Opinion ID: 1181276
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the State Highway Department Waived the Right to Claim It Can Destroy Plaintiffs' Signs

Text: In their fourth point, plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in refusing to rule that the State Highway Department had waived any right to claim it could destroy all of plaintiffs' signs which had paid their permit fees by reason of the Department's acceptance of late fees. The fees for the years 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 for the signs at issue were paid on November 18, 1971. Plaintiffs claim that because the Department accepted the fees, it waived its right to claim that the permit fees were untimely paid and, therefore, that it could acquire the signs without paying just compensation. Defendant counters that there was no waiver because a State Highway Department employee cannot waive the provisions of the Act and because there was no intent to waive the provisions. Section 67-12-5(D) provides in relevant part that: Any permit fee payable for the years 1966 through 1971 inclusive shall be deemed timely paid if, but only if, the fee is received by the commission prior to July 1, 1971... . The fees for the signs at issue were not paid prior to July 1, 1971; they were paid on November 18, 1971. There is no dispute that the fees were not timely paid. The question is whether the Department waived its right to claim it could destroy plaintiffs' signs due to untimely payment once it accepted the fees. A waiver has been defined as the intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right, ... the act of waiver may be evidenced by conduct as well as by express words. (Citations omitted.) Cooper v. Albuquerque City Commission, 85 N.M. 786, 790, 518 P.2d 275, 279 (1974). See also 28 Am.Jur.2d Estoppel and Waiver § 154 (1966). To constitute a waiver, the right claimed to have been waived must have been in existence at the time of the alleged waiver. 28 Am.Jur.2d Estoppel and Waiver § 157 (1966). In the case before us, the State Highway Department knew that the fees in question were not timely paid when it accepted the fees. Nonetheless the Department issued the permits. Under these circumstances, we hold that the Department cannot claim the benefit of § 67-12-5(D) in an effort to acquire plaintiffs' signs. We are of the opinion that the Department's acceptance of the late permit applications and permit fees and the issuance of the permits constituted a waiver by the Department of § 67-12-5(D). The court's conclusion that acceptance of the late applications and fees did not constitute a waiver is reversed.