Ross v. Ticor Title Insurance

135 Wash. App. 182
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedOctober 3, 2006
DocketNo. 32589-6-II
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 135 Wash. App. 182 (Ross v. Ticor Title Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ross v. Ticor Title Insurance, 135 Wash. App. 182 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Armstrong, J.

¶1 Fred and Ursula Ross and Ticor Title Insurance Company appeal a summary judgment dismissing their claims against John Kirner for breach of contract, fraud, and misrepresentation. The claims stemmed from Kirner’s sale of property to the Rosses, a sale that Ticor insured. The Rosses and Ticor contend that Earner should have disclosed that he burdened the property with two easements while the sale was pending. Earner counters that because the final deed listed the two easements, the initial purchase agreement merged into the closing documents, barring the Rosses’ and Ticor’s claims. Because the merger doctrine does not apply where a seller’s misrepresentations induced the buyers to enter into the purchase agreement, we reverse the summary judgments and remand for further proceedings.

[186]*186FACTS

¶2 In February 1998, John F. Kirner1 signed a written agreement to sell real property he owned in Clallam County to Fred and Ursula Ross. The parties agreed to use Clallam Title Company for escrow services, to obtain title insurance from Ticor,2 and to close on April 27, 1998.

¶3 Kirner previously owned the land immediately east and west of the property he sold to the Rosses. The Strait of Juan de Fuca borders the property on the north. A 60-foot-wide easement bisects the Ross property and serves as access to property west of the Rosses’ parcel. Kirner deeded the property west of the Rosses’ parcel to his son in 1975. He claims that his son’s property had three terraces and that in the deed to his son, he created easements across the north, middle, and south of the Rosses’ property to allow his son access to each terrace. Kirner testified that “[o]ver the years [he] graded . . . logging roads in each of the terraces to provide access [to both his son’s and the Rosses’ property] and to allow removal of logged trees.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 245. Anyone visiting the property could clearly see the logging roads.

¶4 Shortly after the parties signed the agreement, Paulette Waldron, a Clallam Title escrow officer, sent a packet of closing documents, including a proposed deed and a preliminary commitment for title,3 to the Rosses. Fred Ross expressed concerns regarding the specific language of the declaration of easements, covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&R) referred to in the proposed statutory [187]*187warranty deed and closing documents, so he and Kirner agreed to amend the CC&R language. Waldron then sent the amended CC&R to the Rosses, which the Rosses approved and returned to Waldron.

¶5 Some time before the Rosses offered to purchase the property, Kirner asked Dave Cummins to survey the logging roads’ locations across the Rosses’ property and the lot to the east of the Ross lot. Cummins’s survey crew mapped the visible roads and recorded the survey on March 24, 1998, after Kirner and the Rosses signed their initial agreement but before the closing date. The survey map shows the roads as two 15-foot-wide easements extending in an east-to-west fashion across the lots; one over the northern portion and one over the southern portion of the two lots. Kirner did not consult the Rosses, his realtor, or Waldron before arranging for Cummins to record the new survey map. Fred Ross testified that neither Kirner nor anyone from Clallam Title told him about the new easements despite the fact that the contract provided that the parties could not modify the agreement absent written consent of all parties.

¶6 Shortly after Cummins recorded the new survey map, a Clallam Title title examiner prepared, on Ticor’s behalf, a supplemental report to the second preliminary title commitment and sent the report to Waldron. This report excepted from the proposed title insurance policy: “[E]asement[s] for ingress and egress . . . recorded on March 24, 1998.” CP at 263. Upon receiving the supplemental report to the second preliminary title commitment, Waldron added the language “[e]asements for ingress and egress recorded on March 24, 1998” to the proposed statutory warranty deed and sent a copy of the deed to the Rosses.4 CP at 290.

¶7 This deed contained both the modified CC&R terms and the language regarding the easements recorded on March 24, 1998. But the deed did not call special attention [188]*188to the fact that it differed from the first deed contained in the original packet of closing documents Waldron had sent to the Rosses. Kirner signed the statutory warranty deed, and the parties closed the transaction and recorded the deed on April 15, 1998. Clallam Title transferred the purchase price from escrow to Kirner.

¶8 The Rosses built a house and made other improvements to the property. Fred Ross claims that several years later, during a conversation with his neighbor, he learned that the two easements existed across his property.

¶9 The Rosses sued Clallam Title, Ticor, and Kirner for damages. They arbitrated their claims against Ticor, and the arbitrator concluded that Ticor’s policy covered the easements, and he awarded the Rosses $18,783 for the diminution in value the two easements caused to their property. The arbitrator also awarded the Rosses attorney fees expended in prosecuting their action against Ticor. The Rosses subsequently stipulated to dismiss all remaining claims against Ticor and settled with Clallam Title. They then amended their complaint against Kirner, seeking (1) to rescind the contract, (2) interest on the contract price, (3) damages for the improvements they made to the property, and (4) reimbursement for their costs and attorney fees.

¶10 Ticor, as the Rosses’ subrogee under the title insurance policy, cross-claimed against Kirner for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract.

¶11 The trial court granted Kirner’s summary judgment motion, reasoning that the merger doctrine rendered irrelevant Kirner’s failure to disclose the new easements because the deed, which Fred Ross signed, reported the easements; accordingly, the Rosses could not assert that they did not know about the easements. The court also awarded Kirner reasonable attorney fees of $18,172.25 against the Rosses and $16,725.25 against Ticor, whom the court held jointly and severally liable to Kirner for the fees.

[189]*189ANALYSIS

I. Standard of Review

¶12 We review a summary judgment de novo. Osborn v. Mason County, 157 Wn.2d 18, 22, 134 P.3d 197 (2006) (citing Denaxas v. Sandstone Court of Bellevue, L.L.C., 148 Wn.2d 654, 662, 63 P.3d 125 (2003)). Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). We construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Osborn, 157 Wn.2d at 22 (citing Folsom v. Burger King, 135 Wn.2d 658, 663, 958 P.2d 301 (1998)).

II. Merger

¶13 A real estate purchase and sale agreement’s provisions merge into the deed upon execution of the deed.

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Bluebook (online)
135 Wash. App. 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-v-ticor-title-insurance-washctapp-2006.