Continental Forest Products, Inc. v. White Lumber Sales, Inc.

474 P.2d 1, 256 Or. 466, 8 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 178, 1970 Ore. LEXIS 341
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 11, 1970
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 474 P.2d 1 (Continental Forest Products, Inc. v. White Lumber Sales, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Continental Forest Products, Inc. v. White Lumber Sales, Inc., 474 P.2d 1, 256 Or. 466, 8 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 178, 1970 Ore. LEXIS 341 (Or. 1970).

Opinion

SLOAN, J.

This is an action by plaintiff for the alleged wrongful breach of a contract for the sale by plaintiff to defendant of 20 carloads of plywood. The contract was an installment contract as defined by ORS 72.6120 (1) (HCC 2-612(11)). The carloads of plywood were to be shipped by plaintiff to Gainesville, Georgia. The contract was also subject to the applicable rules and provisions of a trade code known as TJ.S. Products Standard PS 1-66, the pertinent section of which is also attached as an appendix to this opinion.

The first carload arrived in Gainesville, Georgia, on January 4, 1967. Defendant concluded that this car did not meet the specifications of the contract. On January 17, 1967, defendant served notice on plaintiff of its intent to cancel the contract because of the failure of the first carload to conform to specifications. Defendant alleged that a substantial amount of the plywood was too thin. In the meantime, plaintiff had already shipped the second and third carloads, as per the contract. The second carload arrived at Gaines- *468 ville, Georgia, while the third carload was stopped .enroute after the cancellation.

After the cancellation the parties agreed to an inspection of the first two carloads of plywood to he made in accordance with the U.S. Products Standard PS 1-66, which was, as mentioned, a part of the agreement. The standard for conformance to specifications provides that a variance of 5 per cent from specifications is allowable. A variance above 5 per cent, however, permits the buyer to reject the nonconforming plywood but does not allow a cancellation or rejection of. the entire shipment. The inspection of the first carload disclosed a variance of 9 per cent. The second carload was within the 5 per cent tolerance. Defendant paid for the first carload without deduction for the deviation from the specifications but refused to pay for any of the other cars. The last two carloads were sold to other buyers.

As a result of defendant’s attempted cancellation of the entire contract, plaintiff brought this action to recover his damages. In an action tried without a jury, the trial court made extensive findings of fact in favor of plaintiff and judgment was entered accordingly. Defendant appeals.

The record submitted to this court is unique in that it contains only the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the trial court. It is defendant’s contention that certain language used by the court, in its findings and conclusions, will not support the judgment.

Subsection 2 of OPS 72.6120 permits the buyer to reject an installment “which is nonconforming if the nonconformity substantially impairs the value of that instalment and cannot be cured * * On the *469 other hand, subsection 3 permits the buyer to reject the entire contract if the nonconformity or default in respect to one or more of the installments “substantially impairs the value of the whole contract * *

The trial court’s specific findings with respect to delivery, testing, and other specific facts relating to the conformance of the shipments from plaintiff to defendant, would sustain a conclusion that this was a nonconformity as defined in subsection 2 of the statute and could be cured. However, in a conclusionary finding of fact made by the trial court, the court found “such breach as to thickness in the plywood contained in the first car * * * constituted a material breach and entitled the defendant to request assurance that future shipments would conform to the contract. The second inspected did so conform.” And, as a conclusion of law, the trial court stated “the failure of the first car to meet the specifications of the contract constituted a material breach of the contract and allowed defendant to request further reasonable assurances of performance.”

Defendant’s entire argument on appeal is based upon the findings and conclusions just quoted. It is defendant’s contention that, particularly in respect to the conclusion of law just quoted, the trial court’s language that failure “to meet the specifications of the contract constituted a material breach of the contract” was the equivalent of the requirements of subsection 3 of the statute, to wit: the nonconformity substantially impaired the value of the whole contract and was, therefore, a breach of the whole. Taken out of the total context, without regard to the other specific findings of what actually occurred in this situation, defendant’s contention appears to have merit. However, the total findings and the facts set forth therein lead to *470 the inevitable conclusion that the ambiguity in the trial court’s findings must be resolved to mean that the nonconformity only impaired the value of the first installment and, more importantly, that the nonconformity could be “cured.”

Authority relating to the application of subsections 2 and 3 of this section of the code is scarce, but the existing authority conforms to the following statement found in 3 Duesenberg & King, Bender’s Uniform Commercial Code Service, § 14-02 (3) (i) pages 14-25:

“As far as any nonconforming installment is concerned, the buyer may only reject if there is substantial impairment regarding the value of that installment and when the substantial impairment eannot be cured. Thus, it is clear that three things are necessary for a buyer to be able to reject an installment. Assuming that the nonconformity exists, the nonconformity must impair the value of that installment and such impairment must be substantial ; the third element is that the defect giving rise to the nonconformity cannot be cured.”

In regard to a situation in which the buyer may claim a violation of subsection 3, the authors at pages 14-27, 28 state:

“Some matters are clear from this section. If there is a minor breach which is curable by the seller, the installment must be accepted and the buyer cannot cancel the contract. He would be entitled, however, under Section 2-609 to demand adequate assurance of performance.”

Peters, Remedies for Breach of Contracts, 1963, 73 Yale L J 199, at 225, states:

“* * * The section is reasonably clear at the extremes. If the breach is trivial and curable, the buyer must accept the installment and cannot categorically refuse further installments. * *

*471 Paragraph 5 of the official comments to this section of the code states:

“Cure of nonconformity of the installment in the first instance can usually be afforded by an allowance against the price, * * *.”

The parties in this instance do not dispute that the word “cure” includes price deduction for nonconformity. Therefore, we are not required to decide what other methods of cure may have existed or should be required.

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474 P.2d 1, 256 Or. 466, 8 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 178, 1970 Ore. LEXIS 341, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/continental-forest-products-inc-v-white-lumber-sales-inc-or-1970.