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S-D Rira, Inc.v.The Outback Property Owners' Association, Inc.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A14A1307
DecidedNovember 21, 2014
Reporter330 Ga. App. 442; 765 S.E.2d 498; 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 846
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia, sitting as the whole court; Judge Branch authored the majority opinion; Presiding Judge Barnes filed a special concurrence
Tags
CivilProperty LawEasementCivil ProcedurePermanent InjunctionSpecial ConcurrenceReversalVacaturRemand
Case Summary

S-D RIRA, LLC sought access to its landlocked Pickens County property through roads in The Outback subdivision and a road across Lot 10. It asserted statutory-easement, contractual, and declaratory-relief claims; the Association counterclaimed for an injunction against RIRA and the Lot 10 owner, who was not a party. The Court of Appeals reversed dismissal of the statutory easement claim, holding that the complaint gave fair notice under Georgia’s pleading rules, and affirmed judgment for the Association on RIRA’s contractual and declaratory claims. It vacated both permanent injunctions: the order could not bind the nonparty Lot 10 owner, and unresolved questions remained about the Association’s limitations defense and entitlement to injunctive relief against RIRA. The court remanded for proceedings on the easement claim and for determinations concerning accrual of the Association’s claim against the Lot 10 owner and whether RIRA could invoke the limitations period; on reconsideration, it clarified that tolling need not be considered on remand. The majority’s proposal to overrule precedent on continuing covenant violations lacked the votes required to do so, leaving that precedent in place; Presiding Judge Barnes specially concurred, and the motion for reconsideration was denied.

Opinion

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