Maloney v. Pihera

573 N.E.2d 1379, 215 Ill. App. 3d 30, 158 Ill. Dec. 194, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1071
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 19, 1991
Docket5-89-0475
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 573 N.E.2d 1379 (Maloney v. Pihera) 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
Maloney v. Pihera, 573 N.E.2d 1379, 215 Ill. App. 3d 30, 158 Ill. Dec. 194, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1071 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE CHAPMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal arises from a dispute as to business dealings between Patrick Maloney and James Pihera. Between Maloney and Pihera, the parties purchased six parcels of real estate: (1) the Moak property, by Pihera; (2) the Wesley Griffin property, by Maloney; (3) the Ceretta property, by Pihera; (4) the Ballance property, by Maloney in his mother’s name; (5) the Victor Griffin property, by Maloney, subject to a nomineeship agreement; and (6) the Belcher property on a contract for deed to the parties as tenants in common. It was the parties’ intention to develop these parcels into condominium-campsites and camping-related endeavors. For the purpose of developing the properties, construction equipment was purchased and placed in the Lake Carlyle Development Company, Inc. (the corporation), an entity created by the parties. A rough illustration of the location of the properties is as follows:

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In 1981 Maloney and Pihera had a falling out. Maloney filed a three-count complaint in the circuit court seeking (1) a mandatory injunction to enforce the Victor Griffin property nomineeship agreement, an accounting, and damages for its breach by the nominee James Pihera; (2) liquidation and appointment of receiver of Lake Carlyle Development Company, Inc.; and (3) a declaration of the parties’ equitable interest in the Belcher property. Pihera filed an answer and counterclaim seeking a finding of an oral partnership agreement between the parties as to all properties, a dissolution of the partnership, and a settlement of the partnership accounts between the parties.

After a bench trial, the court entered judgment in favor of Maloney and against Pihera in the amount of $27,067.63 for unjust enrichment and $50,000 for breach of contract. The court found that while the parties attempted to form a partnership, there never was a true meeting of the minds on the terms and conditions of said partnership. The court ordered the corporation property sold and the net proceeds divided equally between the parties. The court also ordered the Belcher property sold and the net proceeds divided equally between the parties after a credit of $3,892 was given to Pihera. On Pihera’s counterclaim, the court awarded Pihera damages arising from an oral lease agreement on the Belcher property.

Following a hearing on Pihera’s post-trial motion, the court entered an amendment to judgment which stated that there was no basis in the pleadings for Maloney to claim damages upon a theory of unjust enrichment and denied Maloney damages upon that theory. The court also struck that portion of its original judgment awarding damages for breach of contract. Maloney was thereafter granted leave to file a fourth count to his complaint, which sounded in unjust enrichment. Following the addition of count IV to Maloney’s complaint, the court entered a second amendment to judgment. The second amendment to judgment vacated those portions of the amendment to judgment which denied relief based upon the theory of unjust enrichment. In addition, the second amendment to judgment awarded Maloney $27,067.63 based upon the theory of unjust enrichment. Both parties appeal from the trial court’s judgment. Both raised the issue of whether an error in integration was made in the judgment entered by the trial court. Pihera’s appeal presents the following issues for review: (1) whether the trial court erred in finding that no partnership existed; (2) assuming a partnership existed, whether pursuant to the Uniform Partnership Act the court should have ordered a dissolution of the partnership; and (3) whether the court erred in its assessment of damages. Maloney’s cross-appeal raises the issue of whether Maloney should be entitled to damages for funding the down payment on the Belcher property and for his maintenance of a business presence on the Belcher property. As both parties concede that an error was made in the trial court’s amendment to judgment, we will dispose of that issue first.

The transcript of the hearing on Pihera’s post-trial motion clearly establishes that at that hearing the dispute was over damages concerning Maloney’s unjust enrichment claim. The introductory remarks to the findings in the court’s amendment to judgment refer only to the award of damages for unjust enrichment. It is paragraph 2 of the court’s findings which we are asked to concern ourselves with here:

“Plaintiff is denied damages upon a theory of unjust enrichment and Subparagraph b. of Paragraph 1. of Paragraph I. of the Judgment is stricken.”

Both parties agree that the trial court erroneously struck subparagraph b of paragraph 1, which is the breach of contract award, instead of subparagraph a of paragraph 1, which is the unjust enrichment award.

Based on our review of the record, the court’s failure to strike subparagraph a instead of subparagraph b is clearly an error of form, not substance. To remand this cause for the trial court to correct the technical inconsistency would serve no purpose but to delay the ultimate disposition of the litigation. (Hough v. Mooningham (1986), 139 Ill. App. 3d 1018, 1021, 487 N.E.2d 1281, 1284.) Pursuant to our authority under Supreme Court Rule 366(a)(5) (134 Ill. 2d R. 366(aX5)), the circuit court’s amendment to judgment is hereby modified, substituting an a for the b designated in paragraph 2 as indicated.

With regard to the remaining issues, a detailed account of the parties’ testimony at trial is unavoidable.

PATRICK MALONEY’S TESTIMONY

Maloney testified that he was from the Chicago area. He met Pihera in 1979, and shortly thereafter they discussed investments. Maloney traveled by airplane on several occasions to meet Pihera in the Lake Carlyle area. On an initial visit in June 1979, they discussed the possibility of investing in a motel with the intention of remodeling it into office space. The men viewed two motels and Pihera drove Maloney around Lake Carlyle. The prospect of purchasing and developing property around the lake was not discussed during this visit.

During another trip to the Lake Carlyle area in the summer of 1979, Pihera once again drove Maloney around the lake. He showed Maloney camping projects that had developed on the west side of the lake and told Maloney that he had purchased a parcel of real estate on the east side of the lake, referred to as the “Moak” property. Pihera expressed his desire to develop the east side of Lake Carlyle, and he indicated that there were other properties available in the area that could be purchased for that purpose. Maloney insists on appeal that no formal business relationship was created between the parties during the summer of 1979.

On a subsequent trip to the Lake Carlyle area, Pihera showed Maloney the Wesley Griffin property and advised Maloney that it was something that could be purchased. Maloney purchased the property in his name alone around September of 1979. Although Maloney testified that at the time he purchased the property the parties had only discussed the possibility of entering into a business relationship for the purpose of development, he believed that he was buying the Wesley Griffin property for the purpose of developing condominium campsites.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
573 N.E.2d 1379, 215 Ill. App. 3d 30, 158 Ill. Dec. 194, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1071, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maloney-v-pihera-illappct-1991.