Dispositions Other Than By Published Opinion | May 28, 2025
Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals
Division I
121,949 – Sandia Resolution Company, LLC., Plaintiff/Appellee v. Megan W. Leis Defendant/Appellant. Appeal from the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma Honorable William D. Lafortune, Trial Judge. Appellee was correctly awarded judgment on indebtedness for Appellant’s defaulted student loan agreement. AFFIRMED. Opinion by GOREE, P.J.; SWINTON, J., and PRINCE, J., concur. May 22, 2025
122,039 – In Re the Marriage of: Patricia D. Weilert, Petitioner/Appellee, v. Robert M. Weilert, Respondent/Appellant, Appeal from the District Court of Rogers County, Oklahoma. Honorable Tamera Childers, Trial Judge. Respondent/Appellant Robert M. Weilert (Husband) appeals from the trial court’s order denying his motion for partial release and satisfaction of judgment. Husband and Petitioner/Appellee Patricia D. Weilert (Wife) were divorced by a consent decree. When Husband paid a portion of the property division award to Wife, he deducted payments he had made under the temporary order between the dates of the mediation agreement and filing of the decree. Wife rejected the reduced payment, and Husband sought an order compelling Wife to accept the reduced payment as satisfaction of the property division award. We affirm the denial of Husband’s motion. Opinion by SWINTON, J.; GOREE, P.J., and PRINCE, J., concur. May 22, 2025
Division II
121,015 – Insurance Adjusters Group, LLC, Plaintiff/Appellee, and OKC Joseph Investments, LLC, Defendant/Appellant. Appeal from the District Court of Oklahoma County, Hon. Richard Ogden, Trial Judge. OKC Joseph Investments, LLC appeals the district court’s denial of its request to vacate, amend, or reconsider a discovery order which deemed requests for admissions as admitted and prohibited OKC Joseph from introducing any fact in opposition to the admissions. OKC Joseph also appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Insurance Adjusters Group, LLC based upon the admittedly established material facts. Finding no error in the district court’s rulings or judgment, we affirm. AFFIRMED. Opinion from Court of Civil Appeals, Division II, by FISCHER, J.; WISEMAN, P.J., and BLACKWELL, J., concur. May 23, 2025
Division III
122,577 – The Estate of Lee Edward Curls, a/k/a Edward Curls, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. Hubert Copeland Family Irrevocable Trust Dated April 27, 2012; Gene Copeland and Leona Marcina Copeland Revocable Living Trust Dated September 6, 2006; Jake Bates; Holly Jo Bates; The Unknown Heirs, Successors, and Assigns of W.E. Ross, a Deceased Individual; The Unknown Heirs, Successors, and Assigns of H.J. Schroers, A Deceased Individual, Defendants/Appellees. Appeal from the District Court of Rogers County, Oklahoma. Honorable Sue Nigh, Trial Judge. Over one-hundred years after a decedent conveyed his interest in a ten-acre tract of land, the decedent’s estate brought an action for the recovery of the property against six defendants who presently have, or at one point allegedly had, ownership interests in the land. The estate contends the decedent retained ownership of the land because the act of Congress that allowed the decedent to transfer the land was unconstitutional in that it violated the decedent’s rights to equal protection under the law on the sole basis of race. The trial court dismissed the petition for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under 12 O.S. 2021 §2012(B)(6), and the estate appealed. We reverse because at the dismissal stage, the defendants have not met their burden of demonstrating the estate can prove no set of facts in support of the petition. Opinion by MITCHELL, J.; BELL, C.J., concurs and DOWNING, P.J., dissents. May 23, 2025
122,759 – Jerry Swift, Special Administrator for the Estate of Vickie Willbourn, Deceased, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. Brian Parks and Sally Hulse, Osage County Treasurer, Defendants/Appellees, and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc., Plaintiff, and Treasurer of Osage County, State of Oklahoma, The Unknown Heirs, Devisees, Legatees, Successors and Assigns of Vickie L. Willbourn, and Jerry Swift, Defendants. Appeal from the District Court of Osage County, Oklahoma. Honorable Stuart L. Tate, Trial Judge. Plaintiff/Appellant, Jerry Swift, as special administrator for the estate of his deceased mother, Vickie Willbourn, appeals from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor Appellees, Brian and Carol Parks, in (1) Swift’s action seeking to cancel a tax resale deed issued by the Osage County Treasurer and (2) Appellees’ counterclaim to quiet title to the subject property. Vickie Willbourn died intestate on August 25, 2020, and Swift was appointed as special administrator of her estate. At the time of her death, Willbourn owned the subject real property in Osage County and a manufactured home located on it. The manufactured home was subject to a lien held by Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. During the pendency of the probate proceedings – which were still ongoing as of summary judgment below – Swift failed to pay ad valorem taxes on the subject property for three (3) consecutive years. As a result, the Osage County Treasurer initiated a tax resale of the property. Brian Parks purchased the property at the resale on June 13, 2022, and a deed was issued. Swift then filed the instant action seeking to invalidate the Treasurer’s tax resale deed. Vanderbilt filed a separate petition for indebtedness and for interpleader. After the two actions were consolidated, Brian and Carol Parks joined the suit as third-party plaintiffs. Vanderbilt would eventually dismiss all of its claims in the proceedings. On Appellees’ motion, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Appellees as to the real property only. We hold, under the totality of the circumstances of this case, Swift received adequate due process notice prior to the tax resale. The Osage County Treasurer fully complied with 68 O.S. 2021 §3127 – as well as posted notice of the impending sale on the subject property