Opinion ID: 2176746
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Heading: Costs Incurred Before Offer Filed.

Text: The total of $997.07 in court costs was taxed against the parties. The court determined that section 677.10 required plaintiff to pay only the costs incurred after the offer to confess judgment was made $827.47. The costs incurred prior to that time$169.60were taxed to defendant. Defendant contends that the court should instead have charged plaintiff with all of the taxable costs of the action, arguing that section 677.10 specifically provides in part that when a plaintiff's recovery does not exceed the offer, he cannot recover costs. We agree with the trial court's interpretation of section 677.10 and not with defendant's interpretation. Defendant's reading of the section would give effect only to the four words it singles out. We believe a more sensible reading, which gives effect to all words and phrases in the section, is that the plaintiff who recovers less than defendant's offer cannot recover all costs ordinarily recoverable by a prevailing party, but must pay those costs that are incurred after the time of the offer. This reading is also consistent with this court's interpretation of the same statutory language in Keeney v. Iowa Power & Light Co.: [T]he rule seems to be that even though a plaintiff fails to recover more than the amount of a defendant's offer to confess he is entitled to costs up to the time of the offer, but must pay defendant's costs thereafter accruing. 20 C.J.S. Costs § 82b, p. 339; Manning v. Irish, 47 Iowa 650, 652; DeLong v. Wilson, 80 Iowa 216, 45 N.W.2d 764. 250 Iowa 887, 891, 96 N.W.2d 918, 921 (1959) (dictum). The trial court properly allowed plaintiff to recover the costs incurred before defendant made its offer to confess.