Friedman v. Development Management Group, Inc.

403 N.E.2d 610, 82 Ill. App. 3d 949, 38 Ill. Dec. 379, 1980 Ill. App. LEXIS 2624
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 28, 1980
Docket79-828
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 403 N.E.2d 610 (Friedman v. Development Management Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Friedman v. Development Management Group, Inc., 403 N.E.2d 610, 82 Ill. App. 3d 949, 38 Ill. Dec. 379, 1980 Ill. App. LEXIS 2624 (Ill. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE MEJDA

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs brought this action to reform a contract to convey a condominium apartment owned by defendants. Pursuant to defendants’ motion, the complaint was stricken, the action dismissed and judgment entered for defendants. On appeal, plaintiffs contend that: (1) they had an option agreement to purchase the condominium at a price lower than the one contained in the final sales contract; (2) mutual mistake as to the effect of the alleged option agreement warrants reformation of the sales contract; and (3) their remedy at law is inadequate. We affirm. The following facts were contained in plaintiffs’ complaint and will be taken as true for purposes of this appeal.

The named plaintiffs, Estelle F. Friedman and Bernard S. Friedman, had signed a contract to purchase an apartment at the Newport Condominiums in Chicago. The property on which the condominiums were situated was owned by La Salle National Bank (La Salle) as trustee under a trust agreement which named the defendant partnership, Beach Partners, Ltd. (Beach Partners), as beneficiary. Defendant Development Management Group, Inc. (Development Management), is the agent of Beach Partners. In July 1978, Development Management and Beach Partners began developing the apartment building as condominiums, after La Salle had purchased, or agreed to purchase, the property. Condominium units were first offered to current tenants, and magazine and newspaper advertisements announced that the remaining units would be sold to the general public.

In reponse to the advertising, Estelle Friedman visited the condominium sales office on July 24,1978, where she paid defendants $300 and received a property report which contained a description of the property and information on sales prices and tax assessments. Defendants’ agent gave Mrs. Friedman a handwritten receipt, acknowledging receipt of the $300 “as reservation for 2 BR, North Tower, 5 to 16th fl., S.E. exposure.” The price lists contained a notation which read: “Tenant price effective on contracts executed on or before September 1, 1978. Public price subject to change without notice.”

On August 22,1978, defendants sent the Friedmans a letter informing them that they would receive a mailgram from defendants which would let them know the date on which their priority reservation period and seven-day price guarantee would begin. Defendants sent another letter on August 29, 1978, telling the Friedmans of delays, but saying: “All of the conditions previously expressed are still in effect 0 ° ° .” The promised mailgram was sent September 14,1978, notifying the Friedmans that they could enter into a contract to purchase a condominium at any time after 10 a.m. Sunday, September 17, 1978, with price protection to last for seven days from that date.

On September 17, 1978, the Friedmans signed a contract offering to purchase unit 1616N for $65,200. The contract was accepted by defendants on October 11,1978. The price contained in the contract had been quoted to the Friedmans on September 17 by one of defendants’ agents and included $60,700 for the apartment itself and $4500 for a garage right. The property report given to the Friedmans on July 24,1978, listed unit 1616N at $52,200 for the apartment and $3500 for the garage right. Plaintiffs had received no notice before September 17,1978, that the prices for the apartments would not be as stated in the property report they had received.

In their complaint filed on November 22,1978, the Friedmans allege that the contract to convey the apartment for $65,200 was entered under mutual mistake concerning whether the receipt of July 24, 1978, and its confirming documents and letters were binding on the parties. Alternatively, they claim that they were coerced into signing the contract by defendants’ repeated urgings that few apartments remained to be sold and that the apartments were subject to sale to others while plaintiffs decided whether or not to buy. The Friedmans seek the reformation of the contract, setting the price at $55,700. In a second count, the Friedmans ask that the case be allowed to proceed as a class action and that contracts of the other members of the class be similarly reformed. Plaintiffs also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on December 13,1978, to prevent the closing of the sales of any condominium units to plaintiff class members pending final resolution of the Friedmans’ claim.

Defendants subsequently filed a motion to strike and dismiss the complaint on the grounds that no mistake of fact was alleged, no facts were pleaded to show the parties had entered into a binding option agreement and plaintiffs had not pleaded an inadequate remedy at law.

On February 6, 1979, defendants’ motion was granted and plaintiffs were given leave to file an amended complaint within 21 days. On March 6, 1979, plaintiffs having failed to file an amended complaint, the cause was dismissed with prejudice and judgment for defendants’ costs was entered against plaintiffs. Plaintiffs appeal from the final order.

Opinion

Plaintiffs contend that they are entitled to reformation of the sales contract in order to set the purchase price for the condominium at $55,700 rather than the $65,200 shown in the contract. The basis of an action to reform a contract is that the parties had reached an agreement but, in reducing it to writing, some provision agreed upon was omitted or one that was not agreed upon was inserted, either through mutual mistake or through mistake on the part of one party and fraud on the part of the other. Reformation will change the contract so that it properly reflects the agreement originally reached by the parties. (Harley v. Magnolia Petroleum Co. (1941), 378 Ill. 19, 37 N.E.2d 760.) For reformation to be available as a remedy, both the mistake and an actual agreement other than that expressed in the writing must be shown. (Parrish v. City of Carbondale (1978), 61 Ill. App. 3d 500, 378 N.E.2d 243.) Plaintiffs have alleged that the written sales contract was executed under a mutual mistake concerning the effect of the receipt "and property report which defendants gave to Mrs. Friedman upon receiving her payment of $300 on July 24, 1978. According to plaintiffs, the receipt and property report constituted a binding option agreement which set the price of the condominium at $55,700. Consequently, they maintain, the parties were mutually mistaken when the final written sales contract was drawn to reflect the $65,200 sales price. We disagree.

An option is actually a contract and must therefore contain all the attributes of a contract. (Whitelaw v. Brady (1954), 3 Ill. 2d 583, 589, 121 N.E.2d 785, 789.) If the receipt and property report do form an agreement for the purchase of unit 1616N at $55,700, the property must be described with sufficient certainty to enable it to be specifically enforced. (Morey v. Hoffman (1957), 12 Ill. 2d 125, 145 N.E.2d 644; Welsh v. Jakstas (1948), 401 Ill. 288, 82 N.E.2d 53.) The documents reflect no such specificity.

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Bluebook (online)
403 N.E.2d 610, 82 Ill. App. 3d 949, 38 Ill. Dec. 379, 1980 Ill. App. LEXIS 2624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/friedman-v-development-management-group-inc-illappct-1980.