Opinion ID: 2359150
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence to Support the District Court's Findings

Text: [¶ 22] The Steigers contend the district court's findings were not supported by the evidence presented at trial. The trial held on remand was to the district court sitting without a jury. We, therefore, apply the following standard of review: The factual findings of a judge are not entitled to the limited review afforded a jury verdict. While the findings are presumptively correct, the appellate court may examine all of the properly admissible evidence in the record. Due regard is given to the opportunity of the trial judge to assess the credibility of the witnesses, and our review does not entail reweighing disputed evidence. Findings of fact will not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Gasstop Two, LLC v. Seatwo, LLC, 2010 WY 24, ¶ 6, 225 P.3d 1072, 1075 (Wyo. 2010). [¶ 23] The first finding the Steigers assert is not supported by the evidence is the finding that the Association's action was duly authorized by its members. Specifically, the district court found: 7. Based upon the testimony of Mr. Tucker, Mr. Rudy and Ms. Tozier the Court finds this action by the [Association] was duly authorized by its Members, the [Association] was duly authorized by its Members, the [Association] has standing to bring this suit and it is a reasonable response to the refusal of [the Steigers] to comply with the covenants. [¶ 24] At trial, Tim Rudy testified that an annual meeting of Association members was held in January of 2004. He was president of the Association at the time. He testified that all of the homeowners were notified of the meeting and approximately twenty people attended, including board members and other homeowners. In response to the district court's questioning, he testified the issue of the Steigers' violation was discussed at the meeting and the members were asked to vote on whether to let the violation go or pursue compliance by involving an attorney. Mr. Rudy testified that members were asked to raise their hands if they were in favor of enforcing the covenant against the Steigers. He testified the vote was unanimous in favor of enforcement; to his recollection, no one voted against enforcement. He further testified that the quorum required for annual meetings was ten percent of voting members and he believed more than a tenth of the members attended the January 2004 meeting. To have a quorum, he testified, nine of the ninety-three lot owners would have had to have been present. [¶ 25] Ross Tucker, who served as president of the Association after 2004, also testified that a quorum was present at the 2004 annual meeting. He testified he did not remember anyone voting in opposition to taking legal action against the Steigers to enforce the covenant. On cross-examination by Ms. Steiger, with the aid of the January 2004 annual meeting minutes, Mr. Tucker testified that thirteen people were present, including three board members. He testified that there are ninety-three lots and ten percent of the lot owners were required for a quorum. Mr. Tucker conceded that if only thirteen people were present, and most of them were husband and wife, that would not constitute a quorum. [¶ 26] Pat Tozier, vice president of the Association at the time of the January 2004 meeting, testified that she was present at the meeting, there was a quorum, and the members voted to proceed with any legal action necessary to enforce the covenants. The Steigers did not challenge Ms. Tozier's testimony that a quorum was present. Bob Cook, the Association treasurer, testified that members sometimes carry proxies allowing them to cast votes at meetings for members who cannot attend. He testified that he was not present at the January 2004 meeting but had on other occasions carried proxies for three, sometimes four people. [¶ 27] From this evidence, we are not left with the definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a mistake in finding that legal action against the Steigers was duly authorized by the Association members. Three past or current board members testified that they believed a quorum was present, and the testimony of one of those witnesses went unchallenged. Although the Steigers were able to raise a doubt on cross-examination of Mr. Tucker about whether ten percent of the lot owners were present, we cannot say that doubt was sufficient to overcome the other testimony. In light of the other testimony and the fact that the district court had the opportunity to observe the witnesses and assess their credibility, we are not willing to conclude its finding was clearly erroneous. [¶ 28] The Steigers also contend the district court's finding that the Association did not abandon the covenants by failing to uniformly enforce them was clearly erroneous. The challenged finding appears in the judgment as follows: 5. The Court, based upon a personal visit to the development finds the assertion by the [Steigers] that the covenants as a whole or in pertinent part have been abandoned or ignored is not supported by the Court's observation of the tracts in the development. While there may be several tracts which do not comply with the covenants in some minor