Opinion ID: 2545968
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Postjudgment Damages for Lost Rent

Text: On October 4, 2006, the plaintiffs filed a motion with the trial court entitled Motion to Clarify And/Or Augment Final Judgment seeking additional damages not awarded by the trial court in the final judgment. The plaintiffs sought $850 per month plus interest initially from October 7, 2004  the date execution of the final judgment was stayed  until July 17, 2006  the date the Court of Civil Appeals' certificate of judgment was transmitted to the trial court  as compensation for the period they were excluded from their property while the case was pending on appeal and the execution of the final judgment was stayed. The plaintiffs subsequently sought postjudgment damages for lost rent and interest from June 2, 2004, the date the judgment was entered by the trial court through the date the Court of Civil Appeals' certificate of judgment was transmitted to the trial court. Section 6-6-280, Ala.Code 1975, which is found in Article 7 of Chapter 6 of Title 6 of the Code, states: (a) A plaintiff commencing an action for the recovery of lands or the possession thereof has an election to proceed by an action of ejectment or by an action in the nature of an action of ejectment as is provided in subsection (b) of this section. (b) An action for the recovery of land or the possession thereof in the nature of an action in ejectment may be maintained without a statement of any lease or demise to the plaintiff or ouster by a casual or nominal ejector, and the complaint is sufficient if it alleges that the plaintiff was possessed of the premises or has the legal title thereto, properly designating or describing them, and that the defendant entered thereupon and unlawfully withholds and detains the same. This action must be commenced in the name of the real owner of the land or in the name of the person entitled to the possession thereof, though the plaintiff may have obtained his title thereto by a conveyance made by a grantor who was not in possession of the land at the time of the execution of the conveyance thereof. The plaintiff may recover in this action mesne profits and damages for waste or any other injury to the lands, as the plaintiff's interests in the lands entitled him to recover, to be computed up to the time of the verdict. The plaintiffs' amended complaints satisfied the pleading criteria for an action in the nature of an ejectment under § 6-6-280(b). The plaintiffs sought immediate possession of the real property, claiming rightful ownership and title to the real property by virtue of the purchase-money mortgage and the foreclosure deed. The mortgage and the foreclosure deed, which set forth a description of the real property being claimed by the plaintiffs, were both attached to the plaintiffs' second amended complaint and to the original complaint for a declaratory judgment, which was incorporated by reference in the first amended complaint. Additionally, the amended complaints also alleged that Regions Bank and Advanced Realty had willfully and wantonly continued to exercise dominion over the real property, for which the plaintiffs sought both compensatory and punitive damages, as well as mesne profits. [8] Finally, although not expressly stated, implicit in the final judgment is the trial court's determination that the plaintiffs were entitled to immediate possession of the real property in issue. Because the plaintiffs had asserted a claim in the nature of ejectment pursuant to § 6-6-280(b), they were able to seek a judgment for postjudgment rents against Regions Bank and Advanced Realty pursuant to § 6-6-293, Ala.Code 1975, as an additional remedy under Article 7. Section 6-6-293, Ala.Code 1975, provides: The plaintiff may have judgment against the defendant for the rent of the premises which accrues after judgment and before the delivery of possession by motion in the circuit court where the judgment was entered, on 10 days' notice in writing, unless the judgment is stayed by appeal and bond, in which case the motion may be made after affirmance of the judgment.  (Emphasis added.) Here, it is undisputed that Advanced Realty continued to occupy the real property following the trial court's entry of the final judgment, which found that title to the real property was properly vested in the plaintiffs and that Advanced Realty had wrongfully exercised dominion and control over the real property. The execution of the final judgment was stayed by the posting of a supersedeas bond, and Advanced Realty continued to occupy the real property while the case was pending on appeal. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the final judgment and transmitted its certificate of judgment to the trial court on July 17, 2006. Advanced Realty delivered possession of the real property to the plaintiffs on July 31, 2006. Following the affirmance of the final judgment on appeal, the plaintiffs moved the trial court for an award of postjudgment rental damages at the rate of $850 per month and interest to compensate them for the period Advanced Realty continued to occupy the real property following the entry of the final judgment declaring the plaintiffs to be the rightful owners of the property and while the case was pending on appeal. [9] Based on the plain language of § 6-6-293, the plaintiffs were entitled to recover from Advanced Realty [10] postjudgment rents for the period Advanced Realty continued to possess the real property after the trial court entered the final judgment on June 2, 2004, through July 31, 2006, the date Advanced Realty surrendered possession of the real property to the plaintiffs. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's judgment to the extent that it denied the plaintiffs' claim for postjudgment rents and interest.