Mark McNally v. Capital Cartage, Inc.

2018 WI 46, 912 N.W.2d 35, 381 Wis. 2d 349
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMay 10, 2018
Docket2015AP002627
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 2018 WI 46 (Mark McNally v. Capital Cartage, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mark McNally v. Capital Cartage, Inc., 2018 WI 46, 912 N.W.2d 35, 381 Wis. 2d 349 (Wis. 2018).

Opinions

ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.

*353¶ 1 The petitioner, Capital Cartage, Inc. (Capital Cartage), seeks review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's determination that real estate broker Mark McNally (McNally) is entitled to a commission pursuant to the listing contract between the parties.1 Contrary to the court of appeals' determination, Capital Cartage asserts that McNally is not entitled to a commission because the offer to purchase McNally procured contains substantial variances from the seller's terms as set forth in the listing contract.

¶ 2 Specifically, Capital Cartage argues that three terms in the offer to purchase constitute substantial variances from the listing contract. Among these is a dispositive condition that Mary Hermanson, one of Capital Cartage's owners, continue to work for the business without pay for an undetermined period of time following the sale.

¶ 3 Capital Cartage further asserts that the court of appeals erroneously interpreted Libowitz v. Lake Nursing Home, Inc., 35 Wis. 2d 74, 150 N.W.2d 439 (1967). It alleges that Libowitz did not, as the court of appeals concluded, alter the standard for determining whether a substantial variance exists as set forth *354by Kleven v. Cities Serv. Oil Co., 22 Wis. 2d 437, 126 N.W.2d 64 (1964).2 Therefore, it contends that *38McNally is not entitled to a commission because he did not procure an offer to purchase "at the price and on substantially the terms set forth" in the listing contract.

¶ 4 We conclude first that Kleven remains the law of this state with regard to determining whether a substantial variance exists between a listing contract and an offer to purchase. Although a term of the offer to purchase that is directly in conflict with the listing contract is a substantial variance, it is not the sole manner in which substantial variance may be shown. Kleven offered direct contradiction as an example, not as a limitation.

¶ 5 Applying this standard, we conclude that in the context of the sale of a business with real estate where the sale did not go through, the condition in the offer to purchase that Mary Hermanson continue to work for Capital Cartage without pay constitutes a substantial variance from the listing contract as a *355matter of law. Consequently, we determine that McNally did not procure an offer to purchase "at the price and on substantially the terms set forth" in the listing contract and therefore is not entitled to a commission.

¶ 6 Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals.

I

¶ 7 Mary and Rolyn Hermanson own Capital Cartage, a moving and storage business. Seeking to retire and sell the business with real estate, Mary Hermanson (Hermanson) met with McNally, a real estate broker. As a result of this meeting, McNally drafted a listing contract. He used the standard state form listing contract, labeled as a WB-6 Business Listing Contract.

¶ 8 The listing contract contained a provision setting forth the requirements that must be met for the broker to earn a commission. In relevant part, the contract provides:

Seller shall pay Broker's commission, which shall be earned if, during the term of this Listing ...[a]n offer to purchase is procured for the Business or included property by the Broker, by Seller, or by any other person, at the price and on substantially the terms set forth in this Listing and the standard provisions of the current [state form offer to purchase.]

¶ 9 The asking price for the business with real estate as reflected in the listing contract was $1.2 million.3 Approximately three weeks after the listing *356contract was executed, McNally procured an offer to purchase Capital Cartage from Steven Erickson (Erickson).

¶ 10 Prior to submitting an offer to purchase, Erickson presented a letter of intent to Hermanson. The letter of intent included, among others, the following three conditions for the sale:

*39Lender required good faith deposit (approximately $7,500 for appraisal and other costs) is split between seller and buyer once financing is fully approved, commitment letter issued and appraisal ordered. Seller to be reimbursed in full for good faith deposit at closing.
Covenant agreements not to compete signed by Mary and Rolyn Hermanson (prior to close)[.]
Mary and Rolyn Hermanson agree to operate business as normal until acquisition takes place and for Mary to stay on full time and without pay for period outlined in proposed structure.4

¶ 11 Hermanson, dissatisfied with the letter of intent, sent an email to McNally objecting to the $1.2 million sale price. Instead, Hermanson sought a $1.4 million sale price.

¶ 12 As the letter of intent foreshadowed, Erickson's offer to purchase was for a price of $1.2 million. The offer to purchase was presented on the standard *357state form "WB-16 Offer to Purchase-Business with Real Estate." Erickson, however, included an additional page, labeled as "Addendum A," which consisted of the last page of the letter of intent. Addendum A listed conditions for the sale, which included the three above conditions at issue here.

¶ 13 After receiving the offer, Mary and Rolyn Hermanson rejected the offer in a letter from their counsel to McNally. The letter stated in part:

Capital Cartage, Inc., has just concluded its Special Meeting of Shareholders at my office this afternoon. The Wisconsin statutes require that a majority vote of the shareholders is necessary to sell the business. The vote was called and the motion to approve the offer to purchase failed to achieve a majority of the shareholders' votes. Capital Cartage has decided not to sell its business at this time.

Hermanson did not provide any other reason for rejecting the offer.

¶ 14 Subsequently, McNally filed this lawsuit, alleging that Capital Cartage owed him a commission of $72,000 pursuant to the listing contract. He asserted that he had procured an offer "at the price and on substantially the terms set forth in this Listing[.]"

¶ 15 Capital Cartage answered the complaint and subsequently moved for judgment on the pleadings.

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Bluebook (online)
2018 WI 46, 912 N.W.2d 35, 381 Wis. 2d 349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mark-mcnally-v-capital-cartage-inc-wis-2018.