The First Appellate District affirmed a judgment. The court held that a plaintiff’s request for dismissal was untimely and of no effect where a scheduled post-decision hearing to value a party’s interest in land did not have the effect of vacating submission of the action to the trial court. The court held further that even in the absence of a cross-complaint, the trial court had authority in the exercise of its equitable powers to compensate a defendant for her interest in real property that she was ordered to quitclaim to the plaintiff.
Richard Vanderkous and Nanette Conley lived together in a home on a parcel of land owned by Vanderkous. When the couple split up, as part of their settlement Vanderkous sold Conley a portion of the property that included their home. Vanderkous and Conley later arbitrated a dispute over performance of the settlement. The arbitration award ordered that the property be split so that Conley owned the home, a detached garage and a setback area on a single lot, while Vanderkous would receive the remainder of the acreage as a single parcel.
