Opinion ID: 1399098
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Relation Back of Amended Complaint

Text: For their second point on appeal, Bibbs and Mason contend that the circuit judge erred in finding that their amended complaint did not relate back to the filing of their original complaint under Rule 15(c) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. Community Bank responds that because Bibbs and Mason lacked standing to sue, their original complaint was a nullity and therefore the amended complaint adding the trustees as plaintiffs cannot relate back to a void complaint. They cite Rhuland v. Fahr, supra . This court has held that for the relation-back doctrine to apply there must be valid pleadings to amend. See St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Circuit Court of Craighead County, supra . Bibbs and Mason lacked standing when they filed their original complaint; thus, the original complaint was a nullity. See Hubbard v. Nat'l Healthcare of Pocahontas, 371 Ark. at 452, 267 S.W.3d at 578 ([a]ppellant's complaint was a nullity because she did not have standing at the time it was filed). Accordingly, when appellants filed their amended complaint in 2007, there was not a valid original complaint to amend and, thus, nothing to which the amended complaint could relate back. Moreover, this court held in St. Paul that an amended complaint that substitutes out the original plaintiffs and replaces them with entirely new plaintiffs does not constitute an amendment to the original complaint but rather is the filing of a new lawsuit. 348 Ark. at 206, 73 S.W.3d at 589. Here, the appellants attempted to cure the deficiency of their original complaint by joining their bankruptcy trustees as parties plaintiff in their amended complaint. However, because the appellants were not the real parties in interest at the time of either the filing of the original complaint or the filing of the amended complaint under Rule 17(a), as discussed above, the joinder of the bankruptcy trustees in the amended complaint had the effect of substituting entirely new plaintiffs. This was in the nature of filing a new action and is barred by the statute of limitations. We affirm the circuit judge on this point.