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Wilder v. Miller12/11/2000
2000 Opinion No. 84
Frederick C. Lyon, Clerk
Appeal from the District Court of the First Judicial District, State of Idaho, Bonner County. Hon. James R. Michaud, District Judge.
Judgment of the district court quieting title, affirmed.
Russell R. Miller and Averal Miller (the Millers) appeal from the district court's judgment quieting title to a parcel of land, referred to as the Comeback Bay lot, in favor of Mila Jean Wilder.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE
Joseph R. Cirafisi is the son of Averal Miller, the stepson of Russell Miller and former boyfriend of Wilder. In 1980, Cirafisi purchased the Comeback Bay lot. In 1985, Cirafisi delivered a deed of trust conveying the Comeback Bay lot to two persons, Susan Sorentino and Peter Smith. In 1987, Cirafisi delivered a quitclaim deed for the same parcel to the Millers; this deed was not recorded. The district court found that in delivering the quitclaim deed, Cirafisi intended the property to act as security for prior loans he had taken from the Millers. At the time the quitclaim deed was delivered to the Millers, Cirafisi owed them just over $5,000. In 1988, Sorentino and Smith reconveyed their interest in the lot back to Cirafisi through a warranty deed.
In July of 1990, Wilder was injured in an incident involving Cirafisi and filed a personal injury suit against him seeking damages. Trial was eventually set to begin in September of 1992. In July of 1992, the Millers and Cirafisi met with Cirafisi's attorney to discuss the merits of Wilder's claim. At this time, record title to the lot remained in Cirafisi and he was paying property taxes on the parcel. Cirafisi's counsel advised the Millers to not record their quitclaim deed and instructed Cirafisi to execute two promissory notes and deeds of trust. One was made out to Cirafisi's counsel to secure payment of his fees and the other was made to the Millers (the deed of trust) in the amount of $23,151--the accumulated value of the antecedent debt built up over the years owed by Cirafisi to the Millers--in order to secure payment of Cirafisi's indebtedness. Cirafisi executed and recorded the two deeds of trust on August 20, 1992--two weeks prior to the scheduled trial. The 1987 quitclaim deed remained unrecorded. The district court found that the Millers' deed of trust was clearly intended as a "mechanism for preventing Wilder from foreclosing any judgment."
At the conclusion of the personal injury trial, Wilder obtained an $11,653.36 judgment against Cirafisi. This judgment and judgment lien were recorded on September 8, 1992, thus becoming a lien against the property. Wilder attempted to execute upon the judgment, but Cirafisi had no personal assets from which the judgment could be satisfied. Wilder deposed the Millers in March of 1993 and learned that the Comeback Bay lot had been quitclaim deeded in 1987 to the Millers by Cirafisi. This quitclaim deed was not recorded until March 3, 1993, only two days prior to Wilder's deposition of the Millers. The Millers admitted that this was done because they were fearful of the effects of Wilder's judgment against Cirafisi. Wilder obtained a writ of execution against the property on August 11, 1995, and thereafter received a sheriff's deed to the Comeback Bay lot. Notice of the sheriff's sale was provided to the Millers. Wilder entered the high "credit" bid of $18,459.57 and then sought to quiet title to the parcel in her favor.
Following a one-day bench trial, the district court entered its findings of fact and conclusions of law on May 21, 1999, concluding that the quitclaim deed and the deed of trust were fraudulent transfers against Wilder's interest. The cou
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