Federal National Mortgage Association v. Fairon Brown & a.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

SUPREME COURT

In Case No. 2018-0134, Federal National Mortgage
Association v. Fairon Brown & a., the court on April 1, 2019,
issued the following order:

Having considered the briefs filed by the parties and the record
submitted on appeal, we conclude that oral argument is unnecessary in this
case. See Sup. Ct. R. 18(1). The defendants, Fairon and Donna Brown, appeal
an order of the Circuit Court (Ryan, J.) entering judgment in favor of the
plaintiff, Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), on Fannie Mae’s
possessory action for other than non-payment of rent. We affirm.

On appeal, the Browns argue that the trial court erred by entering
judgment in favor of Fannie Mae on the possessory action because, they assert,
doing so violates RSA 527:1 (2007). We review the trial court’s statutory
interpretation de novo. Polonsky v. Town of Bedford, 171 N.H. 89, 93 (2018).
In matters of statutory interpretation, we are the final arbiter of the intent of
the legislature as expressed in the words of the statute considered as a whole.
Id. We first look to the language of the statute itself, and, if possible, construe
that language according to its plain and ordinary meaning. Id. Absent an
ambiguity, we will not look beyond the language of the statute to discern
legislative intent. Id.

RSA 527:1 provides: “No execution [of a judgment] shall issue until the
expiration of the appeal period.” It governs the timing of the execution of
judgments and has no bearing upon the timing of entry of such judgments.
Thus, RSA 527:1 did not bar the trial court from entering judgment in favor of
Fannie Mae. Moreover, the “appeal period” to which RSA 527:1 refers is the
appeal period related to the action in which the judgment has been entered,
here, the judgment in the eviction proceeding. Under its plain meaning, the
statute stays the execution of such a judgment until the period under which
that judgment may be appealed has expired.

Affirmed.

Lynn, C.J., and Hicks, Bassett, Hantz Marconi, and Donovan, JJ.,
concurred.

Eileen Fox,
Clerk