Money v. Fort Hays State University Endowment Ass'n

64 P.3d 458, 31 Kan. App. 2d 322, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 144
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 28, 2003
Docket89,115, 89,116
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 64 P.3d 458 (Money v. Fort Hays State University Endowment Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Money v. Fort Hays State University Endowment Ass'n, 64 P.3d 458, 31 Kan. App. 2d 322, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 144 (kanctapp 2003).

Opinion

Beier, J.:

Mike and Douglas Money appeal the district court’s decisions entering summary judgment in favor of Fort Hays State University Endowment Association (Association) on their dispute over an auction of real estate.

The Association offered certain tracts of real estate for sale by auction. The written advertisement of the auction contained the following note: “Announcements made day of sale shall take precedence over printed material.” In addition, Schedule B of the title insurance commitment issued for the auction provided in pertinent part:

“The following are the requirements to be complied with:
That upon a certain date, at a regular business meeting or a special one called for that puipose, a majority of the members present authorized or instructed said trustees (or directors) to convey said property (describing it) and to execute all necessary papers for that purpose.”

The Moneys reviewed the advertisement before attending the auction. In addition, they reviewed Schedule B of the title insurance commitment. They were the highest bidders on two separate tracts, and each executed an agreement for warranty deed provided by the Association. The agreement contained no provision stating *324 that the sales were subject to approval by the Executive Committee of the governing board of the Association.

The Moneys provided the proper down payments and were prepared to proceed with the two sales when tire Association’s Executive Committee voted unanimously not to approve the transactions.

Each of the Moneys then filed a lawsuit seeking specific performance of the relevant sales agreement. The Association defended by arguing that the agreements’ failure to include the condition of Executive Committee approval meant the agreements were not integrated. In the Association’s view, the Executive Committee’s rejection of the agreements made the agreements unenforceable.

The Moneys sought summary judgment, claiming the agreements were unambiguous and enforceable as written. The Association filed responses and cross-motions for summary judgment. It did not controvert the Moneys’ statement of facts but alleged the statement was incomplete. It offered its own set of uncontroverted facts, including a statement that the auctioneer announced, both before and during the auction, that the sale of the real estate was subject to approval by the Association’s Executive Committee. It also asserted that the Moneys were present when these announcements were made and that Mike had implicitly acknowledged the condition before signing his agreement by asking when the Executive Committee planned to meet to consider the sales. The Moneys did not respond to the Association’s motions for summary judgment.

The district court deemed the Association’s statement of facts uncontroverted, found the agreements clear and unambiguous, and found extrinsic evidence admissible to show the agreements were not integrated. It granted summary judgment to the Association, ruling that tire failure of the condition announced by the auctioneer rendered the agreements “ineffective and unenforceable.”

The Moneys filed postjudgment motions for relief under K.S.A. 60-260(b) and for reconsideration. They argued, in part, that they had believed the Association would grant them additional time to *325 respond to its motions for summary judgment, but the court issued its decision before they had a chance to file responses. They attempted to submit their responses to the Association’s motions for summary judgment with their postjudgment motions. The Moneys also claimed that the Association had failed to comply with their request for a videotape of the auction until after summary judgment was entered. They argued the videotape supported their contention that the auctioneer had not announced any conditions of sale, creating a genuine issue of material fact for trial. The district court denied the postjudgment motions, and the cases were consolidated for appeal.

“ ‘Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleading[s], depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The trial court is required to resolve all facts and inferences which may reasonably be drawn from the evidence in favor of the party against whom the ruling is sought. When opposing a motion for summary judgment, an adverse party must come forward with evidence to establish a dispute as to a material fact. In order to preclude summary judgment, the facts subject to the dispute must be material to the conclusive issues in the case. On appeal, we apply the same rules and where we find reasonable minds could differ as to the conclusions drawn from the evidence, summary judgment must be denied.’ [Citation omitted.]” Mitchell v. City of Wichita, 270 Kan. 56, 59, 12 P.3d 402 (2000) (quoting Bergstrom v. Noah, 266 Kan. 847, 871-72, 974 P.2d 531 (1999).

A party faced with an opponent’s summaiy judgment motion stands silent at its peril.

“When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this section, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party’s pleading, but the adverse party’s response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this section, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If the adverse party does not respond, summaiy judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against the adverse party.” K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 60-256(e).

Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 141(b) (2002 Kan. Ct. R. An-not. 189), the Moneys had 21 days to submit responses to the Association’s summary judgment motions and to take issue with any of its uncontroverted facts. They did not respond. The district *326 court therefore properly deemed the Association’s statement of uncontroverted facts controlling and adopted those facts as the basis for its decision. See Bus. Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. v. Envirotech Heat. & Cooling, Inc., 26 Kan. App. 2d 616, 618, 992 P.2d 1250 (1999) (Rule 141 not merely “fluff’; rule means what it says, serves a necessaiy purpose). The Moneys’ last ditch effort to submit responses to the Association’s motions by filing them with their postjudgment motions simply came too late. No matter what they understood about the Association’s amenability to extension of their 21-day deadline, the district court granted no such extension.

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Bluebook (online)
64 P.3d 458, 31 Kan. App. 2d 322, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/money-v-fort-hays-state-university-endowment-assn-kanctapp-2003.