Bysom Enterprises, Ltd. v. Peter Carlton Enterprises, Ltd.

641 N.E.2d 838, 204 Ill. Dec. 408, 267 Ill. App. 3d 1
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 31, 1994
Docket1— 92—2665
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 641 N.E.2d 838 (Bysom Enterprises, Ltd. v. Peter Carlton Enterprises, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bysom Enterprises, Ltd. v. Peter Carlton Enterprises, Ltd., 641 N.E.2d 838, 204 Ill. Dec. 408, 267 Ill. App. 3d 1 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

JUSTICE O’CONNOR

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendants, Peter Carlton Enterprises, Ltd., Robert C. Aulston, William C. Goodall, and Peter Carlton Properties (collectively PCP or Seller(s)), appeal the granting of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff, Bysom Enterprises, Ltd. (Bysom), in this breach of contract action. We affirm.

On August 31, 1987, PCP entered into a purchase agreement (the Purchase Agreement) with James Broderson and Ronald Stillman (the Buyer(s)), under which the Buyers agreed to purchase the business and assets of eight restaurants located in Chicago and doing business under the franchise name of "Popeye’s Famous Fried Chicken and Biscuits” (the Restaurants). The Buyers assigned all their rights under the Purchase Agreement to Bysom. On November 30, 1987 (the closing), Bysom took title to the Restaurants.

Paragraph 6 of the Purchase Agreement provided that PCP would sell to the Buyers "by a proper Bill of Sale certain personal property in its present 'as is’ condition, without warranties *** including but not limited to equipment, kitchen fixtures, furniture, smallwares, inventory of goods, cleaning supplies, and other goods and supplies, used in the business.” Among the equipment in two of the Restaurants was an AT&T telephone system. Subsequent to the closing date, Bysom began receiving monthly bills from AT&T for the telephone system, indicating it had not been owned by PCP; rather, it was leased from AT&T. Bysom then purchased the system for $3,812.63.

Under paragraph 11 of the Purchase Agreement, PCP warranted:

"(a) Sellers own and will convey merchantable title to Buyer[s] of all specific property described herein.

(b) all property, sales, federal and state withholding and any and all other taxes are paid and current.

(g) the Sellers hereby agree to indemnify, save and hold harmless the Buyers from and against any and all liability or claims or losses or damages that the Buyers may sustain as a result of this purchase and due to the Sellers’ fault.”

At closing, sales like this one were governed by the "Bulk Sales” provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code — Bulk Transfers (UCC) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 26, par. 6 — 101 et seq.). Under sections 6 — 105 and 6 — 106 of the UCC (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 26, pars. 6 — 105, 6 — 106), in order to avoid the liabilities of the creditors of the Restaurants, Bysom was required to file a bulk sales notice with the creditors. Pursuant to section 6 — 104 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 26, par. 6 — 104), PCP provided Bysom with a list of the Restaurants’ creditors; however, that list did not include the State of Illinois or the City of Chicago. As a result, Bysom did not file a bulk sales notice with the City of Chicago Department of Revenue (the City) or the Illinois Department of Revenue (the State).

On March 15, 1989, the State notified Bysom that because it had failed to file a bulk sales notice with the State, it had a liability owing to the State in the amount of $2,179.78, which had been incurred prior to the closing, for retailer’s occupation taxes and various withholding, excise, and income taxes. On May 19, 1990, Bysom received a similar notice from the City regarding delinquent sales and employees’ expense taxes incurred between January 1, 1987, and November 30, 1987, and between January 1, 1984, and November 30, 1987. The City assessed Bysom for $28,907.72 plus continuing interest at 2% a month.

In conjunction with and as part of the Purchase Agreement, the Buyers and PCP also entered into a reproration agreement (the Reproration Agreement), under which Bysom and PCP agreed to reprorate 1987 real estate taxes, which were payable in 1988, for two of the franchise locations (the Reproration Franchises). PCP had granted the Buyers credits for 1987 taxes they had paid on the Reproration Franchises; however, because the 1987 tax bills for the Reproration Franchises included taxes on property not conveyed to the Buyers, the Reproration Agreement provided that after PCP successfully obtained separate tax identification numbers for the Reproration Franchises, "such that the respective bills for 1988 and subsequent years will cover only the property conveyed to Buyer *** PCP and Buyer will, in good faith recompute the credits given by PCP to Buyer at the Closing in an equitable manner, by computing, as accurately as may be possible, the amounts such credits would have been at the Closing if such additional property had not been included.” The Reproration Agreement provided that any amount payable under its terms would include interest at 10% per year from the closing date until payment. In addition, the Reproration Agreement provided for an award of attorney fees incurred by a party in filing and pursuing any lawsuit to enforce the Reproration Agreement.

When Bysom received the subsequent tax assessments, which reflected the division of the Reproration Franchises, it recalculated the 1987 taxes on the Reproration Franchises pursuant to the Reproration Agreement, determining that PCP owed it $11,704.65 and $9,306.75, respectively, for the Reproration Franchises. Bysom requested payment under the Reappropriation Agreement, but PCP refused. This lawsuit ensued.

Bysom moved for summary judgment, supporting its motion by the affidavit of Joseph Nugent, a Bysom agent. Bysom also included copies of 1989 tax bills which reflected the division of the Reproration Franchises. PGP’s memorandum opposing summary judgment cited no case law and contained general averments of factual matters which it contended precluded the entry of summary judgment against it. PGP attached the counteraffidavit of Robert Aulston, one of the individual defendants. In his affidavit, Aulston stated that there were "material factual issues which have not been addressed.” These "factual” issues included his unsupported assertions that defendants did not know that the Restaurants had delinquent taxes; that the parties intended only that defendants be liable for warranty breaches if defendants were at fault; that the parties intended that paragraph 16 of the Purchase Agreement be the exclusive remedy for breaches of the purchase Agreement; that defendants did not intend to include the telephone system in the Purchase Agreement; and that Bysom owed PGP money under the Reproration Agreement.

The trial court stressed that the affidavits in support of PGP’s opposition to summary judgment failed to state any evidentiary facts that countered the facts established by Bysom’s pleadings, affidavits, and documentation. Thus, the court ruled that, as a matter of law, the telephone system was a part of the sale of equipment under the Purchase Agreement. On the same basis, the trial court ruled that Bysom had established a breach of PGP’s warranty that all taxes were paid on the properties involved and that Bysom had established PGP’s liability under the Reproration Agreement, including an award of attorney fees. For breach of warranty, the trial court awarded Bysom $34,900.13 — the purchase price of the telephone system and the full amount of back taxes owing, as assessed by the City and State. For breach of the Reproration Agreement, the trial court awarded $21,011.40 plus interest and attorney fees amounting to $9,893.72.

PGP claims that the trial court "abused its discretion” in granting summary judgment in this case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
641 N.E.2d 838, 204 Ill. Dec. 408, 267 Ill. App. 3d 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bysom-enterprises-ltd-v-peter-carlton-enterprises-ltd-illappct-1994.