Midwest Family Broadcast settles property dispute

In May, the broadcast group’s parent company, MW SpringMo Inc., settled a civil lawsuit it filed against Amy Kern and Christian County Collector Ted Nichols. The company paid Kern $6,500 in exchange for a special warranty deed transferring 50 acres in Christian County to the broadcast company, according to the settlement agreement.

Springfield attorney Rodney Nichols, who represented MW SpringMo Inc. in the suit, said his client settled the case to avoid legal expenses associated with a trial scheduled July 18. The company would have had to pay for a property survey and hire an appraiser

“As far as the radio station is concerned, it was really just a nuisance settlement,” said Nichols, who is not related to defendant Ted Nichols. “We were confident we were going to prevail at trial if we got that far, but the station knew it was going to spend at least that much to try the case.”

He added, “It’s a pretty bitter pill for them to have to swallow, but they’re getting their property back.”

Nichols, of Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown PC, said his client has owned the 50-acre site near Clever since June 1992, but Kern had challenged the company’s ownership.

In a Jan. 31 letter to Midwest Family Broadcast Group, Springfield attorney Bob Sweere asserted that Kern was the rightful owner of the property – just south of State Highway 14 – and enclosed a copy of the collector’s deed as proof. Kern bought the property at public auction in August 2001.

“My client is willing to allow your tower to remain on her property provided that an appropriate lease and rental is agreed upon,” wrote Sweere, a lawyer with Moon, Plaster & Sweere LLP in Springfield.

Nichols said a radio transmission tower on the property is necessary for his client’s daily broadcasts. Midwest Family Broadcast Group operates four FM radio stations in southwest Missouri: KOSP Oldies 105.1, KOMG 92.9 Bass Country, KKLH 104.7 The Cave and KQRA Q102.

Nichols said MW SpringMo paid every tax statement received from the county, yet the property was sold at public auction in August 2001 for an alleged failure to pay property taxes in 1999 and 2000. Kern was the highest bidder at the auction, offering to buy the plot for $83.68, or roughly $1.67 an acre.

Midwest never received tax delinquency notices from the county or notification of the auction sale, but Sweere said a legal notice in advance of the sale was published locally as required by law.

Unbeknownst to MW SpringMo, Kern obtained a collector’s deed for the property on Dec. 26, 2003 – more than two years after the sale – and recorded the deed four days later, according to court records. She waited another three years – the same length as the statute of limitations for challenging the sale – before contacting MW SpringMo about leasing the property to the company for its tower.

Sweere did not immediately return calls seeking comment on his client’s behalf.