### IN THE COURT OF APP EALS OF TENNESS EE AT JAC KSON Marc h 27 , 200 5 S es sio n
JE RRY TRULL, ET UX 

### . v. BRAD RIDG EWAY, ET UX 

### . A Dire ct A ppeal f

romthe Chancer y Court for Henry County No. 19587 The Honorabl e Ron E. Harm on, Chan cellor

No. W2004-02026-C OA-R3-C V - F iled May 27, 2005

Plaintiffs-landowner s filed a chanc ery court c omplaint seeking to establish ownership of a parc el of re al estate which they claimed by

adver se possession. The tria l co u rt dismiss ed the
c omp la int pu rs ua nt to the pr ov isi on s of T.C .A . § 28 -2 -1 10 (f a ilu re to pa y re a l est a te ta xes f or tw e nty y ear s) and a lso allowed def endants to take a voluntary nonsuit of a co u n t er -c laim ag ainst the pla int if fs . Pl a int if

fs app e a l. We a ff

ir m.

Tenn. R. App . P . 3; Appeal as of Right; Judgme nt of th e Chancer y Court Affi rm ed

W. F RAN K C RAW FORD , P.J ., W.S ., delivere d the opinion of the court, in which A L AN E. H I G H ERS , J . and D AVI D R. F ARMER , J ., joined.

Cha rl e s F le e t of

B oli va r f or Ap pe lla nts , Jer

ry Tr ull a ndRita

Tr ull David S. Hessing of Paris for Br ad Ridg ewa y

and Ang ie Ridge way
OP IN ION

Th e re c or d d oe s n ot c on ta in a tr a ns c ri pt o r s ta te me nt of the e vid e nc e , an d the on ly re c or d in this Court i s the technic al rec ord. Plaintiffs, J erry Trull and Rita Trull (“T rulls” or “ Plaintiffs”) filed a suit ag ainst the Def

endants, B rad Ridg ewa y and Ang ie Ridge way (“Ridg ewa y s” or “ Def

endants” ) seeking , primarily , owner ship of a par cel of rea l property

which they

contend t h ey had bee n occupying f

or twenty y ear s by adver se possession. The Ridg ewa y s filed an answer to the complaint deny ing the m at er i al alleg ations thereof and ave rring that they

are the fe e simple owner s of the pr op e rt y by

virtue of the de e ds se t ou t in the a ns we r. Th e Rid g e way s f urthe r a ve r that th e y

ha ve pa id the taxes o n t h e p roperty involved in the dispute and that Plaintiffs’ ac tion is barred by virtue of T. C.A . § § 2 8- 2- 11 0, fo r f a ilu re to pa y ta xes on the pr op e rt y fo r tw e nty y e ars
. Th e Rid g e way s a lso filed a c ounter-c omplaint seeking dama ges fo r Plaintiffs’ trespa ss and for the establishment of a bo un da ry lin e be tw e e n Pl a int if

fs a ndDe fe nd a nts

.-2-

There was no e videntiary hearing and the parties conce de that Plaintiffs’ attorney admitted in open court t h at t he Plaintiffs had not paid the ta x es for a period of twenty

y ear s. On Aug ust 2, 20 04 , th e tr ia l c ou rt

e nte re d a n o rd e r s ta tin g , in re le va nt p art :
...th e Co u r t f

in d s th a t [t h e T ru ll ’ s ] c a u s e o f a c ti o n mu s t f a il in that [ the Tr ull s] or the ir pr e de c e sso rs in i nte re st h a ve no t paid p ro pe rt y taxes on the real e state in question for twe n t y co ntinuous y ear s pursuant to T.C.A. § 28-2-110.

The Co u rt further

finds the [Ri dg ewa y s] announced to the Cou rt that th e y ha ve e le c te d to take a vo lu nt ary no n- su it a s to the ir
c a u s e o f a c ti o n a g a in s t [ th e T ru ll s ].

Th e Tr ull s a pp e a l a ndra ise tw o is su e s f or review : (1) Whe the r the tr ia l c ou rt e rr e d in dis mis sin g the Tr

ull s c la im p ur su a nt t o T .C. A. §2 8- 2- 11 0; and(2 ) Wh e the r the tr ia l c ou rt e rr e d in
a llo wi ng the Rid g e way s to take a vo lun tary

no n- su it on the ir c ou nte r- c la im thu s bar ri ng the Tr

ull s from ra ising the de fense of adve rse possession.

Both the tria l co u rt s ap p lication of T.C.A. §28-2- 110 and the c ourt’s allowing the Ridge way ’s t o n o n -s u it their counter- claim ar e questions of law . As such, our r eview of the trial
c ou rt ’s or de r i s de novo upon the record with no presumption of cor rec tness acc ompany ing the trial court’s conclusions of l aw. See Te nn . R. Ap p. P. 1 3( d) ; Waldron v. Delffs , 988 S.W .2d 182, 184 (T e nn . Ct . A pp . 1 99 8) ; Sims v . St e war t , 973 S.W .2d 597, 599-600 (Te nn. Ct. App. 1998).

