Derryberry v. Hill

745 S.W.2d 287, 1987 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3037
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedNovember 4, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 745 S.W.2d 287 (Derryberry v. Hill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Derryberry v. Hill, 745 S.W.2d 287, 1987 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3037 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

LEWIS, Judge.

This is an appeal by plaintiffs from the granting of defendants’ Rule 41.02(2), Tenn.R.Civ.P., motion to dismiss the complaint at the close of plaintiffs’ proof.

The facts out of which this controversy arose are as follows:

Plaintiffs wished to sell their 158 acre tract of land located near Spring Hill, Mau-ry County, Tennessee (hereafter the “property”).

Prior to May 14, 1985, Mr. Derryberry had discussed listing the “property” with defendant, L.D. Hill, but had not done so. In early May 1985, defendant, Larry Hub-bell, went to plaintiffs’ home to solicit the listing of the “property.” On May 14, 1985, Mr. Hubbell and Mr. Derryberry entered into a listing agreement for the sale of the “property” in the sum of $249,500. The agreement was with Larry Hubbell Realty, a company owned by defendant Hubbell. Mr. Derryberry preferred selling the “property” as one tract, even though Mr. Hubbell advised him that it would bring more if it were divided into smaller tracts.

Mr. Hubbell advertised the “property” but there was little interest. To Mr. Derry-berry’s knowledge, Mr. Hubbell only brought one potential buyer to the “property” between May 14, 1985, and June 14, 1985.

On June 14, 1985, Mr. Hubbell met with Mr. Derryberry and advised him that he and defendant Steve Hill were interested in purchasing the “property” and offered Mr. Derryberry $215,000. Mr. Derryberry rejected the offer and countered with an offer to sell for $237,500 with the understanding that plaintiffs would pay a real estate commission out of the $237,500. Mr. Hubbell did not advise plaintiffs that he would split the sales commission with L.D. Hill & Sons Realty Company. Mr. Hubbell had with him a sales contract, signed by both himself and Steve Hill, which showed the consideration to be $215,000. Mr. Hub-bell informed Mr. Derryberry that he would have to present the counter-proposal to Steve Hill. But prior to leaving the plaintiffs’ home, the $237,500 figure was substituted for the $215,000 and the contract was then signed by both Mr. and Mrs. Derryberry.

Approximately thirty minutes after he left plaintiffs’ home, Mr. Hubbell called plaintiffs and told them that Steve Hill had agreed and that “they had a contract.”

Although they were aware of them, at no time on June 14 or prior thereto did Mr. Hubbell or any other defendant discuss with Mr. or Mrs. Derryberry the fact that rumors were circulating that General Motors or some other manufacturing concern was considering Maury County as site for a [289]*289plant. There was no discussion on that date that there had been an article on the front page of The Tennessean on June 13, 1985, concerning the possibility that General Motors might be interested in Maury County. In fact, the front page of the June 13, 1985 edition of The Tennessean contained an article headlined: “GM may build in Maury: Nashville lawyer obtains land options.”

The evidence is that on June 14, 1985, when they signed the sales contract, the plaintiffs were not aware of the rumors, nor had they seen any newspaper articles. They had no knowledge that any company was considering locating a plant in Maury County.

On June 15, 1985, Mr. Derryberry went to the post office to check his mail and, while there, heard several people discussing the rumors concerning the possibility that General Motors would build a plant near Spring Hill. He then obtained a newspaper, read the article, and, upon arriving home, advised his wife that they had “been had.”

On June 17, 1985, Mr. Hubbell returned to plaintiffs’ home with a re-typed contract. At that time, Mr. Derryberry confronted Mr. Hubbell concerning the rumors “and his understanding as to why Mr. Hubbell and Mr. Hill were in such a hurry to confer with him on the evening of the 14th and get the contract signed.” Mr. Hubbell advised Mr. Derryberry that Steve Hill had told him that plaintiffs “would be angry” when they found out. Notwithstanding the knowledge that he had gained since signing the June 14,1985 sales contract, Mr. Derry-berry and his wife signed the re-typed contract on the 17th which contained the same terms and consideration as the June 14th contract. The only difference being that those matters that had been written in, including the $237,500 consideration, had been typed into the June 17 contract.

On June 26, 1985, plaintiffs, through their attorney, wrote Mr. Hubbell and Steve Hill demanding that the closing of the “property” take place on July 3, 1985. The sales contract provided that the closing would occur on or before September 14, 1985.

Mr. Derryberry testified that he chose to accelerate the closing date, hoping that defendants would be unable to raise adequate financing and would therefore not be able to close.

The closing took place on July 3, 1985, and plaintiffs were paid the purchase price less $11,875 commission, which was equally divided between Hubbell and L.D. Hill & Sons Realty Company. The “property” was deeded two-thirds to Steve Hill and one-third to Larry Hubbell.

On July 12, 1985, the plaintiffs employed Mr. Hubbell to auction their personal property. This sale was held on August 3, 1985, and the proceeds distributed to plaintiffs on August 13, 1985.

On July 29, 1985, Steve Hill and Larry Hubbell entered into a contract to sell the “property” for $790,000. That sale was consummated on August 29, 1985, and the proceeds divided according to their respective interests between Larry Hubbell and Steve Hill.

On August 15, 1985, plaintiffs filed this suit some sixteen days after General Motors announced that it had taken options on property in the Spring Hill area for its proposed Saturn plant.

Plaintiffs' single issue in this non-jury case is whether the trial court erred in granting defendants’ Rule 41.02(2), Tenn.R. Civ.P., motion to dismiss the complaint at the close of plaintiffs’ proof.

The motion authorized by this rule is not to be confused with a motion for directed verdict which is authorized by Rule 50, Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Motions for a directed verdict are neither necessary nor proper in a case which is being tried without a jury. Motions for dismissal in non-jury cases under Rule 41.02(2), Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, and motions for directed verdicts in jury cases under Rule 50, Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, are somewhat similar, but, there is a fundamental difference between the two motions, in that, in the jury case, the judge is not the trier of facts while in the [290]*290non-jury case he is the trier of the facts. In the jury case he must consider the evidence most favorably for the plaintiff, allow all reasonable inferences in plaintiff’s favor and disregard all counteracting evidence, and, so considered, if there is any material evidence to support a verdict for plaintiff, he must deny the motion. But in the non-jury case, when a motion to dismiss is made at the close of plaintiff s case under Rule jl. 02(2), the trial judge must impartially weigh and evaluate the evidence in the same manner as though he were making findings of fact at the conclusion of all of the evidence for both parties, determine the facts of the case, apply the law to those facts, and, if the plaintiff s case has not been made out by a preponderance of the evidence, a judgment may be rendered against the plaintiff on the merits,

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

Related

Charles Walker v. Bank of America, N. A.
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2015
Administrative Resources, Inc. v. Barrow Group, LLC
210 S.W.3d 545 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2006)
Lindsay Alford v. Oak Ridge City Schools
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2003
Frizzell Construction, Inc. v. Gatlinburg, LLC.
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1998
Poats v. Nelson
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1997

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
745 S.W.2d 287, 1987 Tenn. App. LEXIS 3037, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/derryberry-v-hill-tennctapp-1987.