment in favor of Ironwood Commons Community Homeowners Association, Inc. ("Ironwood") and against Randall in the amount of $4,089.05 arising from her delinquent assessments. The judgment included a clause purporting to award attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in collecting the judgment. In 2014, Ironwood filed a transcript of judgment in the Maricopa County Superior Court and two days later recorded the judgment, also in Maricopa County.

¶3 To prevent the judgment from lapsing, Ironwood filed an affidavit of judgment renewal in the Maricopa County Superior Court in 2016, stating that the justice court judgment "ha[d] not been recorded or docketed in any other county." Ironwood then filed an application for garnishment, a post-judgment statement of costs, and an application for post-judgment attorneys’ fees. The clerk of the court issued a writ of garnishment, and the trial court awarded attorneys’ fees ($1,130) and costs ($510.77).

¶4 Randall moved to quash the writ of garnishment, arguing execution on the judgment was prohibited under Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 12-1551(B) because the judgment was not properly renewed. Randall also filed a motion to vacate the award of attorneys’ fees and costs, asserting the award was not grounded in any statutory or contractual provision and the justice court judgment was invalid. Ironwood opposed both motions and also filed an application for order of continuing lien against Randall’s non-exempt earnings, which the court granted.

¶5 During oral argument on the motions, Randall argued the justice court judgment expired because the affidavit of renewal should have been filed in the Pinal County Superior Court to give her proper notice. The trial court rejected the argument and, citing A.R.S. § 33-962(A) and § 12-1612(A), ruled that the "proper court" for filing a renewal affidavit was "the court where the judgment was docketed," which in this case was the Maricopa County Superior Court. The court upheld its previous award of attorneys’ fees and costs to Ironwood and this timely appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

A. Proper Court for Judgment Renewal

¶6 Randall contends the justice court judgment cannot be enforced against her because it was not renewed in accordance with A.R.S. § 12-1612. We review issues requiring statutory interpretation de novo. State ex rel. Indus. Comm’n of Ariz. v. Galloway , 224 Ariz. 325, 327, ¶ 7, 230 P.3d 708, 710 (App. 2010). When interpreting statutes, we will "effectuate the text if it is clear and unambiguous." BSI Holdings, LLC v. Ariz. Dep’t of Transp. , 244 Ariz. 17, 19, ¶ 9, 417 P.3d 782, 784 (2018). "In construing a specific provision, we look to the statute as a whole and we may also consider statutes that are in pari materia —of the same subject or general purpose—for guidance and to give effect to all of the provisions involved." Stambaugh v. Killian , 242 Ariz. 508, 509, ¶ 7, 398 P.3d 574, 575 (2017).

¶7 Subject to exceptions not applicable here, a judgment expires unless it is timely renewed, see A.R.S. § 12-1551(B), which may be accomplished by affidavit as provided in A.R.S. § 12-1612(A) :

A judgment for the payment of money that has been entered and docketed in the civil docket or civil order book of the United States district court or superior court, whether originally rendered by it or entered on a transcript of judgment from another court, or recorded with the county recorder, may be renewed by filing an affidavit for renewal with the clerk of the proper court.

¶8 A justice court judgment "may be prepared for recording" by filing a certified transcript of judgment with the "clerk of the superior court." A.R.S. § 33-962(A)(1). From the time of its filing, the transcript of judgment is "deemed the judgment of the superior court, ... in the control of the superior court, and ... carried into execution in the same manner and with like effect as a judgment of the superior court." Id . Pursuant to A.R.S. § 22-246, "real property or any interest therein" cannot be "levied upon or sold by virtue of any [justice court] judgment" until the transcript of judgment is first filed in the "superior court of the county where the judgment was given."

¶9 Relying on § 12-1612(A), Randall argues a judgment may be renewed only if an affidavit of renewal is filed in the superior court of the county where the "judgment was originally obtained." Ironwood counters that because § 12-1612(A) contemplates a justice court judgment may be filed as a transcript with any superior court, the judgment may also be renewed in that superior court, regardless of the originating county. Both parties cite this court’s opinion in J.C. Penney v. Lane , 197 Ariz. 113, 3 P.3d 1033 (App. 1999), in support of their positions.

¶10 In J.C. Penney , the Page Justice Court (Coconino County) entered a money judgment in favor of a judgment creditor, who then recorded the judgment with the Coconino County Recorder’s Office and later filed it in the Coconino County Superior Court. 197 Ariz. at 114, 118, ¶¶ 2, 24, 3 P.3d at 1034, 1038. The creditor mistakenly filed a renewal affidavit in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Id. at 114, ¶ 3, 3 P.3d at 1034. The error was not detected until after the judgment lapsed, and the judgment creditor asked the Coconino County Superior Court to enter the affidavit in its records and accept it as a timely renewal of the judgment. Id. at 114, ¶ 4, 3 P.3d at 1034. The reviewing judge granted the request, explaining there is only one superior court in Arizona and the erroneous filing in Maricopa County was "merely a venue error." Id.¶11 On appeal, we noted that the Page Justice Court judgment was "rightly filed" in the Coconino County Superior Court, where it was entered and docketed. Id. at 118, ¶ 24, 3 P.3d at 1038. Construing A.R.S. § 12-1612(A) with related statutes, we explained:

The only conclusion that can be reached from reading these provisions in the renewal of judgment statutes is that the affidavit is to be filed with the clerk of the superior court in the same county in which the judgment was docketed so that it can be maintained with the other records concerning that judgment. It would make no sense for the affidavit to be filed with the clerk of the superior court in a different county who would have no records concerning that judgment.

197 Ariz. at 118, ¶ 27, 3 P.3d at 1038. We therefore held that "if the judgment was a Coconino County Superior Court judgment, the affidavit of renewal of the judgment was not effective unless timely filed in the Coconino County Superior Court rather than in the superior court located in some other county." Id. at 119, ¶ 33, 3 P.3d at 1039.

¶12 We rejected the argument that because the superior courts are deemed a "single court" under our constitution, a renewal affidavit may be filed in the superior court of any county regardless of the county’s connection with the case or judgment. Id. at 118–19, ¶ 28, 3 P.3d at 1038–39 (citing Ariz. Const. art. 6, § 13 ("The superior courts provided for in this article shall constitute a single court, composed of all the duly elected or appointed judges in each of the counties of the state.")).¹ We relied on Ward v. Stevens , 86 Ariz. 222, 344 P.2d 491 (1959), which involved a challenge to a superior court discovery order issued by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge in a lawsuit pending in Pinal County Superior Court. Id. at 225–26, 344 P.2d 491. Declaring the order a nullity, our supreme court determined the single-court provision was added to the constitution because voters sought to (1) establish uniform salaries among all superior court judges and (2) clarify the power of a visiting judge, on assignment, to hear a case pending in a different court. Id. at 229–30, 344 P.2d 491. The court declined to construe the single-court provision contrary to these avowed purposes, concluding that allowing a judge from one county to enter orders in a case pending in a different county "would only result in chaos and confusion and unnecessary jurisdictional conflicts among the trial courts of the state." Id. at 230–31, 344 P.2d 491. In J.C. Penney , we similarly reasoned that allowing renewal affidavits to be filed with the clerk of any county of the superior court, regardless of whether that county had any connection with the judgment, would create "uncertainty and confusion." 197 Ariz. at 119, ¶ 28, 3 P.3d at 1039.

¶13 Randall has not cited, nor has our research revealed, any statute requiring Ironwood to file its renewal affidavit in the county where the judgment originated. As the trial court aptly noted, the legislature’s decision to include specific language in § 22-246...