respects, the overwhelming majority of the tracts do comply with the covenants. The Court specifically finds, based upon its personal inspection of the tracts in the development that the violations are insubstantial and fail to support a finding that the usefulness of the covenants has been destroyed or that covenants have become valueless or onerous to property owners. The above cited covenants are reasonable and have not been abandoned or waived and remain entitled to enforcement to restrain violations or to recover damages or both. Based upon the testimony of Ross Tucker, the past and current president of the [Association], the Court accepts as accurate the [Association]'s assertion that it has in the past sought appropriate legal measures to enforce the covenants. For example, the [Association] has forced a homeowner to move a foundation and the [Association] has initiated legal action to collect unpaid or underpaid dues. The court accepts as accurate Mr. Tucker's testimony that there are no other mobile or modular homes in the subdivision which are non-compliant with the covenants. [3] Contrary to this finding, the Steigers assert that they provided evidence of numerous violations by other lot owners that the Association allowed to go uncorrected, thereby proving the covenants were abandoned. [¶ 29] A protective covenant is abandoned by failure to enforce it when it is violated, the violations are ignored or acquiesced to, and the violations are so great, or so fundamental or radical as to neutralize the benefits of the restriction to the point of defeating the purpose of the covenant. In other words, the violations must be so substantial as to support a finding that the usefulness of the covenant has been destroyed, or that the covenant has become valueless and onerous to the property owners. Hammons v. Table Mountain Ranches Owners Ass'n, Inc., 2003 WY 85, ¶ 14, 72 P.3d 1153, 1156 (Wyo. 2003), quoting Keller v. Branton, 667 P.2d 650, 654 (Wyo. 1983). The evidence presented in this case does not support the Steigers' contention that the other violations were so substantial that the Association effectively had abandoned the covenants. [¶ 30] Mr. Rudy testified that during his term as president of the Association, which included 2004, the members voted unanimously to enforce major violations of the covenants. One of those violations involved the Steigers' failure to place their mobile home on a permanent foundation. Mr. Rudy testified that safety was one of the reasons for the covenant requiring a permanent foundation because in one instance high winds blew over a trailer that was not on a permanent foundation. He also testified that the Association wanted permanent homes in the subdivision, not camping trailers and the like that could be moved in and out at any time. He testified that as president of the Association, he was charged with enforcing the covenants. He testified that while he did not nitpick about what he felt were minor violations he tried to address complaints about particular violations. He testified there were other violations and they were taken care of without having to take legal action. [¶ 31] Mr. Tucker testified that he has lived in Happy Valley since 1995 and has served on the board in one capacity or another since then. He testified that on one occasion he wrote a letter to a resident who built a $5,000 concrete foundation within sixty feet of the property line in violation of the covenants. In response to the letter, she rebuilt the foundation ten feet further away from the property line in compliance with the covenants. He also testified about writing letters to residents about junk piles and having the county notify them they would be charged if they failed to clean them up. He testified that requiring a permanent foundation on homes in Happy Valley enhances the property, protects plumbing and electrical systems and keeps homes from blowing apart in the wind and debris ending up on other people's property. Mr. Tucker also testified that at the January 2004 meeting the discussion was about wanting all residents to comply with the covenants. Ms. Tozier likewise testified that enforcement of the covenants was discussed at the January 2004 meeting, including taking legal action if necessary to do so. She testified that it was the Association president's job to enforce the covenants. She testified that one of the board's priorities was enforcing the covenants and maintaining the neighborhood. [¶ 32] In an effort to show that the Association abandoned the covenants, the Steigers cross-examined Mr. Rudy, Mr. Tucker and Ms. Tozier concerning instances in which the covenants allegedly were not enforced. In most cases, the witnesses either did not agree that there was a violation or testified that, after notification of the violation, the homeowner had or was attempting to bring the property into compliance. The fact that in some instances the witnesses conceded that a violation occurred and was not acted upon does not leave us with the definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a mistake in finding that the covenants were not abandoned. Given the entirety of the testimony, we do not conclude the district court's finding was clearly erroneous.