AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• A foreclosure sale resulted in Alpha Beta Properties, LLC purchasing a property and contracting San Angelo Property Services for improvements. Before the improvements were completed, TAL Realty, Inc. was assigned the right of redemption and subsequently redeemed the property. San Angelo filed a materialmen’s lien for unpaid work, which TAL Realty petitioned to cancel. The district court granted TAL Realty’s motion, canceling the lien and ordering the return of TAL Realty’s substitute cash collateral (paras 2-3).

Procedural History

• District Court of San Juan County, January 27, 2012: Judgment and decree of foreclosure against Richard McDaniel in favor of CitiMortgage, Inc., retaining McDaniel's right to redeem the property (para 2).
• District Court of San Juan County, May 24, 2012: Stipulated order granting TAL Realty’s petition for redemption approved (para 3).

Parties' Submissions

• San Angelo Property Services: Argued that its materialmen’s lien, based on property improvements, should not be subordinate to TAL Realty’s right to redeem the property. Also claimed entitlement to judgment based on unjust enrichment against TAL Realty (para 1).
• TAL Realty, Inc.: Contended that its right of redemption was superior to San Angelo’s claim of lien. Argued that San Angelo was aware the property was subject to redemption at the time of improvements and that allowing San Angelo to recover would contravene New Mexico’s Redemption Statute policy (para 4).

Legal Issues

• Whether San Angelo Property Services is entitled to reimbursement for improvements made to the property prior to the expiration of the redemption period.
• Whether San Angelo is entitled to reimbursement under the theory of unjust enrichment (paras 4-10).

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of TAL Realty, Inc., thereby canceling San Angelo’s claim of lien and ordering the return of TAL Realty’s substitute cash collateral (para 13).

Reasons

• Per M. Monica Zamora, with concurrence from Roderick T. Kennedy and J. Miles Hanisee, the court held that San Angelo was not entitled to reimbursement for improvements made prior to the expiration of the redemption period. The court reasoned that under NMSA 1978, § 48-2-5(A), materialmen’s liens are preferred over subsequent encumbrances only if the lienholder had no notice and the encumbrance was unrecorded at the time the improvement commenced. Since the right of redemption was assigned to TAL Realty before San Angelo filed its lien, and because the purchaser at a foreclosure sale does not obtain a fee simple estate until after the redemption period expires, San Angelo’s lien only attached to the interest that Alpha Beta had, which was extinguished upon redemption by TAL Realty. The court also rejected San Angelo’s unjust enrichment claim, stating that equitable relief cannot contravene statutory provisions. The court further noted that requiring TAL Realty to pay for improvements would contravene the policy underlying the redemption statute (paras 5-12).