McGee v. Breezy Point Estates

166 N.W.2d 81, 283 Minn. 10, 1969 Minn. LEXIS 1105
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 7, 1969
Docket41220
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 166 N.W.2d 81 (McGee v. Breezy Point Estates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGee v. Breezy Point Estates, 166 N.W.2d 81, 283 Minn. 10, 1969 Minn. LEXIS 1105 (Mich. 1969).

Opinion

Nelson, Justice.

Appeal from an order of the District Court of Crow Wing County denying plaintiffs’ motion for amended findings or a new trial and from the judgment in an action in which plaintiffs among other things sought to recover damages from defendants-respondents for the alleged wrongful delivery of a deed.

The several issues involved may be stated as follows: Did defendants-respondents, Ernest V. Klopp and Fidelity Bank and Trust Company, as escrow agents, perform their obligations to plaintiffs-appellants relative to the holding and releasing of a deed to real estate owned by plaintiffs? Did one S. B. Robinson acting in behalf of plaintiffs have actual or implied authority from plaintiffs to modify the terms of an escrow agreement between plaintiffs and respondents? Did respondents breach *12 any duty to plaintiffs by failing to make disclosures, and, if so, were plaintiffs damaged by reason thereof? Did plaintiffs, by affirming their contract for deed with defendant Breezy Point Estates and suing for the contract price, waive any remedies they may have had against respondents for the alleged wrongful delivery of the deed?

If all conflicts in the evidence are resolved in favor of the prevailing parties below, the facts appear to be as follows: Plaintiffs own certain acreage (herein referred to as the Markham property) situated on Pelican Lake, Crow Wing County, near what is known as the Breezy Point Complex. At the times herein material, the reasonable value of the Markham property, including buildings and furnishings, was $45,000. Plaintiffs had over the years spent considerable time in the Brainerd area and some of them were there during the summers of 1964 and 1965. A close associate of plaintiffs, one Robert Kerr, Jr., also maintained a summer home in that area, spending considerable time there during the summers of 1964 and 1965. He was an attorney whose law firm did work for Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Inc., of which plaintiff D. A. McGee was president. The record also indicates that plaintiffs had a great many friends in the Brainerd area.

During the summer of 1964 plaintiffs negotiated the sale of the Markham property to Breezy Point Estates, named as a defendant herein, a partnership consisting of Don Eastvold, Ginny Simms East-void, and Jerome D. Lenz. The sale price was $80,000, payable in monthly installments of $960 each, with a balloon payment at the end of 8 years. Breezy Point Estates agreed to assign to plaintiffs for the purchase price the proceeds of “land contracts” made by it (for the sale of lots) having a total unpaid principal balance of not less than $80,000 and to deliver such contracts to respondents to hold in escrow. Payments on the contracts were guaranteed by Breezy Point, which further agreed in the event any contract became in default for 90 days or more to substitute for the delinquent contract a current contract with an unpaid principal balance at least equal to the balance due on the delinquent contract. It appears that the basic draft of the agreement between plaintiffs and Breezy Point Estates was prepared by Robert Kerr, Jr., in July or August 1964.

*13 In the fall of 1964 Don Eastvold brought Mr. and Mrs. Baird H. Markham to respondent Fidelity Bank and Trust Company and introduced them to respondent Klopp. Klopp was introduced by Eastvold as “his banker,” and Eastvold also said that Fidelity was “where he borrowed all his money.” At this meeting Klopp assisted in the preparation of a bill of sale from the Markhams to Breezy Point Estates covering personal property to be included in the transaction between plaintiffs and Breezy Point. At the latter’s request the closing of the transaction was deferred so that the partnership could accumulate the land contracts required under the contemplated real estate purchase contract. A part of the business conducted by Breezy Point was the acquisition of land, platting of the same, and selling of the lots. Some of the lots were sold for cash but the majority were sold on installment contracts which were not recordable because they did not provide for witnesses or acknowledgments. Most contained a specific agreement by the buyers not to record them.

In August 1964 Breezy Point established a banking relationship with respondent Fidelity. In the course of this relationship Fidelity purchased from Breezy Point approximately $750,000 in contracts for deed arising from the sale of condominium units by Breezy Point. In addition to these transactions Fidelity established a $300,000 line of credit for Breezy Point. Any loans made against the line of credit were secured by a pledge of $300,000 in life insurance on the life of Don Eastvold, the personal guaranties of the partners, the collateral assignment of approximately $140,000 in certificates of deposit derived from the purchase of the condominiums, and the assignment of contracts for the sale of lots. On September 23, 1964, Breezy Point had borrowed against its credit line a total of $185,000 and by early February 1965 had reached the full limit of $300,000. Its indebtedness remained at that figure until July 1965 when the balance began to be reduced. During the period from February 1965 to June 1965, payments received by Fidelity on contracts pledged to it were used first to pay the interest on the $300,000 indebtedness, the balance being deposited in Breezy Point’s checking account.

Fidelity requested that the contracts for sale of lots assigned to it as *14 security for its loans to Breezy Point be accompanied by assignments of the contracts, quitclaim deeds covering the property running in favor of Fidelity, and warranty deeds from Breezy Point to the contract vendees. A majority of the contracts held by Fidelity were accompanied by these instruments, although some contracts were held without them. It appears that the sales success of the partnership frequently exceeded the surveyor’s ability to plat; consequently, many sales were made without definite legal descriptions, which were furnished at a later date. Many vendees purchased lots on such a basis and made regular monthly payments. Many of the contracts which did not contain a legal description were handled by Fidelity as collection items. These were regarded as security for Breezy Point’s indebtedness to Fidelity.

Shortly after the Markhams’ initial visit to Fidelity, Mr. Markham telephoned Klopp and stated he had discussed the matter of the sale with plaintiff D. A. McGee and that one S. B. Robinson would be getting in touch with him. In the middle of October 1964 Klopp received his first telephone call from Robinson and thereafter all contacts and negotiations were with Robinson, whose authority therefore is an important issue in this case. Robinson was employed by Kerr-McGee as administrative assistant to the president, plaintiff D. A. McGee. Robinson had been with that corporation for 21 years and described his duties as “general duties with Kerr-McGee, and special assignments from Mr. McGee.” His duties occasionally required him to perform certain tasks for McGee in his personal affairs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 N.W.2d 81, 283 Minn. 10, 1969 Minn. LEXIS 1105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcgee-v-breezy-point-estates-minn-1969.