Crandall v. Grbic

138 P.3d 365, 36 Kan. App. 2d 179, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 651
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJuly 14, 2006
DocketNo. 94,846
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 138 P.3d 365 (Crandall v. Grbic) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crandall v. Grbic, 138 P.3d 365, 36 Kan. App. 2d 179, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 651 (kanctapp 2006).

Opinion

Rulon, C.J.:

Plaintiffs John and Constance Crandall appeal from a district court order granting summary judgment to defendant Mike Grbic. Plaintiffs sued defendant under theories of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, misrepresentation, and violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. We affirm.

Underlying Facts

In June 2003, the plaintiffs, who were California residents, went to Wichita, Kansas, and looked at houses for sale as they were anticipating relocating to Wichita to be closer to family. At the time, plaintiff Constance Crandall held a license to sell real estate in California.

[181]*181Plaintiffs entered into a Buyer Agreement Exclusive Buyer Agent contract (Buyer s Agreement) with defendant, a licensed realtor. The Buyer s Agreement included clauses providing that defendant would promote the interest of the plaintiffs; that defendant would disclose all adverse facts that he knew; and that defendant would advise the plaintiffs to get expert advice on matters beyond defendant’s expertise.

For easier reference, the specific wording of the Buyer’s Agreement document and all other documents referenced in this facts section will be discussed in detail where necessary in our discussion of the presented issues.

Plaintiffs first looked at the house at 1528 Creekside Court (the House) in June 2003, as part of a showing of more than 20 houses by defendant. At that time plaintiffs did not perform a detailed inspection of the condition of the houses they viewed; rather plaintiffs were just looking at general layout and features. Prior to July 18, plaintiffs viewed the House a second time with their children and plaintiff John Crandall’s parents. Plaintiff John Crandall said the House looked “fairly good” cosmetically at that time and he did not see stains on the carpet.

The asking price on the House was $249,500, but plaintiffs offered $235,000 and their offer was accepted. On July 9,2003, plaintiffs received a copy of the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement (Disclosure Statement). In the Disclosure Statement, the sellers, Tim and Rebecca King, indicated that, to their knowledge, there were no present or past roof leaks; the roof had not been repaired by them; and no insurance claim had been submitted based on the roof in the past 5 years. Further, the Kings indicated although they had owned a pet, there was no damage to the House from the pet “including but not limited to odors, stains, etc.” The Kings did note, however, that “South basement window well has leaked with heavy rain from South.”

In signing the Disclosure Statement, plaintiffs acknowledged they had been advised of the need for independent investigation as to the representations made by the Kings; that plaintiffs had carefully inspected the property personally; and that plaintiffs were not relying on any representations made by the seller or realtor. [182]*182On July 18, 2003, plaintiffs entered into a Contract for Purchase and Sale of Real Estate (Purchase Contract) to buy the House. The Purchase Contract provided that no warranties or representations had been made by the sellers or the realtor except as explicitly listed and further provided plaintiffs were relying on plaintiffs’ own judgment and on the judgment of any inspectors plaintiffs might select. The Purchase Contract specifically contained a clause requiring mediation of any disputes.

Because plaintiffs were still living in California, plaintiff Constance Crandall asked defendant for a recommendation for someone to do a home inspection. Defendant recommended Tom Beard Home Inspections (Beard). Plaintiff Constance Crandall asserts she asked defendant to be plaintiffs’ “ ‘eyes and ears’ ” because plaintiffs were unable to be at the inspection. Plaintiff Constance Crandall requested that defendant attend tire inspection and inspect the house for defects. Defendant claims he did not remember specifically being asked to be plaintiffs’ “ ‘eyes and ears.’ ” Defendant said plaintiffs did tell him plaintiffs were relying on defendant to help with the overall transaction, but not specifically in regard to the inspection. Defendant asserts that he did not represent to the plaintiffs in any way that defendant would actively search for defects in tire House during the inspection. Defendant maintains that “[i]t was the home inspector’s job to inspect the house.”

The inspection was attended by defendant and plaintiff John Crandall’s father. The inspector reported the roof was nearing the end of its life expectancy, and there was damage on one side. Further, the inspector reported the low slope of the roof on the covered patio and recommended low slope roofing material be added and further evaluation needed to be done on that part of the roof.

Defendant faxed a copy of the home inspector’s report to plaintiff Constance Crandall and spoke with her by phone about the report. In response to tire home inspector’s concerns, defendant arranged for an inspection of the roof by Herzberg & Sons Roofing. Brice Herzberg performed the roof inspection. Herzberg said that he talked to someone, possibly defendant, about the roof and told the person “there could be an issue down the road” with the patio [183]*183roof because the roof s pitch was insufficient for the shake shingles. Herzberg testified that without looking underneath the shingles or actually seeing a leak there was no way to tell if the roof actually was leaking. According to Herzberg, “there’s times I have got up on roofs and seen issues that I could swear were leaking and they are not. Then other times they are having huge leaks and it doesn’t look like anything is wrong so . . . you just never know.”

Herzberg further said he was not concerned with the patio roof because it covered a screened-in porch area rather than an indoor part of the House and any problem with the patio roof could have been repaired by taking up the shingles and replacing them with a composition roll-type roof which he estimated would cost $514.

When Herzberg reported his findings to defendant, defendant told Herzberg not to include the cost of the patio roof in the overall roof estimate because Herzberg was not sure there was actually a leak. Herzberg then wrote an estimate for $1800 to replace shingles and otherwise fix the main roof.

Defendant sent a copy of Herzberg’s estimate to plaintiffs. Defendant asserts he made plaintiff Constance Crandall aware of the potential for problems with the patio roof in a telephone conversation, which plaintiff Constance Crandall denies. Plaintiffs asked the Kings to pay for half of the $1800 estimate for the necessary repairs, but the Kings refused. Plaintiffs then indicated to defendant they did not want to buy the House and intended to cancel the contract. Defendant said he persuaded plaintiffs the House was well priced and a good deal, and plaintiffs changed their minds and decided to proceed with the purchase.

Plaintiffs insisted the final walk-through of the House occur before closing with the sellers present. Defendant testified it was unusual for the sellers to be present for the final walk-through, so the Kings were not available to participate in the walk-through until the day of closing.

On the day of closing, plaintiffs and the Kings toured the House after the parties had signed the closing documents and arrangements had been made for a wire transfer of the purchase price from the plaintiffs’ account in California. Defendant testified the walk-through occurred before the closing was complete because

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
138 P.3d 365, 36 Kan. App. 2d 179, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crandall-v-grbic-kanctapp-2006.