Opinion ID: 1255639
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Parcels C and D.

Text: Tull, who said that he had been involved in real estate transactions on Chincoteague Island since 1960, estimated the value of parcel C at $6,000, or $1,500 per acre, and parcel D at $15,000. He said there was no access to the parcels. C.E. Kambarn, a local real estate speculator who was associated with Tull in some business transactions, testified that parcel C was worth $6,000 with a right-of-way and $3,000 without one. He estimated that parcel D was worth $15,000, apparently based on the assumption that there was access to it. Johna Davis, an experienced real estate broker and appraiser, testified for Quillen. Apparently assuming there was access, he valued all four parcels at $3,675 per acre, based on comparable sales, so that his estimate for parcels C and D together was approximately $43,000. The record shows that the only access to parcels C and D consists of two connecting roadways: (1) a 30-foot-wide easement, bought for $200 to $300 by Tull and Ayres in 1963, which runs from a public highway to land of Ayres adjacent to parcel D; and (2) a 15-foot-wide easement, reserved by Tull across some adjacent land he had conveyed to a third party, which connects the first easement to parcel D. Tull appeared to believe that these easements were easements in gross which belonged to him, but the court ruled that they were easements appurtenant to parcels C and D. At the second of two ore tenus hearings, the parties presented evidence as to whether these easements enhanced the value of parcels C and D. John Winder, a real estate appraiser testifying as a witness for Tull and Ayres, said that parcels C and D would be worth $12,000 and $25,000, respectively, without the easements, and $17,000 and $35,000, respectively, with the easements. He said that he based his estimates on comparable sales, as well as on some consideration of the cost of obtaining access to the parcels. Donald Leonard, another real estate appraiser called by Tull and Ayres, estimated that the easements enhanced the value of parcels C and D about one-third. He based this estimate on various factors, including comparable sales, the possible use of the property, and the cost of obtaining access to the parcels. Davis, Quillen's appraiser, was unable to estimate the enhancement created by the easements. In a partition suit, a joint tenant is usually entitled to compensation for permanent improvements he has made to the property, but the compensation is limited to the enhanced value of the property rather than the cost of the improvements. Jones v. Jones, 214 Va. 452, 454-55, 201 S.E.2d 603, 605 (1974); Dalgarno v. Baum, 182 Va. 806, 808, 30 S.E.2d 559, 560 (1944). If a tenant desires compensation for enhancement, he must request it in his pleadings; if, however, the parties' testimony treats permanent improvements as calling for compensation, a specific pleading is unnecessary. Griffin v. Tomlinson, 159 Va. 161, 178-79, 165 S.E. 374, 380 (1932). Quillen argues that Tull and Ayres did not plead enhancement and that Tull explicitly claimed that the easements were not appurtenant to parcels C and D. It is true, as Tull and Ayres concede, that they did not plead enhancement, and it is also true that Tull originally contended that the easements were easements in gross belonging to him. Nevertheless, the second ore tenus hearing, after the court ruled that the easements were appurtenant, did deal specifically with the question of enhancement. We hold that the Griffin exception applies and that the court properly considered enhancement. Quillen says that the evidence of enhancement, however, was improper because Winder and Leonard based their testimony on the actual cost of obtaining access rather than on the extent to which the easements enhanced the value of the parcels. Although Winder and Leonard did consider the expense of acquiring the easements, their estimates were based upon other factors as well, such as comparable sales, and there was no contemporaneous objection to the method they used in arriving at their estimates of enhancement. Rule 5:21. There was evidence that the value of parcels C and D was enhanced approximately one-third or more by Tull's acquisition of the easements. Accordingly, we hold that there was evidence to support the court's finding that the value of these parcels was enhanced by 30 percent and its ruling that Tull was entitled to credit for such enhancement. We will not disturb the finding or the ruling.