where Swift was living and receiving mail – prior to selling the property at the tax resale. Assuming Swift did not receive the certified letter mandated by §3127, we hold the Treasurer’s posting of notice on Swift’s door was a constitutionally sufficient “additional reasonable step” sanctioned by Crownover v. Keel, 2015 OK 35, 357 P.3d 470. In so ruling, we specifically reject Swift’s assertion that the treasurer was required to post notice of the sale on his door no less than thirty (30) days prior to the tax sale. It is presupposed that an additional step such as posting notice on the affected property will occur within the statutory thirty (30) day time period set forth in §3127. We also reject Swift’s argument that the trial court erred in not cancelling the resale deeds due to the omission in the Treasurer’s notices of the statutorily required language regarding mobile homes found in 68 O.S. 2021 §3106. The trial court’s judgment specifically excluded the manufactured home located on the subject property and Swift has cited no authority suggesting the absence of the §3106 language in a resale notice under facts similar to this case warrants cancellation of the resale tax deed underlying the trial court’s order. We further hold Swift was not improperly denied his right to redeem the subject property because he did not tender any payment to the Treasurer until after the sale was completed. See 68 O.S. 2021 §3113 (full payment required prior to sale). Lastly, we reject Swift’s claim that the subject property should have been exempted from the tax sale because he is totally disabled. Under 68 O.S. 2021 §3105, a totally disabled person may claim an exemption from the sale of property for delinquent taxes, but it is the owner’s duty to make such an application prior to the property being sold. We note that Swift, as the special administrator of his mother’s estate, is not the owner of the subject property, and neither Swift nor his mother ever applied for an exemption. AFFIRMED. Opinion by BELL, C.J.; DOWNING, P.J., and MITCHELL, J., concur. May 23, 2025
122,779 – In the Matter of C.S., alleged deprived child, Bobbi Sue Lacy, Appellant, v. The State of Oklahoma, Appellee. Appeal from the District Court of Delaware County, Oklahoma. Honorable Nicholas Lelecas, Trial Judge. Bobbi Sue Lacy (Mother) appeals the order terminating her parental rights from her minor child, C.S. We have reviewed the record and are not persuaded by Mother’s arguments. Clear and convincing evidence supports termination. We AFFIRM. Opinion by DOWNING, P.J.; BELL, C.J., and MITCHELL, J., concur. May 23, 2025
122,908 – Geron R. Taylor, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. The City of Bixby, Oklahoma, Defendant/Appellee. Appeal from the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma. Honorable Douglas E. Drummond, Trial Judge. Appellant, Geron R. Taylor (Taylor), appeals the trial court’s order granting the City of Bixby’s (Bixby) motion for summary judgment. This case concerns a misdemeanor conviction for driving without a license in 2011. Taylor initially pled guilty in 2011 and was fined and sentenced to ten days in jail. Taylor filed suit in Tulsa County and after a lengthy procedural history in both federal and state court, the state district court granted summary judgment in favor of Bixby. Taylor appealed and Division II of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals (COCA II) affirmed all issues except for one. COCA II remanded Taylor’s case to determine if Taylor had a Sixth Amendment claim based on his ten-day incarceration. On remand and after another federal decision denying that same claim, the trial court found no genuine issue of material fact remained and granted Bixby’s motion for summary judgment. After a thorough review of the record on appeal, we AFFIRM. Opinion by DOWNING, P.J.; BELL, C.J., and MITCHELL, J., concur. May 23, 2025
Division IV
122,810 – Charley Macy and Charley’s Trucking, LLC, Plaintiffs/Appellants, vs. Nicholas Martinez Lopez, Defendant/Appellee. Appeal from the District Court of Oklahoma County, Honorable Anthony Bonner, Trial Judge. Charley Macy and Charley’s Trucking, LLC (Plaintiffs) appeals the trial court’s order granting Nicolas Martinez Lopez’s (Defendant) motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs’ petition asserted multiple causes of action. Defendant also filed a counterclaim. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment only requested judgment as a matter of law on Plaintiffs’ rescission claim. The appellate record shows no disposition as to the parties’ remaining claims. Accordingly, the order granting Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is not a final appealable order. The appeal is therefore dismissed as premature. DISMISSED. Opinion from Court of Civil Appeals, Division IV, by HIXON, V.C.J.; BARNES, P.J., and HUBER, J., concur. May 22, 2025
122,910 – Holly Oliver and Alec Oliver, Plaintiffs/Appellants, vs. Tennyson Manor Apartments, LP, and Asset Living, LLC, Defendants/Appellees. Appeal from the District Court of Garfield County, Honorable Tom Newby, Trial Judge. Plaintiffs Holly and Alec Oliver appeal an order of the trial court dismissing Plaintiffs’ Petition against Tennyson Manor Apartment LP and Asset Living, LLC (Defendants), asserting claims for various violations of federal and state law and breach of contract, following resolution of a separate forcible entry and detainer (FED) action. Defendants moved to dismiss, asserting service was untimely and that Plaintiffs’ claims were or should have been raised in a previous forcible entry and detainer action (FED), and were barred by the doctrine of issue preclusion or res judicata. The Court finds Defendants waived their defense of insufficiency of process and failure to state a claim and failed to establish they were entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ claims in their entirety based on issue preclusion. We reverse and remand for further proceedings. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS. Opinion from Court of Civil Appeals, Division IV, by HIXON, V.C.J.; BARNES, P.J., and HUBER, J., concur. May 23, 2025