O'BRIEN v. Cacciatore

591 N.E.2d 1384, 227 Ill. App. 3d 836, 169 Ill. Dec. 506, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 465
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 27, 1992
Docket1-90-0605
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 591 N.E.2d 1384 (O'BRIEN v. Cacciatore) 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
O'BRIEN v. Cacciatore, 591 N.E.2d 1384, 227 Ill. App. 3d 836, 169 Ill. Dec. 506, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 465 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE McNULTY

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from a judgment granting specific performance of a real estate contract. Defendant asserts on appeal that: (1) the parties were engaged in a joint venture and thus owed one another a fiduciary duty; (2) the trial court improperly excluded evidence relating to plaintiff’s misrepresentations; (3) plaintiff is barred from obtaining specific performance because he comes to the court with unclean hands; and (4) if the court should affirm the trial court’s judgment, then defendant is entitled to the interest and taxes he paid between the contract date and the closing date. Plaintiff contends that the trial court need not even consider these arguments because defendant’s appeal is moot.

Sometime in 1985, plaintiff Daniel P. O’Brien became aware of the property located at 301-313 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. In December 1985, plaintiff made an offer to purchase the property for $460,000 and the owner accepted.

Before closing the transaction, plaintiff invited Edward Kelly to join him in the purchase of the property. Kelly, in turn, involved defendant Victor Cacciatore in the acquisition. They agreed to acquire the property for purposes of investment and speculation and had no set plans for development of the property.

Defendant arranged 100% financing from the Lake View Bank for the acquisition of the property. Plaintiff, defendant and Kelly each agreed to be responsible for one-third of the principal amount of the loan.

Defendant also represented plaintiff, Kelly and himself in the acquisition as the attorney. Title to the property was taken in a land trust at the Lakeside Bank under trust No. 10 — 1123. The beneficial interest of that trust was held by 301-313 West North Avenue Corporation (301 Corp.) and defendant held 100% of the shares. The 301 Corp. was to act as agent for the owners of the property.

Several individuals made offers (generally in the area of $750,000) to purchase the property. One of these offers was made by Phillip Farley, a long-time friend of plaintiff. This offer was made in the name of Farley’s nominee, Deluga. The offer was delivered to plaintiff and plaintiff delivered it to defendant and advised Kelly. Plaintiff indicated that the offer was acceptable to him. No contract was ever executed by and between any of the parties in ownership of this property with Phillip Farley or any representative of Phillip Farley for the sum of $750,000 or in any other amount.

Kelly decided to sell his interest in the property to plaintiff based on the figure of $750,000 which was offered by Farley. Plaintiff purchased Kelly’s interest paying to him the sum of $100,000 profit and assuming his obligation for one-third of the loan obtained from the Lake View Bank.

Plaintiff then began to negotiate with defendant to obtain his one-third interest in the property. Plaintiff tendered to defendant a real estate contract dated November 19, 1987, for the purchase of defendant’s interest. In response, defendant prepared a real estate contract dated December 1, 1987, as a counteroffer. Defendant testified that when he signed the contract, he thought he was signing a contract with Farley. The contract did not contain any language that the sale to O’Brien was conditioned upon a sale to Farley or anyone else.

The contract set the closing date at January 18, 1988, and plaintiff took the steps necessary to close on the property. Defendant’s law office prepared all the necessary documentation for defendant to sell his one-third interest. Defendant refused to go ahead with the real estate contract with plaintiff. As a result, plaintiff instituted an action for specific performance against defendant. Plaintiff sought specific performance of the contract, possession of the management books and records, and damages for the wrongful refusal to close the transaction. Defendant asserted his affirmative defense that his refusal to close the transaction with plaintiff was justified because plaintiff breached his fiduciary duty that plaintiff owed defendant as his joint venturer in the transaction. In particular, defendant charged that he agreed to sell his interest in the property to plaintiff only because of plaintiff’s representation that he would immediately sell the property in its entirety to Farley after he received the interests of his co-venturers.

After a bench trial on the merits, the trial court concluded that the evidence failed to establish the existence of a joint venture amongst plaintiff, Kelly and defendant, and since there was no joint venture, the parties had no fiduciary duty to each other. In addition, the court ruled that evidence relating to negotiations with Farley was inadmissible parol evidence, and because the unambiguous contract contained no condition that the property was subsequently to be sold by plaintiff to Farley, the court concluded that defendant refused to go ahead with the contract simply because he had “a change of heart,” feeling that the property was worth more. The trial court’s November 22, 1989, order, therefore, decreed specific performance, ordering that books, records and management be turned over to plaintiff but denied plaintiff’s claim for money damages.

On December 18, 1989, plaintiff filed an emergency motion with the court to enforce its November 22, 1989, order. The trial court found in plaintiff’s favor and set a closing date for the property. Defendant then filed his notice of appeal on February 27,1990.

Plaintiff filed a second motion to enforce the trial court’s November 22, 1988, order. When plaintiff orally presented his motion on March 8, 1990, the following exchange occurred:

“THE COURT: Counsel, has defendant in this case asked for a stay order from me?
DEFENSE COUNSEL: No. We have not your Honor.
* * *
DEFENSE COUNSEL: I didn’t know if your Honor wanted — if your Honor would entertain such a motion, that would solve all our problems.
THE COURT: Why didn’t somebody make it?
DEFENSE COUNSEL: Then I, with your Honor’s permission, would make an oral motion to stay this.
THE COURT: I’m going to accommodate you, and I’m going to deny it. Now go upstairs and get a stay with your appeal.
* * *
THE COURT: I’m telling you, your oral motion to stay is denied. You will comply with my order unless you get a stay upstairs. Prepare that order.
PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL: Thank you your Honor.
DEFENSE COUNSEL: Your Honor, in complying with it are we not entitled to the Court’s protection that by complying with your Honor’s order we are not mooting our appeal rights? That’s all that we are asking. We’re ready to close and comply with your Honor’s order.
THE COURT: Upstairs. I have ruled on this case. I have tried it, and I have nothing but motion after motion.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
591 N.E.2d 1384, 227 Ill. App. 3d 836, 169 Ill. Dec. 506, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/obrien-v-cacciatore-illappct-1992.