Keblish v. Thomas Equipment, Ltd.

660 A.2d 38, 541 Pa. 20, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 23, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 456
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 22, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 660 A.2d 38 (Keblish v. Thomas Equipment, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keblish v. Thomas Equipment, Ltd., 660 A.2d 38, 541 Pa. 20, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 23, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 456 (Pa. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

NIX, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from an Order of the Superior Court reversing an Order of the court of common pleas which granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings in favor of Appellant, Smitty’s Rentals, Inc. (“Smitty’s”). The trial court held that the breach of warranty provisions of Article 2-Sales (“Article 2”) of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) do not apply to a one-day lease of a piece of heavy equipment. Keblish v. Thomas Equip. Ltd., No. 1326 Civil 1992 (C.P. Monroe County Aug. 14, 1992). The Superior Court reversed and concluded that the warranty provisions of Article 2 apply to all lease transactions based upon this Court’s decision in Cucchi v. Rollins Protective Services, 524 Pa. 514, 574 A.2d 565 (1990). Keblish v. Thomas Equip. Ltd., 427 Pa.Super. 93, 628 A.2d 840 (1993). We disagree with the Superior Court’s application of Cucchi and therefore reverse for the reasons that follow.

On June 28, 1987, Elwood Hogarth entered into a contract with Smitty’s for a one-day lease of a front-end loader with a backhoe attachment which was manufactured by Thomas Equipment, Ltd. The front-end loader was delivered to Hogarth the following day by an employee of Smitty’s. The employee explained the operation of the front-end loader to Hogarth and Jim Fisher, who had been hired by Hogarth to operate the loader.

After Hogarth and Fisher completed their task, they parked the front-end loader on the property of Hogarth’s neighbor, Nicholas Keblish. Hogarth had received permission from Keblish to park the loader on his property in order to facilitate its return to Smitty’s. Later that afternoon, an employee of Smitty’s returned to pick-up the loader and found Keblish dead, crushed between the seat of the backhoe and the roof of the cab.

[23]*23Patricia Keblish, the decedent’s widow, initiated a suit in the court of common pleas one day prior to the fourth anniversary of her husband’s death. Mrs. Keblish, in her own right and as administratrix of her husband’s estate, sought recovery under Pennsylvania’s Wrongful Death Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8301, and Survival Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8302, for damages caused by Smitty’s alleged breach of express and implied warranties that attached to the transactions which ultimately resulted in the use of the front-end loader by the decedent.

Smitty’s filed an answer and new matter raising the affirmative defenses of comparative negligence, assumption of the risk, lack of privity of contract, exclusion of warranties, and statute of limitations. Following the filing of additional pleadings, Smitty’s filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. The trial court granted the motion and entered judgment in favor of Smitty’s. The court held that the breach of warranty provisions of Article 2 of the UCC, 13 Pa.C.S. §§ 2313-2315, did not apply to the one-day lease of the front-end loader. Keblish v. Thomas Equip. Ltd., No. 1326 Civil 1992, slip op. at 13 (C.P. Monroe County Aug. 14, 1992).

In rendering its decision, the trial court relied on this Court’s analysis in Cucchi v. Rollins Protective Services, 524 Pa. 514, 574 A.2d 565 (1990) (plurality opinion), which involved the application of Article 2’s warranty provisions to a lease agreement. The transaction at issue in Cucchi was a contract for a burglar alarm system in which the homeowners paid to Rollins Protective Services Company (“Rollins”) a one-time fee for the installation of the alarm system and a monthly fee for service and maintenance of the system. The contract specified that the alarm system was the property of Rollins and that it would be returned to the company upon the termination of the lease. The home was subsequently burglarized and approximately $36,000 of personal property was stolen. The burglar alarm had been activated but did not operate or sound a signal. Consequently, the homeowners brought an action against Rollins alleging, inter alia, breach of warranty under the express and implied warranty provisions of Article 2. A [24]*24jury returned a verdict in favor of the homeowners on the breach of warranty claim and awarded $30,000 in damages.

On appeal, the Superior Court held that the express and implied warranty provisions of Article 2 of the UCC and its statute of limitations were applicable to the lease of the burglar alarm system. However, it also determined that the homeowners’ complaint for breach of warranty under the UCC, 13 Pa.C.S. § 2725, was untimely because it was filed more than four years after the system had been delivered.

Allowance of appeal was granted and a plurality of this Court reversed the Order of the Superior Court. The plurality concluded that the homeowners’ complaint alleging breach of warranty was timely filed under the UCC statute of limitations. In so holding, the opinion announcing the judgment of the Court1 stated:

we will judicially extend by analogy selected provisions of [Article 2] to transactions involving the lease of goods on a case by case basis, considering the nature of the specific transaction (lease), the language, purpose, and intent of the UCC provision under consideration, and the practicality of . applying the particular provision(s) at issue to the particular transaction in goods.

Id. at 523, 574 A.2d at 570. Based on the facts of the case, it was held that the express and implied warranties made by Rollins extended to the future performance of the burglar alarm system. Id. at 532, 574 A.2d at 574. Thus, the complaint alleging breach of warranty was timely filed because the cause of action accrued and the statute of limitations began to [25]*25run at the time of the breach, which was discovered within the four year period of limitation.

In the instant case, the trial court rejected the argument that the holding in Cucchi unconditionally extended warranty protection to all lease agreements. Keblish v. Thomas Equip. Ltd., No. 1326 Civil 1992, slip op. at 11 (C.P. Monroe County Aug. 14, 1992). The court found that the one-day lease of the front-end loader was distinguishable from the long-term lease in Cucchi to the extent that the holding in Cucchi was inapplicable to the present facts. Id. It therefore concluded that the warranty provisions of Article 2 did not apply to the lease agreement in question. Id. at 13.

The Superior Court disagreed with the trial court’s reasoning and reversed the entry of judgment on the pleadings. Keblish v. Thomas Equip. Ltd., 427 Pa.Super. 93, 628 A.2d 840 (1993). That court expressed the view that

Cucchi ... does not authorize different treatment for different types of lease transactions where the warranty provisions are concerned. Rather, the warranty provisions are applicable to all lease transactions.... The “case-by-case” analysis ... is necessary only to determine whether a specific provision of Article 2-Sales — which has not heretofore been extended by analogy to leases — should be applied to lease transactions.

Id.

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660 A.2d 38, 541 Pa. 20, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 23, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 456, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keblish-v-thomas-equipment-ltd-pa-1995.