Floyd v. Wigfield

42 Pa. D. & C.5th 141
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedOctober 10, 2014
DocketNo. 2012-C-4131
StatusPublished

This text of 42 Pa. D. & C.5th 141 (Floyd v. Wigfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Floyd v. Wigfield, 42 Pa. D. & C.5th 141 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.,

I. INTRODUCTION

Before the court for consideration are plaintiffs, Shannon Floyd, Norman D’Avanzo, and Ruth D’Avanzo’s, complaint filed April 2, 2013, defendant Edward C. Wigfield’s new matter and cross-claim filed on May 16, 2013, and defendant Northampton County Regional Realty, LLC d/b/a Keller Williams Real Estate’s new matter and new matter cross-claims filed on May 7, 2013, defendant’s, Krause Home Inspection Service, Inc. answer to plaintiffs’ complaint with new matter and cross claims filed on July 17, 2013, answer, new matter and crossclaims of defendant, Prudential Patt, White Real Estate-Macungie, to plaintiffs’ complaint filed on August 8, 2013.

[144]*144On September 8, 2014, the court presided over a non-jury trial in this matter. Present at trial were plaintiff, Shannon Floyd; counsel for plaintiffs, Matthew T. Tranter, Esquire; pro se defendants, Edward C. Wigfield (“Wigfield”) and Carol A. Wigfield (“Mrs. Wigfield”) (collectively, “the Wigfields”); counsel for defendants, Keller Williams Real Estate and Northampton County Regional Realty, LLC d/b/a Keller Williams Real Estate (collectively, “Keller Williams”), Thomas J. Gregory, Esquire; counsel for defendant, Krause Home Inspection Services Inc. (“Krause”), Thomas Geroulo, Esquire; and counsel for defendant, prudential Patt-White Real EstateMacungie (“Patt-White”), Richard P. Kovacs, Esquire.

Prior to trial, at the pre-trial conference on August 19, 2014, and after specific discussion with the court, Wigfield informed the court that, at trial, he would be pursuing all cross-claims against Keller Williams, Krause, and PattWhite. As a result of Wigfield’s representation at the pretrial conference, counsel for said defendants appeared at trial prepared to defend against the Wigfields ’ cross-claims. However, at the trial held September 8, 2014, Wigfield did not present any evidence whatsoever in support of the Wigfields’ cross-claims against Keller Williams, Krause, or Patt-White. Based upon the Wigfields’ failure to present any evidence in furtherance of their cross-claims, this court dismisses the cross-claims filed by the Wigfields against Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White and the following findings and conclusions will not further address said cross-claims.

Also at the pre-trial conference, counsel for Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White advised the court that Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White indicated that they had reached an agreement to withdraw all claims, cross-claims, joinders, and new matters filed by and [145]*145against one another. However, the aforesaid parties failed to provide the court with a sufficiently specific stipulation on the record memorializing their agreement to withdraw these claims. As a result, Keller Williams, Krause, andPattWhite did not effectively withdraw their claims against one another prior to trial. Moreover, Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White did not present any evidence in support of any of their cross-claims at trial. In light of this fact, this court dismisses all cross-claims filed by Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White and the following findings and conclusions will not further address said cross-claims.

Additionally, at the outset of trial, the parties stipulated to the fact that plaintiffs, in the course of litigation, have entered into settlement agreements with all defendants except the Wigfields. At the close of the evidentiary portion of the non-jury trial held September 8, 2014, counsel for Keller Williams, Krause, and PattWhite presented and entered into evidence the following settlement agreements: “Keller Williams 1,” “Krause 1,” and “Prudential 1.” These agreements, executed individually between the plaintiffs and all defendants except the Wigfields, release and discharge the plaintiffs’ claims against Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White. Therefore, this court will not address Count VII, Count VIII, Count IX, and the portion of Count X against Keller Williams, as the claims contained in said counts have been released and discharged by virtue of the individual settlement agreements executed between the plaintiffs and Keller Williams, Krause, and Patt-White.

In light of the foregoing, the findings and conclusions contained in this opinion will only address claims by the plaintiffs against the Wigfields which are contained in Count I-VI and X-XI of the plaintiffs’ complaint.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

[146]*146At the outset of trial, all of the parties stipulated to the following facts:

1. On or about October 9, 2010, plaintiffs purchased property from defendant Wigfields, located at 4774 Jasper Road, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, (“property”)
2. Prior to plaintiffs purchase of said real estate, it was solely owned by defendant Wigfields, who made significant changes to the characteristics and use of the property between the time they bought it and the time it was sold to plaintiffs.
3. During their ownership, defendant Wigfields, converted a barn building located on the property into multiple apartment units, renovated other buildings on the property, altered the property’s water waste system and performed other general work as owners of the property.
4. When defendant Wigfields decided to sell the property in 2009, they entered into a listing agreement with defendant Keller Williams.
5. Thereafter, defendant Wigfields prepared various documents and provided information, including a disclosure statement, wherein they made representations with regard to the characteristics, qualities, defects and other matters concerning the property, but did not disclose any violations or unpermitted work concerning the additions, alterations and structural changes which were performed.
6. Defendant Wigfields knew permits were required for portions of the work done at the property and intentionally did not obtain permits.
7. Defendant Wigfields made representations to [147]*147plaintiffs that said property, specifically the main residence and apartments were ready for use and that no issues existed with the property.
8. The property was marketed as having two operable income producing rental units.
9. Plaintiffs entered into an agreement of sale to purchase the property on or about August 16, 2010, with settlement to occur before October 9, 2010.
10. At the time of purchase, the rental units were occupied by tenants.
11. Subsequent to plaintiffs’ purchase of the property, an issue arose with tenants prompting inspection of the property by Upper Milford Township zoning officer, Alan Brokate, which revealed that there were numerous violations of the Upper Milford Township’s laws, regulations and ordinances including, but not limited to, the fact that the property was not zoned or approved for multiple rental units and that one of the rental units would need to be eliminated.
12. Plaintiffs filed a request for a variance and were granted their request to allow for two rental units on said property, conditioned upon an inspection to confirm compliance with Upper Milford Township standards for each dwelling unit.
13.

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Bluebook (online)
42 Pa. D. & C.5th 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/floyd-v-wigfield-pactcompllehigh-2014.