Cardwell v. International Housing, Inc.

423 A.2d 355, 282 Pa. Super. 498, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 512, 1980 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3441
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 1, 1980
Docket2114
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 423 A.2d 355 (Cardwell v. International Housing, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cardwell v. International Housing, Inc., 423 A.2d 355, 282 Pa. Super. 498, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 512, 1980 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3441 (Pa. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

PRICE, Judge:

The instant appeal is from a judgment in the trial court awarding appellees $6,404.98 in their suit in assumpsit to rescind a contract for the purchase of a mobile home and awarding appellant $179.19 in its counterclaim. Finding the evidence insufficient to support appellees’ cause of action, we reverse.

On September 9, 1971, appellees executed an agreement to purchase a two-bedroom mobile home from appellant. Although not incorporated into the agreement, testimony established that appellees had been shown and agreed to purchase a 1971 PMC mobile home, manufacturer’s serial number ending in the last three digits 230. On September 22, 1971, an installment sales contract was executed by the parties. This agreement, however, listed the home as a 1971 PMC mobile home, serial number 277. Appellant then assigned the financing contract to a local bank and warranted its enforceability.

In late September 1971, appellees moved from their former residence in Maryland to appellant’s mobile home park in Lebanon County with the expectation that the two-bedroom number 230 home would be situated in the park. Instead of finding the two-bedroom home, appellees found a three-bedroom mobile home, serial number 277. They immediately notified appellant and the financing bank that a mistake had been made. Because they were without accommodations, however, appellees moved into the three-bed[502]*502room mobile home, whereupon they discovered numerous major defects in its construction. After repeated complaints were made to appellant regarding the defects in the number 277 home and their desire to obtain the number 230 two-bedroom home, appellees were instructed by appellant to select another home which would be installed in a newly constructed portion of appellant’s mobile home park. Appellees selected a two-bedroom mobile home serial number 228, and it was installed in August of 1972. Upon moving into this home, appellees discovered that it did not include various furnishings that had been promised and that it had various defects.

In November 1972, appellant requested appellees to execute the certificate of title to the number 277 three-bedroom home that had been previously occupied by appellees. Appellant had found a purchaser for the home, but was unable to complete the transfer until appellees signed the certificate of title. Appellees refused to sign the certificate claiming that they would not execute any papers until the defects in the number 228 home in which they were then residing were rectified. Relations between the parties continued to deteriorate, and appellant’s records indicate that the final service call on the number 228 home took place in May of 1973. Thereafter, throughout 1973, appellees ignored appellant’s repeated correspondence requesting that they sign the certificate of title to the model 277 home, apparently on the basis of appellant’s failure to correct the defects in the model 228 home.

In or about January of 1974, appellant initiated a criminal proceeding under section 207 of the then-applicable Vehicle Code on the basis of appellees’ refusal to effectuate a transfer of the certificate of title to the number 277 mobile home. See Act of April 29, 1959, P.L. 58, § 207, as amended 75 P.S. § 207(a) (1971), repealed and replaced, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1111(a). In response to that complaint, appellees retained counsel, who advised them to sign the certificate of title to the three-bedroom mobile home.

[503]*503Appellees’ counsel then entered into negotiations with appellant to resolve the dispute over the number 228 two-bedroom mobile home. Appellees’ attorney posted a letter to appellant’s counsel on May 29, 1974, in which he asserted that the number 228 two-bedroom mobile home was in used condition, listed various defects and stated that his clients “want what they bargained for, namely, a new P.M.C. mobile home.” (Record at 361a) (emphasis in original). By another letter on June 14, 1974, appellees’ attorney inquired as to the position of appellant and stated that “[s]hould I not have a written reply from you within 10 days of this letter, I shall presume that you wish me to follow the formal litigation route and I will immediately do so.” (Record at 363a). Three days later, on June 17, 1974, appellant’s counsel responded, in part, as follows:

“I had forwarded your letter of May 29 to International Housing, Inc., and further, spoken to Lee Heisey, Secretary of International Housing, Inc., in regard to getting in touch with Mr. John Kuhn [then president of appellant] in an effort to piece together the facts of this case. As of this date, Mr. Heisey is still attempting to assemble relevant information pertaining to your claim but, apparently has had little co-operation from Mr. John Kuhn in this matter. I hope that you can persuade Mr. Cardwell to be patient until we have had an opportunity to carefully review the merits of his complaints.” (Record at 364a).

Testimony established that the parties did not engage in additional negotiations thereafter.

On March 14, 1975, appellees filed suit alleging breach of the original sales agreement by appellant. Preliminary objections were filed and dismissed, and after an unexplained delay, appellant filed its answer and counter-claim on January 17, 1977. On the advice of counsel, appellees continued to reside in the mobile home until June 1975,1 when they [504]*504were forced to vacate the home and leave it in appellant’s park after appellant evicted them for violation of certain regulations governing the mobile home park. Thereafter, they continued to make payments on the home until February 1976.2 The home was finally repossessed by appellant in October 1976.

When the case came to trial, the court instructed the jury that appellees could recover on either of two theories: (1) that they never accepted the two-bedroom number 228 home in August 1972 as a substitute for the number 230 originally promised; or (2) that they accepted the home but subsequently revoked their acceptance as a result of the defects. At the close of trial, the jury returned a verdict awarding appellees $6,404.98, representing the amount they had paid to appellant for the home, and for appellant on its counterclaim for $171.19, representing rent at its mobile home park for three months at the rate of $53.00 per month plus $12.19 for parts installed by one of its repairmen in fixing a defect in the furnace of the number 228 home. Appellant now appeals alleging that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the award under either theory upon which the case was submitted to the jury, and thus, the trial court erred in refusing its motion for judgment non obstante veredicto. We agree, but as indicated in our discussion below, reverse and remand for a new trial.

Before addressing appellant’s contentions, we initially note that our standard of review in an appeal from a trial court’s refusal to enter judgment n. o. v. is to view the evidence, and all inferences reasonably deducible therefrom, [505]*505in the light most favorable to appellees as the verdict winners. See, e. g., Gonzalez v. United States Steel Corp., 484 Pa. 277, 398 A.2d 1378 (1979); Atkins v. Urban Redevelopment Auth., 263 Pa.Super. 37, 396 A.2d 1364 (1979).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ranta Construction, Inc. v. Anderson
190 P.3d 835 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2008)
Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Caiazzo
564 A.2d 931 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)
City Nat. Bank of Charleston v. Wells
384 S.E.2d 374 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1989)
Kesner v. Lancaster
378 S.E.2d 649 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1989)
Household Finance Corp. v. McFarland
47 Pa. D. & C.3d 180 (Mercer County Court of Common Pleas, 1987)
Vista Chevrolet, Inc. v. Lewis
704 S.W.2d 361 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Wendt v. Beardmore Suburban Chevrolet, Inc.
366 N.W.2d 424 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1985)
Griffith v. Stovall Tire & Marine, Inc.
329 S.E.2d 234 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1985)
Sumner v. Fel-Air, Inc.
680 P.2d 1109 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1984)
Stein v. Hallmark Homes, Inc.
36 Pa. D. & C.3d 141 (Somerset County Court of Common Pleas, 1983)
Yates v. Clifford Motors, Inc.
423 A.2d 1262 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Cardwell v. International Housing, Inc.
423 A.2d 355 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
423 A.2d 355, 282 Pa. Super. 498, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 512, 1980 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3441, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cardwell-v-international-housing-inc-pasuperct-1980.