Section 1639

Citation: Section 1639
Parent Document: Tippett v. Daly, 10 A.3d 1123 (2010)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 2010-12-30
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2551230/tippett-v-daly/ ↗

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In addition to my disagreement with the court's interpretation of the statute against the interest of tenants, I take issue with the court's conclusion that the case should be remanded for entry of an order dismissing the tenant's complaint. See ante at 1134. That resolution is premature as there remains a disputed issue of fact that is material under the court's interpretation: when did the owner receive the tenant's notice expressing an intent to purchase the property? The tenant testified that he received the owner's offer of sale on April 30, 2001, and TOPA clearly says that is when the thirty-day period began. D.C.Code § 42-3404.09(1). That date is not disputed. As the court notes, at trial the parties stipulated that although the date that the tenant mailed the notice of intent to purchase (May 18, 2001) is agreed, the date on which the owner received the tenant's notice is disputed. See ante at 1137 n. 3. The owner's receipt, pursuant to the court's interpretation, must have occurred within the thirty-day period, or by May 30, 2001. However, there has been no fact-finding on the disputed date of the owner's receipt of the tenant's expression of intent to purchase. That is because it was irrelevant to the manner in which the trial judge (incorrectly) interpreted the statute; as the trial judge said, the owner's testimony "that he received the [tenant's] statement on June 2, 2001 has no bearing [on the tenant's] manifestation of acceptance" (emphasis added). Yet, under the court's interpretation, this date is critical to whether the tenant provided timely notice under TOPA. In a similar case where the trial judge misinterpreted a statutory time period and did not make fact-findings required by a correct interpretation, we have said that the case should be remanded to the trial court "with instructions for such further proceedings and factual development as might be appropriate to permit the court to apply the correct interpretation" of the statute. See Barnhardt v. District of Columbia, 8 A.3d 1206 (D.C.2010).

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