Kramer v. Sowers

24 Pa. D. & C.4th 204, 1995 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 264
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Carbon County
DecidedMarch 3, 1995
Docketno. 93-2083
StatusPublished

This text of 24 Pa. D. & C.4th 204 (Kramer v. Sowers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Carbon County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kramer v. Sowers, 24 Pa. D. & C.4th 204, 1995 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 264 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1995).

Opinion

LAVELLE, P.J.,

Defendants/petitioners, Charles W. Sowers and Jeanne M. Sowers, his wife, are asking this court to open a judgment which plaintiffs/respondents William J. Kramer, Jr. and Joseph M. Mangeney, K&M, confessed against them in the sum of $155,962.53 on October 5, 1993. Depositions have been taken pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 209 and they have been filed of record.

On November 10, 1993 execution on the judgment was stayed by court order upon Sowers depositing $120,000 in escrow with the prothonotary. On August 29, 1994, after Sowers sold a Montgomery County property, they deposited an additional $60,000 in escrow with the Carbon County Prothonotary. After reviewing the extensive briefs of counsel, the depositions, and counsels’ oral arguments we make, in narrative form, the following:

FINDINGS OF FACTS

On or about May 28, 1992, William J. Kramer Jr., Susan Kramer, Joseph M. Mangeney and Eileen F. Mangeney, sellers, entered into an agreement of sale with Sowers for the sale of a residential property known as Lot E-17, Linden Drive, Split Rock at Lake Harmony, Kidder Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. The agreement of sale specified a purchase price of $400,000 and provided for a mortgage contingency of $250,000, but otherwise contained no other financing contingencies. The agreement of sale also contained a “one year warranty” clause. Section 16 of the agreement of sale further provided that the agreement of sale represented the entire agreement [206]*206between the sellers and Sowers, and that there were no other agreements or understandings between the parties.

Because K&M knew that the purchase of the Split Rock property would create a cash flow problem for Sowers, and Sowers represented that they intended to sell the Hazard Run property as soon as possible, K&M orally agreed to make a $150,000 loan to Sowers after settlement on the sale of the Split Rock property. The agreement of sale that was executed between the sellers and Sowers, however, did not mention the $150,000 loan. At all times up to and including settlement on the Split Rock property, Sowers and their counsel insisted that the $150,000 loan be kept separate from the transactions surrounding the purchase of the Split Rock property. This was necessary in order to avoid any conflicts with a loan application and related affidavits and documents which Sowers were submitting to Merrill Lynch for a $250,000 mortgage loan envisioned in the agreement of sale.

Settlement on the purchase of the Split Rock property by Sowers was held in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on August 20, 1992. At settlement, sellers tendered a deed for the Split Rock property to the settlement officer for recording; sellers were paid the full purchase price specified in the agreement of sale, including Sowers’ check for $150,000 representing the amount needed to close on the Split Rock property.

On or about August 21, 1992 following settlement between the sellers and Sowers on the Split Rock property, K&M and Sowers met to consummate the $150,000 loan. Fulfilling their earlier oral undertaking to Sowers, K&M made the $150,000 loan to Sowers in exchange for the note and the mortgage. These loan documents were issued [207]*207to K&M, not to the sellers. Moreover, the $150,000 loan was secured by Sowers’ property located on Hazard Run Road in Lake Harmony, Kidder Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

On June 29, 1993, counsel for K&M sent a letter to Andrew Knowlton, Esquire, reminding Attorney Knowlton that the note was due and payable by his clients on August 20, 1993. Neither Sowers nor their counsel responded to this letter until the middle of August, 1993, at which time defendant Charles Sowers contacted plaintiff William Kramer. Defendant Charles Sowers claimed that he was short of cash due to his failure to sell the Hazard Run property, and accordingly was unable to pay the note when due. Sowers further asserted that he believed that he was not obligated to repay the principal amount of the note until he sold the Hazard Run property, provided that he paid interest on the note from and after August 20,1993. Plaintiff Kramer urged defendant Charles Sowers to examine the note and the mortgage, as these documents were quite explicit that the $150,000 loan was due and payable in full on August 20, 1993, without right of extension.

K&M’s counsel on August 16, 1993 sent a second reminder notice concerning the due date of the note directly to Sowers by certified mail.

The August 20, 1993 maturity date of the note passed without payment or communication from Sowers. On August 25, 1993 Attorney Knowlton first contacted K&M’s counsel and stated that he had just been retained by Sowers in connection with the present default situation under the note. During this conversation he reiterated defendant Charles Sowers’ belief that the maturity of the note could [208]*208be extended until the Hazard Run property was sold, provided that interest was paid during this extension period, an assertion which Attorney Knowlton commemorated in a letter dated August 27, 1993 to K&M’s counsel. By letter dated August 27, Attorney Knowlton stated that Sowers had obtained estimates regarding breach of warranty claims related to the Split Rock property in the neighborhood of $25,000.

Judgment by confession was finally entered on the note after more than a month of discussions failed to produce a proposal from Sowers to repay the note. In accordance with the terms of the note, judgment in favor of K&M and against Sowers was confessed on October 6, 1993 for principal, interest and attorneys’ fees in the amount of $155,962.53.

DISCUSSION

“To open a confessed judgment, a party must act promptly, allege a meritorious defense, and present sufficient evidence of that defense to require submission of the issues to a jury.” Bell Federal Savings and Loan Association of Bellevue v. Laura Lanes Inc., 291 Pa. Super. 395, 398, 435 A.2d 1285, 1286 (1981). “The petitioning party has the burden of producing sufficient evidence to substantiate its alleged defenses. . . . America Corp. v. Cascerceri, 255 Pa. Super. 574, 580 n.6, 389 A.2d 126,129 n.6 (1978); Instapak Corp. v. S. Weisbrod Lamp and Shade Co. Inc., 248 Pa. Super. 176, 181, 374 A.2d 1376, 1381 (1977). The defenses asserted must be valid.” Laura Lanes, supra at 398-99, 435 A.2d at 1286-87.

[209]*209Sowers’ alleged defenses do not constitute “valid defenses” and lack the evidentiary basis required to submit an issue to the jury. Therefore, the petition to open the judgment must be denied.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to petitioners, they have, at best, an unliquidated claim against William J. Kramer, Jr., and Susan Kramer and Joseph M. Mangeney and Eileen F. Mangeney for alleged defects in the Split Rock property which constituted an alleged breach of warranty under the agreement of sale. The petition to open asks this court to allow Sowers to advance a breach of warranty claim which is yet to be litigated or liquidated and set it off against K&M’s judgment. The applicable law makes it clear to this court that we cannot do that.

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Related

Bell Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Laura Lanes, Inc.
435 A.2d 1285 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Instapak Corp. v. S. Weisbrod Lamp & Shade Co.
374 A.2d 1376 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
America Corp. v. Cascerceri
389 A.2d 126 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Harrison v. Stoeckert
85 A.2d 154 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1952)
Thorp v. Wegefarth
56 Pa. 82 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1868)
G.A.C. Credit Corp. v. Acme Accordion Studios, Inc.
286 A.2d 678 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
24 Pa. D. & C.4th 204, 1995 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kramer-v-sowers-pactcomplcarbon-1995.