T. C.A . § 28 -2 -1 10 , a s p e rt ine nt h e re , p ro vid e s: (a) Any person having any claim t o rea l estate or land of a ny

kind, or to any leg al or equitable interest there in, the s ame having be en subjec t t o as s es s m en tfo r s t at e a n d co u n t y t a x e s , wh o an d t h o s e t h ro u gh wh om su c h perso n cl aims have fai led to have the sam e assessed and to p ay any state and county taxes ther eon for a period of
m ore t han tw enty (20) years, s h all be f oreve r barre d f

rom b ri n g i n g a n y a ct i o n i n l a w o r i n eq u i ty to re co v er th e s a me , o r t o rec over a ny

rents or profits there from in any of the c ourts of this state.
Id . (Emphasis adde d).

Ou r dut y in co ns truin g a statut e is to asc e rt a in an d g ive e ff e c t to the int e nti on a ndpu rp os e of the leg islature. See Lipscomb v. Doe , 32 S.W .3d 840, 844 (Tenn.2000) ; Fre eman, 27 S.W.3d 909, 911 (Tenn. 2000). " 'L eg islative intent is to be ascertained whe never possible from the natur al and ordinary meaning of the lang uag e used, w ithout forced or subtle cons t ru ct i o n that would limit or ex ten d t he m eani ng of t he l anguage.' " Li ps c o mb , 3 2 S

. W

. 3 d at 8 4 4 (q u o t i n g Hawks v. Cit y of We stmore lan d , 960 S.W .2d 10, 16 (Tenn.1997) ). When the statutory lang uag e is c l ea r and-3-

una mb ig u o u s , w e mu s t ap p ly it s p la in me a n in g in it s n o r ma l a n d a c c e p te d u s e , w ith o u t a for ced interpre tation that w ould limit or expand the statute' s application. See id. ; Carson Creek V acation Re so rts , I nc . v . St ate De p't of Re v e nue , 865 S.W .2d 1, 2 (Tenn.1993)

. The lang uag e of T.C.A. § 28-2-110 (a) clea rly states that parties have no sta nding to bring “any action in law or

in equity [i .e. a claim i n adver se poss ession] t o rec over [property that is subject to state or county property taxes] ” if that party has not paid ta x es on same. It is undisput ed that the Trulls have never paid t axes on the t rac t in question. Consequently , the trial court corre ctly applied T. C.A . § 28 -2 -1 10 (a ) i n b arring the Tr ull ’s c la im a g a ins t th e Rid g e way s.
No tw ith sta nd ing the fa c t th a t T .C. A. §2 8- 2- 11 0( a ) c le arl y ba rs the Tr ull s f ro m br ing ing a suit to rec over this particula r prope rty due to their non-pay ment of taxes, the Trulls contend that t h e R i d gew ay s s h o u l d n o th av e b ee n al l o we d t o n o n -s u i tth ei r c o u n t er -c l ai m b ec au s e, i n s o d o i n g, the Ridge way s barr ed the Trulls from raising adverse possession as a defe nse t o said claim. Tenn. R. C iv. P. 4 1. 01 g ov e rn s v olu nta ry dis mis sa ls a ndre a ds , in re le va nt p art , a s f oll ow s: (1) ..

. e xc e p t w h e n a

mo ti o n f

o r s u mm ar y

ju d g me n t m a d e b y

an adver se party

is pending , the plaintiff shall have th e right to take a voluntary nonsuit to di smiss an action without prejudice...by an oral notice of dismissal made in open c ourt during the trial of a cause
.... * * * (3 ) A vo lun tary

no ns uit to d ism iss a n a c tio n w ith ou t pr e jud ic e mus t be followe d by

an orde r of voluntary

dismiss al sig ned by

the court and ente red by

the cler k....

I t has be e n h e ld “ that a

pla int if f’ s r ig ht t o ta

ke a no n- su it i s su bje c t to the re stric tio n th a t it will not deprive def

endant of a rig ht that beca me vested during the pendenc y of a c ase.” Panzer v. King , 743 S.W .2d 612, 614 (Tenn. 1988) . Plaintiffs have not, in any manner , shown that they had a veste d rig ht to require the Def endants a nd Counter-Plaintiffs to litigate the suit against them
c o n c e r n i n g t i t l e t o t h e p r o p e r t y.
The orde r of the trial is aff irmed. Appe llees' reque st to find this a frivolous appeal is denied. C o s t s o f t h e ap p e a l ar e a s s e s s e d t o t h e A p p e l l a n t s , J e rr y T ru l l a n d R i t a T ru l l , a n d t h e i r

s u r e t y.

__________________________________________ W . FR ANK

CR AW FOR D, PRESI

DI NG JUDG E, W.S.