{
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  "name": "NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION v. STAGECOACH VILLAGE, a North Carolina Non-Profit Corporation",
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    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION v. STAGECOACH VILLAGE, a North Carolina Non-Profit Corporation"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "BRADY, Justice.\nThe issue in this case is whether an interlocutory order joining 106 alleged interest holders as necessary parties to a condemnation action is immediately appealable. We hold it is and therefore vacate and remand to the Court of Appeals.\nDefendant, a North Carolina non-profit corporation, is the homeowners\u2019 association for a townhouse development in Guilford County. On 15 January 2002, plaintiff initiated condemnation proceedings for 41,849 square feet (less than one acre) of the 20 acres of common area owned by defendant. In its answer, defendant asserted the development\u2019s 106 individual lot owners were necessary parties to the proceedings inasmuch as each of them owned an easement in the common area. Defendant subsequently filed a motion under N.C.G.S. \u00a7 136-108 for a judicial determination of this issue. The trial court granted defendant\u2019s motion and entered an order joining as necessary parties to the condemnation action every individual record owner in the development. The order also concluded each owner held an easement in the entire common area and each owner\u2019s alleged compensable interest belonged to the lot owner, not the association. Plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeals.\nThe Court of Appeals unanimously dismissed the appeal as interlocutory and not affecting a substantial right of the parties. See N.C. Dep\u2019t of Transp. v. Stagecoach Vill., 166 N.C. App. 272, 601 S.E.2d 279 (2004). We allowed plaintiff\u2019s petition for discretionary review on 3 March 2005.\nInterlocutory orders may be appealed immediately under two circumstances. The first is when the trial court certifies no just reason exists to delay the appeal after a final judgment as to fewer than all the claims or parties in the action. See N.C.G.S. \u00a7 1A-1, Rule 54(b) (2003). The second is when the appeal involves a substantial right of the appellant and the appellant will be injured if the error is not corrected before final judgment. See id. \u00a7 1-277 (2003); Dep\u2019t of Transp. v. Rowe, 351 N.C. 172, 174-75, 521 S.E.2d 707, 709 (1999).\nThe Court of Appeals correctly read our decisions in N.C. State Highway Comm\u2019n v. Nuckles and Rowe as holding interlocutory orders concerning title or area taken must be immediately appealed as \u201cvital preliminary issues\u201d involving substantial rights adversely affected. Rowe, 351 N.C. at 176, 521 S.E.2d at 710; N.C. State Highway Comm\u2019n v. Nuckles, 271 N.C. 1, 14, 155 S.E.2d 772, 784 (1967), modified by Rowe, 351 N.C. at 176-77, 521 S.E.2d at 710. However, the court erroneously determined the order at issue does not concern title to the property condemned.\n\u201cA title is not a piece of paper. It is an abstract concept which represents the legal system\u2019s conclusions as to how the interests in a parcel of realty are arranged and who owns them.\u201d William B. Stoebuck & Dale A. Whitman, The Law of Property \u00a7 10.12 (3d ed. 2000). \u201cAn easement is an interest in land....\u201d Borders v. Yarbrough, 237 N.C. 540, 542, 75 S.E.2d 541, 542 (1953). The possible existence of an easement, the basis upon which the trial court ordered joinder of the unit owners, is a question affecting title; therefore, the trial court\u2019s order is subject to immediate review.\nAccordingly, we vacate the decision of the Court of Appeals and remand to that court with instructions to determine plaintiff\u2019s appeal on the merits.\nVACATED AND REMANDED.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "BRADY, Justice."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Hilda Burnett-Baker, Assistant Attorney General, W. Richard Moore, Special Deputy Attorney General, and James M. Stanley, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, for plaintiff-appellant.",
      "Smith Moore LLP, by Bruce P. Ashley and Shannon R. Joseph, and Jeffrey K. Peraldo, P.A., by Jeffrey K. Peraldo, for defendant-appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION v. STAGECOACH VILLAGE, a North Carolina Non-Profit Corporation\nNo. 529PA04\n(Filed 7 October 2005)\nAppeal and Error\u2014 appealability \u2014 interlocutory order \u2014 title or area taken \u2014 substantial right\nThe Court of Appeals erred by dismissing plaintiff\u2019s appeal of an interlocutory order joining 106 individual condominium lot owners as necessary parties to an action to condemn a portion of the common area of the condominium development, and the decision is vacated and remanded for a determination of the appeal on its merits, because: (1) interlocutory orders concerning title or area taken must be immediately appealed as vital preliminary issues involving substantial rights adversely affected; and (2) the possible existence of an easement, the basis upon which the trial court ordered joinder of the unit owners, is a question affecting title.\nOn discretionary review pursuant to N.C.G.S. \u00a7 7A-31 of a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeals, 166 N.C. App. 272, 601 S.E.2d 279 (2004), dismissing as interlocutory an appeal from an order entered 27 March 2003 by Judge John O. Craig, III in Superior Court, Guilford County. Heard in the Supreme Court 13 September 2005.\nRoy Cooper, Attorney General, by Hilda Burnett-Baker, Assistant Attorney General, W. Richard Moore, Special Deputy Attorney General, and James M. Stanley, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, for plaintiff-appellant.\nSmith Moore LLP, by Bruce P. Ashley and Shannon R. Joseph, and Jeffrey K. Peraldo, P.A., by Jeffrey K. Peraldo, for defendant-appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0046-01",
  "first_page_order": 118,
  "last_page_order": 120
}