C. A. M. Concepts, Inc. v. Gwyn

136 P.3d 60, 206 Or. App. 122, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 663
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 17, 2006
Docket00C-16002; A120488
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 136 P.3d 60 (C. A. M. Concepts, Inc. v. Gwyn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
C. A. M. Concepts, Inc. v. Gwyn, 136 P.3d 60, 206 Or. App. 122, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 663 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

*125 LANDAU, P. J.

This dispute arises out of a fairly complicated set of agreements that were intended to aid Woodrow Gwyn, a home developer who had fallen into dire financial straits. In a nutshell, an asset workout company agreed to manage certain properties that the developer and his former wife, Diane, owned and to pay off his debts. When Woodrow and Diane became unsatisfied with the company’s performance, they terminated the agreements. The company assigned its interest in the agreements to plaintiff, C.A.M. Concepts, Inc., which alleged claims for declaratory judgment, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and assumpsit. Woodrow defaulted, but Diane defended her interest in the properties. The trial court rejected all of C.A.M. Concepts’ claims, but it sua sponte awarded damages against Diane for “unjust enrichment.” The court awarded Diane her attorney fees, although it reduced the amount that she had requested by 15 percent and then deducted the damages for unjust enrichment.

C.A.M. Concepts appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s rejection of each of its claims. We reject each of C.A.M. Concepts’ arguments without discussion. Diane cross-appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s sua sponte award of damages on an unjust enrichment claim that C.A.M. Concepts had not alleged. She also assigns error to the trial court’s decision to reduce the attorney fee award by 15 percent. For the reasons that follow, we agree with Diane on the cross-appeal. We therefore affirm on the appeal, but we reverse on the cross-appeal and remand for entry of judgment awarding her attorney fees in the amount of $52,357.25, together with costs in the amount of $729.50.

The facts pertinent to the issues on appeal are largely undisputed. Diane and Woodrow Gwyn had been married, but they divorced in 1984. In the dissolution decree, Diane obtained a judgment lien in the amount of $200,000 on the parties’ marital residence, a nine-acre parcel known as “the Wapato property.”

In 1994, Woodrow ran into financial difficulty. He entered into an “Administration Agreement” with the Plains *126 Group, Ltd., for the management of a “capital and asset recovery plan.” The plan required the “development, repair and sale” of all properties that Woodrow owned. For its efforts, Plains Group would receive 50 percent of the net value of all proceeds at the conclusion of three years or, at Plains Group’s option, at the conclusion of eight years.

Woodrow gave Plains Group $30,000 in bearer bonds to help finance the recovery plan. He also gave Plains Group an irrevocable power of attorney to deal with all of his assets. The power of attorney stated that it “is granted with an interest in the property and the proceeds of the property, and therefore shall be irrevocable and shall remain in full force and effect until renounced by” Plains Group.

To assist Woodrow in the recovery plan, Diane entered into a “Judgment Settlement Agreement,” under the terms of which she assigned her judgment lien against the Wapato property to Plains Group. In return, Plains Group agreed to make payments to her and her mother out of the proceeds of the recovery. The Judgment Settlement Agreement also gave Diane the right to approve any sale of the Wapato property.

The recovery plan included a remodel and upgrade of the Wapato property. The property would then be sold and the proceeds applied to save Woodrow’s other properties. Plains Group or its agents ultimately spent $44,408.84 to remodel and improve the Wapato property.

One year into the recovery plan, Woodrow and Diane became concerned about Plains Group’s performance. In June 1995, Woodrow refused to allow Plains Group to complete the renovations of the Wapato property. That same month, he unilaterally terminated the Administration Agreement and revoked his power of attorney. Diane rescinded her assignment to Plains Group of the judgment lien on the Wapato property and the Judgment Settlement Agreement. Woodrow then gave Diane a quitclaim deed to the Wapato property, in satisfaction of her judgment lien.

Plaintiff C.A.M. Concepts acquired Plains Group’s rights and interests. Based on the events described above, it filed the complaint in this proceeding, alleging claims of *127 declaratory relief for breach of contract, breach of warranty, and assumpsit. It sought the benefits of Plains Group’s bargain with the Gwyns, that is, enforcement of the Administration Agreement, the power of attorney, the assignment of the judgment lien, and the Judgment Settlement Agreement; and it also sought a declaration that the Wapato property be sold, that plaintiff receive its interest under the judgment lien, and that the remaining proceeds be divided equally between plaintiff and Diane. In the alternative, C.A.M. Concepts sought a sale of the Wapato property, reimbursement from the sale proceeds of the amount that Plains Group had invested in renovations, and an equal division of the remaining proceeds.

Woodrow defaulted. The trial court found, however, that, in repudiating the Administration Agreement, Woodrow had breached his agreement with Plains Group, that Plains Group was excused from further performance of its agreement with Woodrow, and that Plains Group — and, as a result, its assignee C.A.M. Concepts — had been damaged as a result of Woodrow’s breach in the amount of $44,408.84, that is, the amount that Plains Group or its agents had expended on the renovations of the Wapato property, less an offset of $30,000 for the bearer bonds that Woodrow had given to Plains Group.

As for Diane, the trial court rejected each of C.A.M. Concepts’ claims. It found that C.A.M. Concepts and its predecessor had not performed their duties to Diane under the Judgment Settlement Agreement and that Diane had not breached any contract or warranties to plaintiff. The court further found that C.A.M. Concepts had not established the elements of its claim of assumpsit. The trial court nonetheless found that Diane had benefitted from the improvements that Plains Group had made to the Wapato property and that C.A.M. Concepts was therefore entitled to an award of $14,408.84 for the net amount expended on “the Court’s equity claim of unjust enrichment,” plus costs on that claim.

Diane submitted a petition for an award of $52,357.25 in attorney fees. The trial court granted the petition, but subject to two offsets. First, the court deducted 15 percent — $7,853.59—to reflect the amount of time Diane’s *128 “lawyers spent successfully defending against [C.A.M. Concepts’] Third Claim for Relief, the assumpsit claim.” Second, it deducted the $14,408.84 award for unjust enrichment. With costs, the net award to Diane totaled $30,824.32.

Diane assigns error to the trial court’s decision to award damages for unjust enrichment and for deducting 15 percent for work on a claim on which she actually prevailed. We agree with Diane in both respects.

As pleaded and argued, C.A.M.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
136 P.3d 60, 206 Or. App. 122, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/c-a-m-concepts-inc-v-gwyn-orctapp-2006.