National Motor Service Co. v. Walters

379 P.2d 643, 85 Idaho 349, 1963 Ida. LEXIS 312
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 6, 1963
Docket9131
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 379 P.2d 643 (National Motor Service Co. v. Walters) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Motor Service Co. v. Walters, 379 P.2d 643, 85 Idaho 349, 1963 Ida. LEXIS 312 (Idaho 1963).

Opinion

SMITH, Justice.

Plaintiff (respondent) brought this action by supplemental complaint filed September 26, 1960, as vendor seeking repossession of a tractor, or in the alternative its sale and application of the proceeds in satisfaction of the balance of its purchase pHce of $5,-617.69 owing under a conditional sales contract, together with expenses and attorney’s fees or, in the alternative, for judgment against defendants for such sum Of $5,617.-69 together with expenses and attorney’s fees.

Defendants (appellants) vendees under the conditional sales contract, denied the material allegations of the complaint; affirmatively alleged breach of express and implied warranties of the tractor* and cross claimed for damages therefor, as well as damages growing out of plaintiff’s alleged wrongful repossession and wrongfhl attachment of the tractor.

*353 The jury' returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff and defendants appealed from the resulting judgment.

The subject of the litigation is a used caterpillar crawler tractor, model D 7, serial number 7M 3353, including LaTourneau blade and front end unit, and careo winch.

Defendaht Hattie Walters desired to harvest and sell certain standing timber on her land. Defendant Painter desired to secure the contract for harvesting the timber, but did not háve sufficient credit to purchase a crawler tractor needed for the work. Mrs. Walters, on July 1, 1959, arranged in her own name the purchase of the referred to tractor from plaintiff; the transaction was evidenced by a written conditional sales contract between the two parties; pursuant thereto Mbs. Walters agreed to pay $7,000 for the trhetor. Defendant Painter made the down payment of $1800.00, leaving a cash balance owing of $5,200; to this amount wds added insurance and price time differential charges, which accumulated the total time balance owing to $6,466.16. Mrs. Walters agreed to pay such amount in installments of variable amounts over a period of 24 months, beginning August 1, 1959, the first five installment payments to be $342.56 each. The contract provided that in case of vendee’s default, the vendor could declare the balance owing to be due and collectible, or that the property would be repossessed and sold, and the proceeds applied to payment of the indebtedness, together with costs and attorney’s fees incurred.

July 2, 1959, plaintiff by written instrument assigned its interest in the contract, with full recourse to First Security Bank of Utah; defendants were notified of such assignment. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff delivered the tractor to defendants, but as defendant Painter asserted, it was not in condition “to go right to work.”

August 18, 1959, defendant Painter’s attorney wrote a letter to plaintiff stating that the tractor was not delivered “in good running order” as allegedly represented, and that defendants had been required to spend about $500 on repairs. The attorney suggested settlement of the controversy by plaintiff making the first two contract installment payments of $342.56 each, and that thereupon defendants would be able to proceed with the purchase.

September 4, 1959, plaintiff replied to such letter, asserting that the tractor was in good running order when it left the company’s possession; that the company would defer the August 1, 1959 payment, but if the September 1, 1959 payment was not received immediately, the “bank” would proceed with repossession.

September 11, 1959, plaintiff filed a verified complaint against defendants, and secured an undertaking for claim and delivery of the tractor, but summons on such com *354 plaint was never at any time served on defendants.

October 13, 1959, defendant Hattie Walters, purchaser, and the bank entered into a revision agreement whereby plaintiff and the bank lowered the unpaid balance of purchase price of the tractor by a sum equal to one payment, i. e., $342.46, and extended the due date of the first installment payment to November 1, 1959; this agreement plaintiff consented to and approved.

During March, 1960, plaintiff took possession of the tractor at a locality from which plaintiff’s agent, in repossessing the tractor, plowed a road by use of the tractor, through several miles of packed snow, which caused damage to the tractor’s rock guard blade and two rollers.

Thereafter, on or about April 14, 1960, plaintiff caused the tractor to be taken under its original action in claim and delivery (in which summons had not been served), the complaint therein alleging default in the August and September, 1959, payments. (Those defaults had been cured by the revision agreement of October 13, 1959). Shortly thereafter defendants posted redelivery bond and again obtained possession of the tractor.

September 2, 1960, plaintiff repurchased the conditional sales contract from the bank and on September 26, 1960, filed a supplemental complaint, with summons served, pursuing the remedies afforded by the contract, i. e., sought (1) judgment for sale of the tractor and deficiency, if any; or in the alternative (2) a money judgment in the amount of the alleged balance owing under the contract of $5,617.69, together with $204.63 expenses, and for attorney’s fess.

Defendants in their answer to the supplemental complaint denied plaintiff’s ownership of the tractor, and denied any default under the revision agreement. They cross-claimed for $2,000 damages grounded on alleged breach of implied warranty of fitness of the tractor, I.C. § 64-115; also by way of set-off, defendants alleged $3,850 damages for plaintiff’s alleged wrongful repossession of the tractor during March, 1960, and $1500 damages for plaintiff’s alleged wrongful taking during April, 1960, which alleged damages totaled $7,350. In effect by off setting against such amount of alleged damages, the amount of $5,617.69 which plaintiff alleged as the balance owed by defendants under the conditional sales contract, defendants prayed that they be adjudged to be the owners of the tractor and attachments, and additionally, that they recover from plaintiff the sum of $1,732.31.

A pre-trial order incorporated the issues asserted by the parties.

At the trial court’s request defendants piit in their evidence first. At the conclusion of defendants’ evidence, nlaintiff moved *355 for a directed verdict which the court denied and further ruled that it would not put to the jury the matter of defendants’ claim for damages allegedly based on plaintiff’s alleged wrongful repossession and alleged wrongful taking of the tractor during 1960.

At the conclusion of plaintiff’s evidence, the trial court took from the jury all issues except (1) whether there was any warranty of the tractor as to its fitness; (2) damages therefor (Instruction #3); limiting however damages for such breach of warranty to such sum as defendants expended in making the tractor and equipment reasonably fit for the purpose for which it was intended, not exceeding $1,000 (Instruction No. 11), and directed the jury to return its verdict for plaintiff in the sum of $5,617.69 (alleged balance owing under the conditional sales contract), less damages for breach of implied warranty of fitness, plus attorney’s fees.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
379 P.2d 643, 85 Idaho 349, 1963 Ida. LEXIS 312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-motor-service-co-v-walters-idaho-1963.