Judge MAX N. TOBIAS, JR.,
Sarath and Hemalie Perera (the "Pereras") appeal from an adverse judgment rendered on 11 June 2014 granting the petition for eviction and rule for possession in favor of Lake Air Capital II, LLC ("Lake Air") following Lake Air's enforcement of a promissory note and collateral mortgage and subsequent foreclosure and judicial sale of residential property occupied and owned by the Pereras. For the following reasons, we affirm.
On 28 May 2013, Lake Air filed a petition for executory process without benefit of appraisal seeking enforcement of a promissory note (the "Note") executed by the Pereras. The Note was alleged to be secured with an act of mortgage on the Pereras' residence located at 5600 Evelyn Court in New Orleans (the "Property"), duly recorded in the mortgage records of Orleans Parish. In its petition, Lake Air alleged that it was the current holder of
No action was taken by the Pereras during the next three months. However, on 30 August 2013, less than one week shy of the scheduled sale, the Pereras filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding resulting in a stay of the judicial sale. At that time a Chapter 13 debtor's (bankruptcy) plan was put into place. In December 2013, when the Pereras failed to comply with the debtor's plan as it related to the mortgage on the Property, Lake Air sought an order from the bankruptcy court to lift the automatic stay provisions.
Despite the stay being lifted and having ample notice of the impending sale of the Property, the Pereras took no action until Friday, 11 April 2014 — again, less than one week prior to the re-scheduled sale — when they filed a motion with the bankruptcy court to reinstate the stay and requested an expedited hearing on their motion. The bankruptcy court denied the request on Monday, 14 April 2014.
Waiting until 2:28 p.m. the following afternoon, Tuesday, 15 April 2014, the Pereras filed a petition for injunction (preliminary and permanent) in the trial court to arrest the seizure and sale re-scheduled for 17 April 2014, and/or, alternatively, for damages.
On the following morning, 16 April 2014, the Pereras filed a notice of intent to seek an emergency writ of review of the trial court's 15 April 2014 order and requested a stay. Specifically, the Pereras sought a stay of the sheriff's sale set for noon the next day until such time as a hearing could be held on the their request for injunctive relief. In conjunction with the order granting the notice of intent and denying the stay, the trial judge handwrote the following reasons elucidating why the hearing for injunctive relief was set for one week after the scheduled sheriff's sale:
The sale went forward on Thursday, 17 April 2014, as previously scheduled and, at 12:14 p.m., the Property was sold by the sheriff to Lake Air. A Sheriff's Deed was issued and recorded by the sheriff on 12 May 2014, and Lake Air became the owner of the Property.
On 8 August 2014, the Pereras timely filed the instant devolutive appeal seeking review of the trial court's 11 June 2014 judgment and raise the following four assignments of error:
Because we find the first three assignments of error are inexorably related, we address them collectively as an averment that the trial court erred by failing to find that the sheriff's sale of the Property was a nullity as a result of the Pereras being
A trial court's factual determinations are subject to the manifest error/clearly wrong standard of review, which precludes the setting aside of a trial court's finding of fact unless that finding is clearly wrong in light of the record reviewed in its entirety. Hall v. Folger Coffee Co., 03-1734, p. 9 (La. 4/14/04), 874 So.2d 90, 98. In order to reverse the findings of a trier of fact, "an appellate court must undertake a two-part inquiry: (1) the court must find from the record that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the finding of the trier of fact; and (2) the court must further determine that the record establishes the finding is clearly wrong." Harold A. Asher, CPA, LLC v. Haik, 12-0771, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/10/13), 116 So.3d 720, 723-724, quoting S.J. v. Lafayette Parish School Board, 09-2195, p. 12 (La.7/6/10), 41 So.3d 1119, 1127. In the event of a legal error, such as incorrectly applying an applicable statute, the standard of review of an appellate court is simply whether the trial court's interpretive decision is legally correct or incorrect. Duhon v. Briley, 12-1137, 12-1138, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/23/13), 117 So.3d 253, 257-258. Accordingly, if the decision of the trial court is based upon an erroneous application of law rather than on a valid exercise of discretion, the decision is not entitled to deference by the reviewing court. Id.
