Opinion ID: 1723159
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Timeliness of Appraisal

Text: The trial court herein, and this court on original hearing, held that plaintiffs were precluded from obtaining a deficiency judgment because the appraisals were not submitted to the sheriff in a timely fashion under La.R.S. 13:4363(A). In pertinent part, La.R.S. 13:4363(A) provides that [t]he appraisal of the debtor and seizing creditor shall be made and delivered to the sheriff at least two days, exclusive of holidays, prior to the time of the sale. In this case, the appraisal of Norbert Schexnayder, plaintiffs' appraiser, was submitted to the sheriff on the afternoon of Friday, September 2, 1988. The following Monday, September 5, 1988, was Labor Day, a legal holiday. The judicial sale was held on the morning of Wednesday, September 7, 1988. Thus, it appears that less than two days elapsed between the time the creditor's appraisal was submitted to the sheriff and the time of the judicial sale. Nonetheless, the fact that an appraisal is untimely submitted does not necessarily mean that it is so defective as to preclude the creditor from obtaining a deficiency judgment. As with the minuteness requirement, we must look to the purpose for which the two day delay was enacted. [4] This purpose can be gleaned from an examination of the entire statutory appraisal scheme. La.R.S. 13:4363 requires the sheriff to serve written notice on the debtor and on the seizing creditor, directing each to name an appraiser and notify the sheriff of his appointment at least four days, exclusive of holidays, prior to the time of the sale. If appraisers are appointed by the parties involved, their appraisals must be delivered to the sheriff at least two days prior to the time of the sale. Id. If, however, a party fails to appoint an appraiser or to notify the sheriff within the time designated, the sheriff shall appoint one for him. La.R.S. 13:4364. When the debtor's and creditor's appraisers cannot agree on a valuation, and the difference between their values is substantial, the sheriff must appoint a third appraiser, whose valuation of the property shall be final. La. R.S. 13:4365(B). Appraisals by sheriff-appointed appraisers shall be made and delivered to the sheriff at any time prior to the sale. La.R.S. 13:4364(B) and 4365(E). A review of the foregoing statutes reveals that R.S. 13:4363 was designed to benefit the sheriff whose duty it is to conduct the judicial sale. The primary purpose of the two day requirement is to provide the sheriff with sufficient time to appoint a third appraiser in those cases where the parties' appraisers do not agree on valuation and the variance between their values is outside the statutory limit fixed by R.S. 13:4365(B). In the present case, however, both appraisers submitted identical valuations of the subject tracts. Thus, there was no need for the sheriff to appoint a third appraiser. Accordingly, the untimely delivery of the creditor's appraisal had no adverse effect on the executory proceedings and defendants may not rely on the untimeliness of the submission of the appraisals to bar a deficiency judgment.