Latest 4 Cases This Week: Rent-A-Center East, Inc. v. Walther (Ark.), Wyatt v. City of Sacramento (Cal. Ct. App.), Indiana Land Trust Co. v. XL ...

No Good Men?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell law professor Sherry F. Colb comments on a film called “Promising Young Women,” which purports to be a feminist movie about date rape. While Professor Colb describes the movie as interesting, thought-provoking, and “definitely” worth seeing, she argues that it suggests a view of men and sexual assault that is erroneous and potentially even anti-feminist.

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Last Call at the Bar: Grading the Briefs in Trump Impeachment 2.0

DEAN FALVY

Dean Falvy, a lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, offers thoughts on the legal tactics and briefs filed by each side in former President Trump’s second impeachment trial. Mr. Falvy argues that if Trump can survive a second impeachment vote, it will show that he is still operating where he has always believed himself to be: well beyond the reach of the law.

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Rent-A-Center East, Inc. v. Walther

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Citation: 2021 Ark. 10

Opinion Date: January 28, 2021

Judge: Wynne

Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court finding that certain rent-to-own leases were subject to the special excise tax on short-term rentals of tangible personal property levied by Ark. Code Ann. 26-63-301(b), holding that the circuit court did not err. At issue was the assessment of short-term rental tax on transactions between Appellant, Rent-A-Center East, Inc., and its customers. The Arkansas Department of Finance (DFA) and Administration issued a notice of proposed assessment to Appellant for short-term rental tax, compensating-use tax, and interest. The proposed assessment was upheld. Appellant then filed a complaint seeking judicial relief from the tax assessment, alleging that DFA wrongly classified the rental-purchase-agreement transactions as "leases" or "rentals." The circuit court granted summary judgment for DFA. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the transactions at issue were taxable short-term leases and not nontaxable long-term leases.

Wyatt v. City of Sacramento

Court: California Courts of Appeal

Docket: C089702(Third Appellate District)

Opinion Date: January 29, 2021

Judge: Renner

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law, Utilities Law

After the passage of Proposition 218, Sacramento voters approved a requirement that city enterprises providing water, sewer, storm drainage, and solid waste services pay a total tax of 11% of their gross revenues from user fees and charges. Nineteen years later, plaintiff-respondent Russell Wyatt brought a petition for writ of mandate and complaint for declaratory relief against the City challenging its fees and charges for utility services under article XIII D, section 6, subdivision (b) of the California Constitution (added by Prop. 218, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 5, 1996)). It was undisputed that the City set these fees and charges at rates sufficient to fund the payment of the tax to its general fund. The trial court issued a writ of mandate and judgment in Wyatt’s favor. The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment and directed the trial court to vacate its writ of mandate. By approving the tax in 1998, Sacramento voters increased the cost of providing utility services, rendering those costs recoverable as part of their utility rates and the subsequent transfer of funds permissible under article XIII D.

Indiana Land Trust Co. v. XL Investment Properties, LLC

Court: Supreme Court of Indiana

Docket: 20S-MI-00062

Opinion Date: October 27, 2020

Judge: Steven H. David

Areas of Law: Real Estate & Property Law, Tax Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Indiana Land Trust's motion to set aside a tax deed, holding that the LaPorte County Auditor gave adequate notice reasonably calculated to inform Indiana Land Trust Company of the impeding tax sale of the property. Taxes went unpaid on a vacant property from 2009 to 2015. The county auditor sent notice of an impending tax sale via certified letter and first-class mail to the notice listed on the deed for the property. The certified letter came back as undeliverable, and the first-class mail was not returned. Notice was eventually published in the local newspaper. The property sold, and a tax deed was issued to the purchaser. When the original owner learned of the sale it moved to set aside the tax deed due to insufficient notice. The trial court denied the motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the county auditor provided adequate notice and was not required to search its own internal records for a better tax sale notice address; and (2) the trial court properly denied Indiana Land Trust's motion to set aside the tax deed.

Warehouse Market v. Oklahoma ex rel. Ok. Tax Comm.

Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Citation: 2021 OK 6

Opinion Date: February 2, 2021

Judge: Yvonne Kauger

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Government & Administrative Law, Native American Law, Tax Law

Plaintiff-appellee Warehouse Market subleased a commercial building from defendant Pinnacle Management, Inc. The building was on federally restricted Indian land. Subsequently, defendant-appellant, Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Office of Tax Commission (Tribe) both sought to collect sales tax from Warehouse Market. Warehouse Market filed an interpleader action in an attempt to have the court determine which entity to pay. However, the trial court dismissed the Tribe because it had no jurisdiction over it because of the Tribe's sovereign immunity. The trial court then determined that the OTC could not be entitled to the sales tax unless and until the dispute between the OTC and the Tribe was resolved in another forum or tribunal. The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that because the substance of Warehouse Market's action/request for relief was a tax protest, exhaustion of administrative remedies was a jurisdictional prerequisite to seeking relief in the trial court.