Page & Wirtz Construction Co. v. Solomon

794 P.2d 349, 110 N.M. 206
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedJune 21, 1990
Docket17906
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 794 P.2d 349 (Page & Wirtz Construction Co. v. Solomon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Page & Wirtz Construction Co. v. Solomon, 794 P.2d 349, 110 N.M. 206 (N.M. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

RANSOM, Justice.

This suit began as a claim for $112,-176.18 due on a contract for restaurant remodeling work performed by Page & Wirtz Construction Company. The owner of the restaurant, Roy Solomon, counterclaimed under the Unfair Practices Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 57-12-1 to -22 (Repl.Pamp.1987 & Cum.Supp.1989) (commonly known as the Unfair Trade Practices Act), alleging that the proffered written contract was a forgery and asserting that the remodeling work instead had taken place under an oral contract. The case was tried to a jury who awarded $156,840.59 to Solomon. Page & Wirtz appeals and we reverse.

In October 1985 Solomon contracted with Page & Wirtz to remodel the Hungry Bear restaurant in Albuquerque. The remodeling was a rush job, intended to be completed in time for a reopening by Thanksgiving, and the conditions at the job site have been described as chaotic. Beginning in January 1986, after completion of the project, Page & Wirtz submitted a series of final bills to Solomon. There were various disputes concerning billing errors and inaccuracies and the final amount due was revised a number of times. However, other than an initial payment of $60,000 made to Page & Wirtz prior to" the submission of the final bill, no further payments were made.

During the course of these disputes Page & Wirtz produced a written contract for the remodeling work, with Solomon’s signature appearing at the bottom, providing for payment for the work on a cost plus ten per cent basis. Solomon stated that he was in shock when he was given the contract as he had never seen it before and he had not signed it. He later alleged that the remodeling work was undertaken on a cost plus three per cent basis by oral agreement.

Sometime in February 1986 Jack Wirtz of Page & Wirtz Construction Company had received a phone call from Mel Hertz, a senior vice-president at First National Bank in Albuquerque. The bank apparently had financed the remodeling work, and Hertz had called to verify how much Page & Wirtz had been paid to date. Wirtz testified that he informed Hertz of the $60,000 payment, and Hertz told him that considerably more than this had been advanced to Solomon. Solomon later received a call from the bank to ask why the contractors had not been paid. Solomon in turn called Wirtz to complain, believing that it was Wirtz who had initiated the contact with the bank, and believing that the bank had been given inaccurate information regarding Solomon’s performance under the remodeling contract. Solomon later wrote the bank expressing his anger over the phone call between the bank and Page & Wirtz. He later claimed that his relationship with the bank deteriorated as a result of that incident.

The parties did not reach an agreement on the final amount due on the completed project and Page & Wirtz eventually brought suit to collect $112,176.18. Solomon answered that the remodeling work was done under an oral contract and the written contract was a forgery. He also counterclaimed for damages under the Unfair Trade Practices Act based only upon the allegedly forged contract.

This case was tried to a jury. During trial, Solomon introduced evidence on damage to his reputation arising from the banker’s telephone call to Wirtz, although this issue had not been included in the pleadings. The instructions to the jury included: (1) the Page & Wirtz claim for the balance due on the remodeling work, and (2) Solomon’s claims under the Unfair Trade Practices Act. The jury instructions listed four specific acts claimed by Solomon to be an unfair or deceptive practice: (1) that the written contract under which recovery was sought was never agreed upon by Solomon; (2) that the contract bore a forged signature; (3) that the invoices submitted for labor and materials were deceptive and misleading; and (4) that Page & Wirtz had misrepresented the actual cost of goods and materials. Statements by Wirtz to Solomon’s banker were not included. The instructions to the jury itemized Solomon’s claims for damages as follows: (1) amounts which Page & Wirtz claimed under the contract that were grossly in error, over-priced, and constituted billing for labor not performed and material never delivered; and (2) damage to Solomon’s credit standing and reputation for honesty.

The jury awarded $180,000 to Solomon on his claims under the Unfair Trade Practices Act. The jury, questioned by the court about the basis for the award of damages, replied that the $180,000 award to Solomon was for damage to his reputation. The jury also found that the reasonable cost of construction for the project was $140,772.94 (cost plus three per cent) and found that the remaining unpaid balance was $80,772.94. Deducting the latter figure from $180,000 the court calculated that Page & Wirtz owed Solomon $99,-227.06 in damages. The court then multiplied that amount by 1.5 pursuant to Section 57-12-10(B) (court may award up to three times actual damages when trier of fact finds that party willfully engaged in unfair or deceptive trade practice) and added an additional $8,000 as attorney’s fees, for a final award to Solomon of $156,-840.59. Motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and remittitur were denied.

Page & Wirtz argue on appeal that: (1) the court erred in submitting the damage to reputation claim to the jury since the issue was not raised in the pleadings; (2) substantial evidence does not exist to support a finding that Page & Wirtz violated the Unfair Trade Practices Act; and (3) assuming that Page & Wirtz, in some fashion, willfully did engage in an unfair or deceptive trade practice, Solomon failed to establish the existence of any actual damages; thus, his recovery is limited to $300.

Regarding the first issue, we point out that when issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by the express or implied consent of the parties, they are treated in all respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings. SCRA 1986, 1-015(B); Dale J. Bellamah Corp. v. City of Santa Fe, 88 N.M. 288, 540 P.2d 218 (1975). Page & Wirtz in this case objected to Solomon’s requested jury instruction on damages that included the specific request for damage to Solomon’s credit standing and reputation. The objection was based upon the lack of any mention of damage to reputation in Solomon’s counterclaim. However, evidence on this issue had already been admitted at trial, without objection, and Page & Wirtz even cross-examined Solomon on the subject. Under these circumstances we think the issue was tried with the implied consent of Page & Wirtz.

However, if the jury was to be allowed to assess damage to Solomon’s credit standing and reputation under the Unfair Trade Practices Act, it first must be shown that the conduct which allegedly caused this damage was itself an unfair or deceptive trade practice within the meaning of the Act. The alleged damage to Solomon’s reputation stemmed solely from the phone conversation between Solomon’s banker and Wirtz. As detailed above, that conversation was not included in the instructions to the jury setting forth the specific acts claimed to be unfair trade practices. However, we do not address whether damage to reputation was therefore introduced as a false damage issue.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
794 P.2d 349, 110 N.M. 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/page-wirtz-construction-co-v-solomon-nm-1990.