Robert Humphries v. Eileen Becker

366 P.3d 1088, 159 Idaho 728, 2016 Ida. LEXIS 6
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 22, 2016
Docket41897
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 366 P.3d 1088 (Robert Humphries v. Eileen Becker) 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
Robert Humphries v. Eileen Becker, 366 P.3d 1088, 159 Idaho 728, 2016 Ida. LEXIS 6 (Idaho 2016).

Opinions

W. JONES, Justice.

I. Nature of the Case

This appeal arises out of a transfer of real property located in Cassia County, Idaho (the “Property”). Buyers, Robert and Becky Humphries (“Appellants” or the “Humphries”), accuse seller, Eileen Becker (“Eileen”), her son, Allen Becker (“Allen”), and daughter-in-law, Jane Becker (“Jane” and collectively, “Respondents”) of: (1) fraud though misrepresenting, concealing, and/or failing to disclose material information with regards to (a) the sources of water to the Property and (b) the Property’s sprinkler/irrigation system; and (2) violating the Idaho Condition Disclosure Act codified in Idaho Code section 55-2501 et seq. (the “Disclosure Act”). Appellants also challenge the district court’s grant of attorney fees to Respondents. Both Appellants and Respondents seek attorney fees on appeal.

II. Factual and Procedural Background

The Property at issue consists of a 2,500 square foot house on a one-acre lot located at 1063 S. Hwy. 27 in Burley, Idaho. While the Property itself is not used for farming purposes, it is located in an area where farming is prevalent. Across the street from the Property is a large farm (the “Farm”), which Allen sold to Lake Mead Enterprises in 2006. The Farm is currently being leased to a local farmer, Brent Bean,

1. Sprinkler/irrigation System

The Property includes a sprinkler/irrigation system, which was originally wired to be automatic. However, of the seven sprinkler heads, only five are currently connected to the computer system needed to run them automatically. It would cost between $100 and $1000 to fully automate the Property’s sprinkler system.

2. Water Sources

At all relevant times, the Property has drawn water from two separate sources. The first source of water is a shared well (the “Shared Well”) located on an adjacent property owned by Allen and Jane (the “Shared Well Property”). The Shared Well provides water sufficient for all inside uses and limited outside uses. The Shared Well does not provide water to the Property’s sprinkler/irrigation system and is not connected to do so. The underground water line — a one-inch line — that connects the Shared Well with the Property was not designed to transport enough water to run the sprinkler/irrigation system, which would require at least a three-inch line.

The second source of water to the Property is an underground line that connects to a well and pivot located on the Farm (the “Farm Well”). The Farm Well provides all water used for the Property’s sprinkler/irrigation system. The Farm Well is entirely owned by Lake Mead Enterprises, which left control of the well to Brent Bean for so long as he leases the Farm. Since his lease began in 2006, Brent Bean has allowed the owners of the Property to utilize water from the Farm Well free of charge. All parties agree, however, that the owners of the Property have no legal right to water from the Farm Well, and that Brent Bean could cut off the water supply from the Farm Well at his discretion.

There are two possible sources of water for the Property’s sprinkler/irrigation system other than the Farm Well. First, the Property’s sprinkler/irrigation system could be con[732]*732nected to the Shared Well for an estimated $7,000 plus labor costs. While this would technically allow the sprinkler/irrigation system to function, the amount of water provided by the Shared Well would not be sufficient to simultaneously run the sprinklers and provide water inside the house. Second, the owners of the Property could drill an additional well on the Property. A new well would provide enough water to sustain the sprinkler/irrigation system, however drilling such a well would cost an estimated $30,000.

S. The Sale

From 1982 until late 2008, the Property served as the primary residence of Allen and Jane. Over the course of 26 years they became highly familiar with the Property, including the sources of water to the Property and its sprinkler/irrigation system. During that time, Allen’s mother Eileen resided on the Shared Well Property, which she owned. In 2008, Eileen, who was approaching 80 years of age, decided to leave the Shared Well Property and move to an assisted living facility. Because the Property and the Shared Well Property were of roughly equivalent value, Eileen agreed to trade ownership of the Shared Well Property to Allen and Jane in exchange for ownership of the Property, which she intended to sell in order to fund her assisted living expenses. At no point did Eileen ever live on the Property. Unlike Allen and Jane, she knew very little about the Property generally.

In order to aid with the sale of the Property, Eileen hired local realty company Century 21 Riverside Realty. She was represented during the sale by real-estate agents Sheila Adams (“Adams”) and Jerry Hines (“Hines”). On October 7, 2008, Adams met with all three of the Beckers in order to assist Eileen in filling out an RE-25 Seller’s Property Condition Disclosure Form (the “Disclosure Form”) mandated by the Idaho Association of Realtors, and to gather information necessary to draft a listing to post on a multiple listing service (the “MLS Listing”). RE-25 Seller’s Property Condition Disclosure Forms and MLS listings are documents drafted by the seller of a piece of property or his or her realtor containing basic information about the property. These documents are provided to potential purchasers and are relied on by those purchasers in determining whether or not to make an offer.

There is some debate over what was said at the October 7, 2008, meeting. Allen testified that at that meeting he explicitly told Adams that there were two sources of water for the Property — the Shared Well and the Farm Well — and that the Shared well was not connected to the sprinkler/irrigation system. Adams, on the other hand, testified that: (1) one of the Beckers told her that the Shared Well could supply water for the property’s sprinklers and that the Farm Well was not necessary to meet the Property’s water needs; (2) Allen had told her that the use of the Farm Well would not continue after the sale; and (3) no one told her that the sprinkler/irrigation system was not connected to the Shared Well. Adams further testified that she did not find out that the Shared Well was not connected to the sprinkler/irrigation system until well after the sale had occurred. Neither Allen nor Adams recalled if anything was said at the October 7, 2008 meeting regarding whether the sprinkler system was fully automatic.

The Disclosure Form contains only one section providing information on the sources of water to the Property. The section consists of three rows: (1) “Domestic Water”; (2) “Irrigation Water”; and (3) “Property Sewer.” For each row the seller has five possible boxes which he or she can check: (1) “Public System”; (2) “Community System”; (3) “Private System”; (4) “Cistern”; and (5) “Other.” In the Disclosure Form, “Private System” is checked for all three rows. The Disclosure Form was signed and initialed by Eileen. It was also signed by the Humphries. The Disclosure Form was not signed by Allen or Jane.

Shortly after the October 7, 2008 meeting, Adams drafted the MLS Listing. In the section of the MLS Listing providing information on water sources, Adams wrote “Shared Well” and “Well shared with Becker home to the South on agreement being drawn.” There is no mention of the Farm Well in the MLS Listing.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
366 P.3d 1088, 159 Idaho 728, 2016 Ida. LEXIS 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-humphries-v-eileen-becker-idaho-2016.