RLM Properties, Ltd. v. Roberts , 2014 Ohio 3510 ( 2014 )

[Cite as RLM Properties, Ltd. v. Roberts, 2014-Ohio-3510.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO
RLM PROPERTIES, LTD :
Plaintiff-Appellant : C.A. CASE NO. 2014 CA 8
v. : T.C. NO. 13CVG916
MARC ROBERTS : (Civil appeal from
Municipal Court)
Defendant-Appellee :
:
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OPINION
Rendered on the 15th day of August , 2014.
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DARRELL L. HECKMAN, Atty. Reg. No. 0002389, One Monument Square, Suite 200,
Urbana, Ohio 43078
Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellant
MARC ROBERTS, 501 Boyce Street, Urbana, Ohio 43078
Defendant-Appellee
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FROELICH, P.J.
{¶ 1} RLM Properties, Ltd. appeals from a judgment of the Champaign
County Municipal Court, which granted a default judgment in favor of RLM Properties and
against its former tenant, Marc Roberts, in the amount of $3,632.26 for unpaid rent, late fees,
property damage, and other expenses. RLM Properties claims that the trial court’s
calculation of damages is against the manifest weight of the evidence and that the trial court
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should have awarded it additional damages. For the following reasons, the trial court’s
judgment will be affirmed.
{¶ 2} On April 3, 2013, Roberts entered into a lease with RLM Properties to rent a
house located at 501 Boyce Street in Urbana for $695 per month. Although not pled in the
complaint, Roberts had previously rented from RLM Properties, and he allegedly had an
outstanding balance from the prior rental.
{¶ 3} On December 10, 2013, RLM Properties brought a forcible entry and
detainer action against Roberts, seeking restitution of the Boyce Street property and damages
for unpaid rent, late fees, and other expenses. Attached to the complaint was the April 2013
lease and a three-day notice dated November 11, 2013. Roberts did not respond to the
complaint. The trial court granted restitution of the property and ordered Roberts to move
out by 6:00 p.m. on January 10, 2014. The court scheduled a damages hearing for January
24, 2014. Roberts did not attend the damages hearing.
{¶ 4} According to Roberts’s lease, Roberts was obligated to pay a total of
$6,255 ($695 x 9 months) in rent between April 3, 2013 and December 2013. At the
damages hearing, RLM Properties submitted a Move-Out Report indicating that RLM
Properties prorated the amount that Roberts owed for January 2014, the month that he was
evicted. The prorated amount came to $291.46, for a total rent obligation of $6,546.46.
During this time period (April 2013-January 2014), Roberts paid a total of $2,410 for rent,
leaving an unpaid rent balance of $4,136.46.
{¶ 5} The Move-Out Report further showed that, when the lease started in April
2013, Roberts had an existing balance of $9,075 from a prior rental with RLM Properties.
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That rental apparently began in January 2011 and had a rate of $1,095 per month. On
January 9, 2014, RLM Properties applied a $1,095 security deposit to Roberts’s total balance
due.
{¶ 6} Roberts’s April 2013 lease provided that rent was due before the first of the
month. RLM Properties could charge a $50 late fee if rent was not received “following the
fifth day of each month” and an additional $50 late fee “after the 15th of the month.” In
addition, if rent had not been received by 9:00 a.m. on the sixth day of the month, a
three-day notice would be posted, for which a $10 fee would be charged. RLM Properties’
request for damages included $630 for fees during the April 2013 - January 2014 rental
period. The March 2013 balance forward also included amounts for late fees and three-day
notice fees.
{¶ 7} RLM Properties requested additional damages related to 501 Boyce Street,
as follows: (1) $262.59 for Roberts’s water bill, (2) $37.47 to replace three doors locks, and
(3) a total of $1,671 for cleaning and repairs to the home. RLM Properties provided a copy
of the water bill and a store receipt for the locks. The company also provided an invoice
from Brian S. Daniels for the cleaning and repairs.
{¶ 8} RLM Properties’ total requested damages equaled $15,689.78. It
summarized its request as $262.59 for the water bill, $37.47 for the locks, $1,671 for needed
repairs, $14,813.72 in unpaid rent and late fees, minus $1,095 for the security deposit. The
trial court informed RLM Properties at the damages hearing that its requested damages
exceeded the jurisdictional limit of the municipal court, which was $15,000. RLM
Properties indicated that it was asking the court to award $15,000.
[Cite as RLM Properties, Ltd. v. Roberts, 2014-Ohio-3510.]
{¶ 9} The same day as the hearing (January 24), the trial court issued a judgment
entry in favor of RLM Properties in the amount of $3,632.26, plus interest and court costs.
The court found that Roberts owed a total of $6,546.46 for rent, plus a $100 late fee, and
was entitled to a credit of $3,779.261 ($6,546.46 - $3,779.26 = $2,767.20 of unpaid rent).
