KJ Win, Inc. v. KNB Motors, Inc.

2024 IL App (1st) 230783-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided April 5, 2024·No. 1-23-0783·Unpublished

Opinion

2024 IL App (1st) 230783-U

FIFTH DIVISION

April 5, 2024

No. 1-23-0783

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

KJ WIN, INC., ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of

Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County.

)

v. ) No. 21 L 006049 )

KNB MOTORS, INC., ) Honorable ) Patrick J. Sherlock, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE MIKVA delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Lyle and Navarro concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: (1) The trial court’s finding in favor of plaintiff was not against the manifest weight of the evidence; (2) because the oral agreement for storage was separate from the written sales agreements, the parol evidence rule did not bar testimony about the storage agreement; and (3) the damages award in favor of plaintiff was not against the manifest weight of the evidence.

¶2 Plaintiff KJ Win, Inc. (KJ Win), is a California cargo shipment company that purchased a commercial truck from defendant KNB Motors, Inc. (KNB), an Illinois car dealership. Before KJ Win picked up the truck from KNB, KNB resold the truck to another customer. KJ Win sued KNB for breach of contract. After a bench trial, the trial court found in favor of KJ Win and awarded it

$20,129.12 in damages. On appeal, KNB argues that (1) the trial court rendered a judgment based on documents not admitted into evidence and improperly denied KNB’s motion for a directed verdict, (2) the trial court erred by admitting testimony of an oral agreement, and (3) KJ Win failed to produce competent evidence of damages. For the following reasons, we affirm.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 A. Pretrial Proceedings

¶5 In its verified amended complaint, KJ Win asserted claims for breach of contract and fraud against KNB. KJ Win alleged that on March 31, 2021, KJ Win and KNB executed a bill of sale for KNB to sell KJ Win a 2017 Volvo commercial truck. KJ Win paid the purchase price in full to KNB on or about the same day. The parties orally agreed that KJ Win would pick up the truck at least one month later. In later phone conversations, they agreed to “parking storage fees” of $20 per day and later $50 per day. When KJ Win attempted to pick up the truck from KNB’s facility on or about May 18, 2021, KNB refused to deliver the truck because it had sold it to someone else. In its complaint, KJ Win sought specific performance of the contract, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.

¶6 KJ Win attached several documents to its complaint, including the bill of sale, an “as-is” rider, and a receipt and acknowledgment, all of which were signed by the buyer and the seller. The bill of sale, dated March 31, 2021, shows that KNB Motors sold the truck to KJ Win for $51,547.60. It provides that the “[p]urchaser agrees that this order includes all of the terms and conditions hereof, that this order cancels and supersedes any prior agreement written or oral.” The “as-is” rider provides that “[n]o oral statements or representations shall be deemed evidence on any grounds unless reduced to writing and signed by the party to be charged.” And the receipt and acknowledgment, dated March 31, 2021, provides that “[b]uyer acknowledges that no other oral

promises or representations have been made regarding this vehicle or the transaction other than those that have been reduced to a writing.”

¶7 KNB Motors moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2020)). On March 16, 2022, the trial court granted the motion in part, dismissing the fraud claim and the request for specific performance.

¶8 In its answer to KJ Win’s complaint, KNB admitted that on or about March 31, 2021, the parties executed a bill of sale for the truck and that on or about the same day KJ Win paid the full price of $51,547.60 to KNB. KNB also admitted that representatives from KJ Win arrived to pick up the truck on or about May 18, 2021, but that KNB refused to deliver it, having already sold the truck to another party.

¶9 A. Trial

¶ 10 KJ Win presented five witnesses—Zhogjie Zhang, who purchased the truck from KNB on behalf of KJ Win; Neo Lee, Mr. Zhang’s friend who interpreted the communications with KNB for Mr. Zhang; and three KNB employees. KNB did not present any witnesses.

¶ 11 1. Zhogjie Zhang

¶ 12 Mr. Zhang testified through an interpreter that KJ Win was formed in January 2021 and that, in 2021, he was the CEO. Mr. Zhang negotiated the purchase of the 2017 Volvo commercial truck. Mr. Zhang used his friend to interpret his communications with KNB because his English was “not very good.” The trial transcript identifies this friend as “Neil,” but these appear to be references to Mr. Neo Lee.

¶ 13 Approximately three days before the day he signed the bill of sale, Mr. Zhang spoke with KNB over the phone. Mr. Zhang asked Mr. Lee “to also inform KNB that if [he] purchase[d] this truck or vehicle, [he] would only be able to pick it up after a month.” Mr. Zhang said KNB Motors

agreed to “leave the truck for a month, then the truck w[ould] be picked up.” Mr. Zhang explained that the reason for the delay was because KJ Win was a new company, getting the documents together would take time, and it would be more than a month before the truck could be on the road. Mr. Zhang was told that the storage would be free. Mr. Zhang could not recall the name of the person he spoke to at KNB.

¶ 14 Mr. Zhang paid the full amount for the truck on April 1, 2021. He received the title document for the truck in the mail and still possessed it at the time of trial. After receiving the title, Mr. Zhang next heard from KNB on April 15, 2021, when he was told that the storage fee would be $25 per day, and again on May 7, 2021, when he was told that the storage fee would be $50 per day. Through Mr. Lee, Mr. Zhang agreed to these amounts. No one at KNB ever told Mr. Zhang that if the truck was not picked up by a certain day it would be resold.

¶ 15 Mr. Zhang went to KNB’s facility to pick up the truck on May 17, 2021, bringing all the necessary documents. He spoke with KNB employees named Eugene and Murphy. KNB did not permit Mr. Zhang to pick up the truck that day because KNB had already sold the truck to someone else.

¶ 16 KNB said it would refund KJ Win in a week. Instead, Mr. Zhang received a letter and a refund check in the mail in November 2021. The letter was dated June 21, 2021, and informed KJ Win that KNB was refunding it the amount of the sale, less a $750 restocking fee, $150 new-title fee, $595 prep fee, $303.60 dock fee, and a storage fee “of 950 per day for the dates of April 21 *** through May 8, [2021] and “600 and 150 per day for the dates of May 9 *** to May 13, 2021”—for a final refund total of $47,849. Mr. Zhang was unable to deposit the refund check because it “jumped or bumped,” but received a wire from KNB Motors around November 17, 2021. Mr. Zhang said he did not agree to pay a storage fee of $100 per day from April 21 to May

8, 2021, and did not agree to pay a storage fee of $150 per day from May 9 to May 13, 2021.

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KJ Win, Inc. v. KNB Motors, Inc., 2024 IL App (1st) 230783-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2024).

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