As a preliminary matter, Lake Air argues that because the Pereras now raise the identical defenses in their instant appeal of the judgment of eviction that were unsuccessfully raised in their previous writ to this court during the executory proceedings, which writ was denied based upon our finding that no error occurred on the part of the trial court, we should apply the law-of-the-case doctrine to bar their arguments. The law respecting the effect of a denial of a writ application, however, is well-settled; the denial of a writ has no precedential value. State v. Davis, 09-0438, p. 19 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1/13/10), 30 So.3d 201, 211; Arceneaux v. Amstar Corp., 06-1592, p. 20 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/31/07), 969 So.2d 755, 771; State v. Williams, 00-1725, p. 4 n. 3 (La. 11/28/01), 800 So.2d 790, 795; St. Tammany Manor, Inc. v. Spartan Building Corp., 509 So.2d 424, 428 (La.1987). The application of the "law of the case" principle to decisions made on supervisory writs is discretionary. Cavalier v. State ex rel. Dept. of Transp. and Development, 08-0561, p. 5 (La.App. 1 Cir. 9/12/08), 994 So.2d 635, 640. Therefore, any prior "determination" in a request for a supervisory writ is not necessarily binding on a subsequent appeal. Diamond B Const. Co., Inc. v. Department of Transp. and Development, 08-0573, p. 7 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/14/03), 845 So.2d 429, 434. Generally, the denial of supervisory writs does not bar a different conclusion or reconsideration of the same issue argued in the writ application when an appeal is taken from a final judgment. Levine v. First Nat. Bank of Commerce, 06-394, p. 6, n. 4 (La. 12/15/06), 948 So.2d 1051, 1056; East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd. v. Wilson, 08-0536, p. 10 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/6/08), 992 So.2d 537, 543; Diamond B Construction, 08-0573, p. 7, 845 So.2d at 434. For these reasons, we decline to
La. C.C.P. art. 2752 states the following:
La.C.C.P. art. 3602 provides:
The Pereras posit that, when La. C.C.P. art. 2752 and La. C.C.P. art. 3602 are read and applied collectively, "the law is confusing, ambiguous, contradictory and unconstitutional." Specifically, the Pereras argue that article 2752 is unconstitutional and results in a deprivation of due process when its application prohibits an opportunity for a petitioner seeking injunctive relief to arrest a seizure and sale of immovable property to be heard prior to the sale of said property. Because the Pereras requested that a hearing on their request for injunctive relief be heard prior to the sheriff's sale of the Property and "there was an opportunity for a [such] a hearing," which the trial court denied, the Pereras aver the trial court manifestly erred when it granted the order of eviction and failed to rule that the sheriff's sale of the Property was a nullity. We disagree.
La. C.C.P. 2752 A expressly prohibits the imposition of a temporary restraining order to arrest the seizure and sale of immovable property in an executory proceeding and requires that a hearing on an application for preliminary injunction be held prior to the sale.
In the instant case, the Pereras are absolutely right when they state that "there was an opportunity for a hearing" on their petition for injunctive relief —
Based upon the specific facts of this case and our review of the record on appeal, we find the trial court did not err in concluding that it was prohibited by the applicable codal provisions to set the hearing on the preliminary injunction prior to the scheduled sale of the Property. Accordingly, we find the sheriff's sale of the Property was valid and that the judgment of eviction was properly granted. The trial court judgment is affirmed.
It is well-settled that, in general, the unconstitutionality of a statute must first be specifically pleaded and the grounds for the claim particularized in the trial court. Vallo v. Gayle Oil Company, Inc., 94-1238, p. 8 (La. 11/30/94); 646 So.2d 859, 864-865. Moreover, in all proceedings in which the constitutionality of a statute is assailed, the attorney general must be served notice and/or a copy of the pleading and, at his discretion, be allowed to be heard. See La. R.S. 49:257 and La. R.S. 13:4448. In the instant case, having failed to properly plead the unconstitutionality of article 2752 A in the trial court and having failed to serve or otherwise notify the attorney general of the challenge to the constitutionality of the article, the issue of the constitutionality of La. C.C.P. art. 2752 A is not in the proper posture for this court's review.