Court Opinion

ID: 9794906
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:13:53.456105+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:22:16.059450
License: Public Domain

DENECKE, J.,
dissenting.
The statute provides that the landowner is entitled to an attorney’s fee unless the amount tendered to the landowner for the property, before the commencement of the action, is equal to or greater than the amount assessed by the jury for the same property.
In this proceeding the Commission never made a tender for the same parcel of property that was valued in the jury’s verdict. Or, conversely, the jury never valued the same parcel of property for which the Commission made a tender. Therefore, an attorney’s fee was correctly awarded the landowner.
The Commission tendered to all persons having an interest in the 2.11 acres to be taken, the sum of $2,600; the Smiths were included in this tender. Prior to trial the Commission settled with all the defendants except the Smiths for the sum of $1,250. Pursuant to the settlement the property in which the Smiths had no interest, .77 acre, was withdrawn from the proceeding. A trial was held to determine the value of the remaining 1.34 acres which the Smiths exclusively owned. No tender had been made, at any time, for this parcel. The Commission alleged in its supplemental reply that its true value was not in excess of $67. The jury verdict was $1,340.
In State Highway Com. v. Lytle, 234 Or 188, 380 P2d 811 (1963), the Commission made a tender for a parcel of land. The tender was refused and the Commission filed a complaint to condemn the same parcel of property. Subsequently, the Commission amended *512its complaint and reduced the amount of property to be condemned. The landowner thereafter attempted to accept the original tender but the Commission refused such acceptance. The jury awarded an amount less than the original tender. We affirmed an award of attorney’s fee and stated, “If there has been a material reduction in the amount of property involved in the taking between the event of the tender and the event of the jury’s evaluation, there is no basis of comparison of the two values specified by the statute.” (234 Or at 190)
It appears to me that this is exactly the situation in this case. There was a material reduction in the amount of the property involved in the taking between the tender and the jury’s evaluation. This occurred because of the settlement with the other landowners. There is no basis of comparison between the amount tendered and the jury verdict.