Schwartz v. Luletsky

25 Pa. D. & C.3d 159, 1982 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 219
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Alleghany County
DecidedDecember 28, 1982
Docketno. 6112 of 1981
StatusPublished

This text of 25 Pa. D. & C.3d 159 (Schwartz v. Luletsky) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Alleghany County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schwartz v. Luletsky, 25 Pa. D. & C.3d 159, 1982 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 219 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1982).

Opinion

WETTICK, A.J.,

In this assumpsit action, plaintiff sought payment of $6,950 plus interest and costs for accounting services. At the trial of this action, plaintiff introduced an invoice dated March 16,1979in the amount of$6,950 which he had submitted for the accounting services that he allegedly provided defendants. Defendants acknowledged that the invoice has not been paid. Their primary defense was that many of the services were not performed in a timely manner and thus were of [160]*160limited value to defendants. The jury rendered a verdict for $5,750 in plaintiffs favor and against both defendants.

Subsequently, plaintiff presented a motion requesting that the verdict be molded to include interest from March 16, 1979. This motion is the subject of this opinion and order of court.

Defendants oppose the motion on two grounds. First, they contend that plaintiff is not entitled to prejudgment interest because the amount of the debt could not be determined with a reasonable degree of certainty before the resolution of the dispute over the extent to which plaintiff performed his contractual obligations. Second, defendants contend that plaintiff waived any claim for interest by his failure to request the trial judge to submit the issue to the jury.

I

Initially, we consider defendants’ claim that interest cannot be awarded because the amount owing under the contract is not readily ascertainable. The basis for this claim is a narrow reading of Section 354(1) of the Restatement of Contracts 2d (1979). This provision, which deals with the right to interest as damages for breach of a contractual obligation, reads as follows:

If the breach consists of a failure to pay a definite sum of money or to render a performance with fixed or ascertainable monetary value, interest is recoverable from the time for performance on the amount due less all deductions to which the party in breach is entitled.

Defendants apparently contend that this provision of the Restatement of Contracts 2d restricts an award of interest to those circumstances in which [161]*161plaintiff proves that defendant breached a promise to pay “a definite sum of money” or to render a performance whose value is ascertainable with reasonable certainty. According to defendants, this means that interest is recoverable only when there is a failure to pay a liquidated sum due on a fixed date and the debtor is in absolute default. Interest cannot be recovered in actions where the damages are not inherently capable of exact computation. In such cases, the party against whom the claim is made is not in a position to pay or make tender until the amount has been ascertained and thus the deis not of the absolute nature that permits interest for the delay.

While Section 337(a) of the Restatement of Contracts (1st) — the predecessor to Section 354(1) of the Restatement of Contracts 2d — has been relied upon by the Pennsylvania appellate courts (see Penneys v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 408 Pa. 276, 183 A. 2d 544(1962); Oxford Manufacturing Company, Inc. v. Cliff House Building Corp., 224 Pa. Super. 387, 307 A. 2d 343 (1973)),

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Bluebook (online)
25 Pa. D. & C.3d 159, 1982 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 219, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schwartz-v-luletsky-pactcomplallegh-1982.