Section 45-1561

Citation: Section 45-1561
Parent Document: Habib v. Thurston, 517 A.2d 1 (1986)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1986-10-30
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1995493/habib-v-thurston/ ↗

Full Text

1,782 chars

The tenant has paid the money into the registry, while retaining a claim to all or part of it based on Javins. We find no legitimate basis for saying a judge, after final adjudication of the possessory action, can issue an "interim" order that all or part of this money shall be paid to the landlord, as whole or partial payment of back rent or damages, simply because either party can bring a second, wholly separate jury proceeding to undo this temporary disposition. Compare McNeal, 346 A.2d at 515 n. 15, with Management Partnership, Inc., 109 Daily Wash.L.Rptr. at 794. Indeed, the entry of an "interim" order for the payment of money to a landlord, requiring an altogether separate lawsuit to make it "final," is an anomalous concept in the context of a supposedly final disposition of the escrowed funds. See Dameron, 431 A.2d at 584. If such an order were to be justified on the ground it was not an "adjudication," that order might deprive the tenant of due process of law, for despite an evidentiary hearing manifestly intended to resolve the matter finally, see McNeal, 346 A.2d at 515 n. 15, the tenant would be forced to yield money to the landlordregardless or the tenant's own claim to it without a final court order establishing the parties' respective rights. On the other hand, if the disbursement order were properly characterized as an adjudication, it would have preclusive effect on both parties in a second proceeding, despite the right to a jury, RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF JUDGMENTS § 27 comment d, unless that later proceeding were a guaranteed appeal de novo to a jury on the back rent/damages issue. Capital Traction Co. v. Hof, 174 U.S. 1, 45, 19 S.Ct. 580, 597, 43 L.Ed. 873 (1899); Windholz v. Willis, 1 Kan.App.2d 683, 685, 573 P.2d 1100, 1102 (1977).

Other Sections in This Document (332)

Full Text