Kalina v. Donato

40 Pa. D. & C.4th 206, 1998 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 39
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County
DecidedApril 3, 1998
Docketno. 6377-95 A.D.
StatusPublished

This text of 40 Pa. D. & C.4th 206 (Kalina v. Donato) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kalina v. Donato, 40 Pa. D. & C.4th 206, 1998 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 39 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1998).

Opinion

STALLONE, J.,

This action arises out of the sale of a house by the estate of Roma S. Lattemann to the appellant, Marion E. Kalina, and her husband, Andrew (who is now deceased), on October 4, 1993, following the showing of the property on September 17, 1993, and the execution of an agreement of sale by Mr. and Mrs. Kalina and Mrs. Donato, on behalf of the estate of Roma S. Lattemann, on that same date.

[208]*208One of the appellees is Frank Donato, who at the time was employed as a real estate agent for appellee Hayward Stout Inc., the listing realtor. Another is Mr. Donato’s wife, Roma Ann Donato, who is the daughter of Roma S. Lattemann and the administratrix of her probate estate. The remaining appellee is J.C. Ehrlich Co. Inc., who inspected the property and issued a “Wood-destroying insect inspection report.” The termite damage that was found at that time in the kitchen and closet and noted on that report was repaired in July 1993, some two months prior to the showing of the property to Mrs. Kalina. This report was obtained by the estate of Roma S. Lattemann for its own use and not as a condition under the terms of the agreement of sale between Mr. and Mrs. Kalina and Mrs. Donato.

Mrs. Kalina claims that in April 1995, which was almost two and one-half years after the real estate closing was held, she discovered extensive termite damage under the living room floor which she alleges the appellees were well aware of and had failed to disclose to her prior to closing. Accordingly, she asserts in her amended complaint filed against Mrs. Donato claims of fraudulent misrepresentation and a violation, based upon the alleged fraudulent misrepresentation, of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, title 73, 73 P.S. §201-1 et seq. (Supp. 1997), as well as breach of contract. Against Mr. Donato and Hayward Stout Inc., she sets forth claims of fraudulent misrepresentation and a violation, based upon the alleged fraudulent misrepresentation, of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, title 73, 73 P.S. §201-1 et seq. (Supp. 1997). And against J.C. Ehrlich, she sets forth claims of negligent misrepresentation and a violation, based upon the alleged [209]*209negligent misrepresentation, of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, title 73, 73 P.S. §201-1 et seq. (Supp. 1997).

As a result of recent amendments to our Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure governing summary judgments, any party may move for summary judgment after the relevant pleadings are closed. Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2; Ertel v. Patriot-News Company, 544 Pa. 93, 101 n.3, 674 A.2d 1038, 1042 n.3 (1996).1 In order to grant summary judgment, a reviewing court must find an absence of a genuine dispute of the facts material or essential to the proof of a particular claim, in which event the moving party would be entitled to a judgment on that claim as a matter of law. Beach v. Burns International Security Services, 406 Pa. Super. 160, 593 A.2d 1285 (1991). Accordingly, when the non-moving party responds to a motion for summary judgment which is filed by a party not having the burden of proving those essential elements of that claim at trial, the party having that burden of proof at trial must set forth in a written “response”2 the evidence which he/she has [210]*210pertaining to those elements of the claim to satisfy the court that there is a genuine dispute relative to one or more of the facts that must be proven at trial for the moving party to be successful on that claim. If that is done to the satisfaction of the summary judgment court, the moving party is not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law but the claim is to be referred to the fact-finder for disposition. Ertel, supra.

As applied to the case at bar, the appellee contends that Mrs. Kalina, who obviously has the burden of proving all of the elements of her claims at trial, did not present evidence to this summary judgment court that would create a genuine issue or dispute as to whether Mrs. Donato breached her contract with Mrs. Kalina or that Mrs. Donato or any of the other appellees fraudulently or negligently, in the case of J.C. Ehrlich, failed to disclose to Mrs. Kalina the existence of termite infestation in the living room. Therefore, Mrs. Kalina’s failure to do so entitles them to summary judgment on all of the claims filed against them.

In order to rule on these summary judgment motions, this court must consider as to Mrs. Donato the elements which, if proven at trial, would constitute a breach of contract and, as to all of the appellees, the elements [211]*211of Mrs. Kalina’s claims for fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation and for violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

The five elements that are material and, therefore, must be proven for Mrs. Kalina to succeed on a breach of contract claim are: (1) the existence of a valid and binding contract to which she and Mrs. Donato are parties; (2) the essential terms of the alleged contract; (3) her compliance with the terms of the contract; (4) that Mrs. Donato breached a duty imposed upon her by the contract for the sale of the real estate premises; and (5) damages resulting from the breach. Gundlach v. Reinstein, 924 F. Supp. 684 (E.D. Pa. 1996).

The four elements that are material and, therefore, must be proven at trial for Mrs. Kalina to establish a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation are: (1) a fraudulent misrepresentation of an alleged fact; (2) an intention by the maker that the recipient will act upon the misrepresentation; (3) a justifiable reliance by the recipient upon the misrepresentation; and (4) that the damage suffered by the recipient was the proximate result of the misrepresentation. Myers v. McHenry, 398 Pa. Super. 100, 580 A.2d 860 (1990). The four elements that are material and, therefore, that must be proven for Mrs. Kalina to establish a claim for negligent misrepresentation are: (1) a misrepresentation of a fact without the exercise of reasonable care or competence in obtaining or communicating the information; (2) an intention by the maker that the recipient will act upon the misrepresentation; (3) a justifiable reliance by the recipient upon the misrepresentation; and (4) that the damage suffered by the recipient was the proximate result of the misrepresentation. Gibbs v. Ernst, 538 Pa. 193, 647 A.2d 882 (1994).

And in order for Mrs. Kalina to succeed on her claim for violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, she must prove that [212]*212the appellees against whom she has made that claim engaged in fraudulent or other deceptive conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding. Title 73, 73 P.S. §201-2(xxi) (Supp. 1997). That is also true with regard to her claim against J.C. Ehrlich, even though the underlying claim is for negligent and not fraudulent misrepresentation. DiLucido v. Terminix International Inc., 450 Pa. Super. 393,

Related

Gundlach v. Reinstein
924 F. Supp. 684 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1996)
Myers v. McHenry
580 A.2d 860 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Gibbs v. Ernst
647 A.2d 882 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Ertel v. Patriot-News Co.
674 A.2d 1038 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
DiLucido v. Terminix International, Inc.
676 A.2d 1237 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Merriweather v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc.
684 A.2d 137 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Beach v. Burns International Security Services
593 A.2d 1285 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Morin v. Traveler's Rest Motel, Inc.
704 A.2d 1085 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
General State Authority v. Coleman Cable & Wire Co.
365 A.2d 1347 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
40 Pa. D. & C.4th 206, 1998 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 39, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kalina-v-donato-pactcomplberks-1998.