Court Opinion

ID: 9734864
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:48:34.572528+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:51.785235
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion
White, J.
In holding that the judgment for the plaintiffs-landlords should not be reversed even though they had no immediate right to possession at the time they commenced their ejectment action, we reach a result which is not only *414fair in this particular instance, but a result which finds rational support in both the modern and the historic philosophy of pleading and practice.
Notwithstanding the many Indiana cases which either expressly state, or clearly imply, that to make a prima facie case a plaintiff in the trial of an ejectment action (in which no affirmative answer or plea in abatement has been filed) must prove that he was entitled to possession at the time he commenced his action,1 there are, nevertheless, many Indiana cases which hold that “[t]he premature bringing of an action is proper ground for abatement, and if not so pleaded it must be deemed waived.”2 This appears also to be the modern view in most, if not all, American jurisdictions.
“As a rule, an action cannot be maintained if it is commenced before the accrual of the cause of action which is sought to be enforced, and such premature commencement is a ground for the abatement of the action, even though the cause of action accrues before the trial. However, it has been held that where no plea in abatement or other pleading is filed, and the plaintiff files a supplemental pleading after the cause of action matures, the right to abatement of the action is lost and it may proceed as though it were timely commenced.” (My emphasis.) 1 Am. Jur. 2d, Abatement, Survival and Revival, § 4, p. 44. (Footnotes omitted.)
“. . . an action cannot be maintained if it is commenced before the accrual of the cause of action which is sought to be enforced. Such an action should be dismissed without *415prejudice to the plaintiff’s right to begin a new action on the accrual of the cause of action, upon proper and timely objection being made. The defense of prematureness has been held to be waived when no timely objection was made. It has been held that where the cause of action has matured before the objection is made that the action was prematurely brought, the plaintiff may, upon payment of costs, proceed with the action by amendment, or, in the discretion of the court, file a supplemental petition.” (My emphasis.) 1 Am. Jur. 2d, Actions, § 90, p. 619. (Footnotes omitted.)
Pleas in abatement and demurrers3 have been abolished by Trial Rule 7(C), Indiana Rules of Procedure, but abatement and waiver have not. Trial Rule 8(C) requires all affirmative defenses to be specially pleaded and puts the burden of proving them on the party pleading them. It specifically categorizes “matter of abatement” as an affirmative defense. The clear implication of TR. 8(C)’s requirement is that a defendant waives the right to have the action abated, or dismissed without prejudice, if he fails to plead the reason for its abatement.4
*416In this case there was no pre-trial conference and no pretrial order defining the issues for trial. The defendant’s only response to the complaint is an answer which purports to assert two defenses. This first defense states merely: “The Complaint fails to state a claim against Defendant on which relief can be granted.” The second defense is an admission of specified parts and of specified allegations of the complaint and a denial of “the remaining allegations of rhetorical paragraph 2, . . . paragraph 3 . . . [and] paragraph 5.” His motion for new trial characterizes his answer as denying, among other things, “[t]hat the plaintiffs are entitled to the possession of the real estate.” Whatever the court, the plaintiffs, and the defendant may have understood the import of either of his defenses to be, neither of them was an affirmative averment of facts leading to the conclusion (or an averment of the conclusion) that plaintiffs should not be permitted to maintain this action (i.e., that it should be abated or dismissed without prejudice) because they commenced it before it accrued (i.e., before they became entitled to possession).
Having waived his defense in abatement by his failure to plead it as required by Trial Rule 8(C), defendant cannot now be heard to complaint that plaintiffs were granted the relief to which the evidence most favorable to them showed them to be entitled at the time of the trial.
Note. — Reported at 332 N.E.2d 834.

. McClellan v. Beatty (1944), 115 Ind. App. 173, 53 N.E.2d 1013; Swaynie v. Vess (1883), 91 Ind. 584; Wilson v. Jinks (1917), 63 Ind. App. 615, 115 N.E. 67; Welborn v. Kimmerling (1909), 46 Ind. App. 98, 89 N.E. 517; Jackson ex dem. Bartholomew v. Hughes (1826), 1 Blackford 421; Smeekens v. Bertrand (1969), 144 Ind. App. 656, 248 N.E.2d 48, 51; Reed v. Ward (1875), 51 Ind. 215; Bryant v. Barger (1939), 106 Ind. App. 245, 18 N.E.2d 965; Taylor v. Phelan (1946), 117 Ind. App. 40, 69 N.E.2d 145; Craig v. Bennett (1897), 146 Ind. 574, 45 N.E. 792.

. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Co. v. Schmuck (1913), 181 Ind. 323, 329, 103 N.E. 325; Gradeless v. Gradeless (1943), 114 Ind. App. 10, 17, 49 N.E.2d 398, 400; Moore v. Sargent (1887), 112 Ind. 484, 487, 14 N.E. 466; Scott v. Norris (1892), 6 Ind. App. 102, 105, 32 N.E. 332; Norris v. Scott (1892), 6 Ind. App. 18, 20, 22, 32 N.E. 103, 865; Glidden v. Henry (1885), 104 Ind. 278, 282, 1 N.E. 369; 1 Gavit, IND., PL. & PRACT. 655, §140. None of these eases is an ejectment or landlord versus tenant possession action.

. It was held in Indiana that a complaint was demurrable for want of facts if the premature commencement of the action was apparent on its face. The Walter A. Wood Mowing, etc. Co. v. Caldwell (1876), 54 Ind. 270, 281, 23 Am. Rep. 641; Norris v. Scott (1892), 6 Ind. App. 18, 32 N.E. 103, 104; Middaugh v. Wilson (1902), 30 Ind. App. 112, 65 N.E. 555.

. “As a result of the 1966 amendment of [Federal] Rule 12(h), the waiver provision no longer specifically applies to ‘all defenses and objections.’ However, this does not mean that the waiver philosophy of subdivision (h) is applicable only to the defenses and objections expressly described therein. It is evident from a reading of the text of Rule 8(c), Rule 8(d), and Rule 12(b) that all aifirmative defenses and denials must be pleaded or, when appropriate, raised by motion under Rule 12(b), or they will be waived. For example, courts have held that the aifirmative defenses of res judicata and statute of limitations have been waived by a failure to include them in the responsive pleading. Moreover, certain defenses or objections may be waived if they are not pleaded in the manner prescribed by a particular rule, for example, Rule 9. The Advisory Committee probably felt that an express statement covering these points in Rule 12(h) would be superfluous.” (Footnotes omitted.) 5 Wright & Miller, FED. PRAC. AND PROC. 868, § 1394.
The possibility exists that prematurity appearing on the face of the complaint could be ground for dismissal on motion pursuant to TR. 12(B)(6). See the demurrer for want of facts cases cited in note 3. Since no motion to dismiss was filed there is no reason to express an opinion on that question, nor on the question of whether, after an answer of denial or admission and denial and prior to trial, a motion for summary judgment based on undisputed facts de hors the record showing prematurity will lie.