The court also awarded a total of $765 for cleaning and repairs.
{¶ 10} On February 3, 2014, RLM Properties filed a “motion to correct error,”
asking the court to correct its judgment to reflect total damages of $15,000, the amount
sought at the hearing, plus interest and costs. The trial court denied the motion.
{¶ 11} RLM Properties appeals from the trial court’s judgment. Its sole
assignment of error states:
The decision of the trial court was against the manifest weight of the
evidence in that it awarded insufficient damages on uncontradicted
evidence in a default judgment context.
{¶ 12} RLM Properties asserts that the trial court’s judgment was against the
manifest weight of the evidence because it awarded only $2,767.20 for back rent (plus $100
in late fees), when RLM Properties had sought back rent in the amount of $13,627.26.
RLM Properties surmises that the trial court awarded back rent only for the period of time
covered by the April 2013 lease, and a review of the record supports that conclusion. RLM
Properties claims that the trial court should have awarded back rent and fees for Roberts’s
entire rental period, back to January 2011. RLM Properties further asserts that Roberts
admitted to the amount of damages by not responding to the complaint.
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Although the trial court did not itemize the credits, it appears that the court credited Roberts $2,410 for rent, the
security deposit of $1,095, and a payment of $274.20, which the Move-Out Report states was a water bill payment.
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{¶ 13} First, we agree with the trial court’s apparent conclusion to limit its award to
the April 2013 to January 2014 rental period. RLM Properties’ complaint alleged that it
owned the rental property located at 501 Boyce Street, that Roberts took possession of that
property under a lease dated April 3, 2013, and that he agreed to pay $695 per month, plus
late fees, if necessary, pursuant to that lease. RLM Properties sought restitution of that
property. Paragraph five of the complaint stated that Roberts was in default “for rent and
late fees” totaling $14,372.26, of which $13,627.26 was “on rental account through
November plus $695.00 for December rent and the first $50.00 late fee for December.”
RLM Properties indicated that a copy of Roberts’s account was attached as Exhibit B;
Exhibit B was the three-day notice to vacate, dated November 11, 2013. The notice
provided an account forward as of September 30, 2013 and the charges for October and
November of 2013. RLM Properties attached the April 3, 2013 lease as Exhibit A.
{¶ 14} Nothing in RLM Properties’ complaint (other than amount of damages
sought) suggested that RLM Properties was seeking damages based on Roberts’s breach of a
lease for a different property owned by RLM Properties. The complaint did not allege that
Roberts had leased a different property of RLM Properties and that he had defaulted on that
other lease. The prior lease was not attached to the complaint. See Civ.R. 10(D)(1)
(“When any claim or defense is founded on an account or other written instrument, a copy of
the account or written instrument must be attached to the pleading.”). And, the three-day
notice to vacate attached to the complaint itemized only two months of charges and
payments, both of which occurred during Roberts’s lease of 501 Boyce Street, and it was
posted at the Boyce Street address, the address listed for Roberts on the notice. The notice
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to vacate was insufficient to constitute a statement of account for Roberts’s rental of a
different property. In short, RLM Properties did not, in this action, allege a claim for breach
of contract based on the prior lease, and nothing in this Opinion precludes RLM Properties
from raising such a claim in a separate lawsuit.
{¶ 15} Second, we reject RLM Properties’ contention that the trial court was
required to award the amount of damages alleged in the complaint due to Roberts’s failure to
file an answer. Under Civ.R. 8(D), “[a]verments in a pleading to which a responsive
pleading is required, other than those as to the amount of damage, are admitted when not
denied in the responsive pleading.” (Emphasis added.) The trial court may enter a default
judgment without a hearing where the amount claimed is liquidated or can be calculated
from evidence contained in the record. See Columbus Mgmt. Co. v. Nichols, 10th Dist.
Franklin No. 92AP-191, 1992 WL 193694, *4 (Aug. 4, 1992). But once the trial court
determined that it would hold a hearing on damages, the court was entitled to consider all of
the evidence submitted by RLM Properties in determining the amount of damages to which
RLM Properties was entitled. See CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Kermeen, 2d Dist. Darke No. 2011
CA 2, 2012-Ohio-1655, ¶ 35.
{¶ 16} The trial court’s limitation of damages to only the period of April 2013
through January 2014, the period of time covered by the April 3, 2013 lease, was not against
the manifest weight of the evidence. We note that RLM Properties has not challenged the
trial court’s calculations of those damages, and we will not address that issue.
{¶ 17} RLM Properties’ assignment of error is overruled. The trial court’s
judgment will be affirmed.
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DONOVAN, J. and HALL, J., concur.
Copies mailed to:
Darrell L. Heckman
Marc Roberts
Hon. Gil S. Weithman