Spalla v. Fransen

936 N.E.2d 552, 188 Ohio App. 3d 658
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 23, 2010
DocketNo. 2009-G-2910
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 936 N.E.2d 552 (Spalla v. Fransen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spalla v. Fransen, 936 N.E.2d 552, 188 Ohio App. 3d 658 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Mary Jane Trapp, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} Paulette Kohler Fransen appeals from a judgment of the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, which enforced a real estate contract against her. She entered into a purchase agreement to buy a residential property but failed to go through with the transaction. The trial court awarded $144,500 in damages to the sellers. For the following reasons, we affirm.

{¶ 2} Substantive Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 3} Fransen entered into a purchase agreement with Frank Spalla and his ex-wife, Anne Buck, to buy their house at 15054 Hemlock Point Road, Russell Township, for the price of $695,000. The “Purchase Agreement Offer, Receipt and Seller’s Acceptance” is apparently a form contract for residential properties used by the realtor, Coldwell Banker. It called for $10,000 of earnest money to be paid to “American Title Service, Chris Zuzolo, Attorney” within ten days of the seller’s acceptance of an offer. It required the buyer to apply for financing within five days, and, if the loan was denied within 45 days, the buyer could waive the financing condition in writing. The agreement called for the proceeds of any mortgage loan to be obtained and the closing to occur within 90 days of the acceptance. The purchaser was listed as Paulette Kohler Fransen, trustee of Stonebridge Farm Trust, and she signed the document in her name.

[660]*660{¶ 4} The purchase agreement indicated that Spalla and his ex-wife accepted Fransen’s offer of $695,000 on July 20, 2004. Paragraph 13 of the document states: “Upon written acceptance, this offer * * * become a legally binding-agreement * *

{¶ 5} The purchase agreement was then modified a half dozen times, as reflected in a series of documents titled “Modification and/or Supplement to Real Estate Purchase Agreement,” all bearing Fransen’s signature. The first modification was dated September 2, 2004. It stated that the financing condition was removed. The second modification was dated October 20, 2004. It extended the closing to October 28, 2004. The third modification was dated October 28, 2004, extending the closing date to November 9, 2004. The fourth modification was dated November 10, 2004. It extended the closing to November 29, 2004, and also added a provision under which the purchaser was to pay the sellers $150 per diem beginning with November 10, 2004, to cover the sellers’ mortgage and utilities through the date of title transfer, for a maximum of 30 days.

{¶ 6} The fifth modification was dated December 8, 2004. It changed the purchaser’s name from Stonebridge Farm Trust to Fransen. On the same date, Fransen also signed a final modification extending the closing date to December 31, 2004.

{¶ 7} Fransen never obtained financing for the house and did not go through with the transaction. In December 2005, Spalla and his ex-wife, Buck (collectively, “Spalla”), filed an action for specific performance. In June 2006, they sold the property for $555,000 and amended their complaint to seek money damages instead.1

{¶ 8} At trial, Fransen claimed that she did not sign three of the six documents modifying the purchase agreement. The court found her denial incredible because she contradicted herself regarding one of the documents — under direct examination, she claimed that she did not sign the document but contradicted herself under cross-examination. The trial court determined that the purchase agreement was indeed modified as shown by the series of documents she had signed.

{¶ 9} The court also discredited Fransen’s claim that a change of condition in the property justified her nonperformance. She claimed that Spalla’s ex-wife, Buck, removed the stained glass and chandelier from the house. The court [661]*661observed that these items were expressively excluded in the purchase agreement. Fransen also claimed that the contract was nullified because Spalla refused to allow her to inspect the house a week before the scheduled closing. The court found that under the purchase agreement she had no right of inspection days before the closing date.

{¶ 10} As the court noted, Fransen’s testimony was largely inconsistent, rambling, and disjointed. When asked if she was under any compulsion to purchase the property for $695,000, she answered: “I think he was forcing us to do this. He liked the house. He didn’t want to sell it, and he was making this a most difficult transaction * *

{¶ 11} The trial court found Spalla’s testimony credible. The court also found that he had fully performed under the contract. It found Fransen in breach of the purchase agreement and awarded Spalla damages of $140,000, the difference between the original contract price of $695,000 and the eventual sale price of $555,000, plus interest.2

{¶ 12} On appeal, Fransen, pro se, raises two assignments of error:

{¶ 13} “[1] The trial court erred in granting a judgment to Frank Spalla and Anne Buck, Plaintiffs, for a breach of contract in its order of June 9, 2009.
{¶ 14} “[2] The trial court erred in granting a judgment to Frank Spalla and Anne Buck, Plaintiffs, for an additional amount to pay for the new buyer’s septic system, as a part of the judgment of June 9, 2009.”

{¶ 15} Standard of review

{¶ 16} In a civil proceeding, “[jjudgments supported by some competent, credible evidence going to all the essential elements of the case will not be reversed by a reviewing court as being against the manifest weight of the evidence.” C.E. Morris Co. v. Foley Constr. Co. (1978), 54 Ohio St.2d 279, 280-281, 8 O.O.3d 261, 376 N.E.2d 578.

{¶ 17} Furthermore, as an appellate court, we evaluate the findings of the trial court under a presumption that those findings are correct. Seasons Coal Co., Inc. v. Cleveland (1984), 10 Ohio St.3d 77, 80, 10 OBR 408, 461 N.E.2d 1273. This is because the trier of fact is in the best position “to view the witnesses and observe their demeanor, gestures and voice inflections, and use these observations in weighing the credibility of the proffered testimony.” Id. As a reviewing court, we are unwilling to second-guess the trial court’s determination when there is competent, credible evidence to support it, nor are we willing to weigh the [662]*662credibility of the witnesses. Karnofel v. Girard Police Dept., 11th Dist. No. 2004-T-0145, 2005-Ohio-6154, 2005 WL 3096757, ¶ 19.

{¶ 18} There are two questions to be resolved in this case: first, whether the buyer breached the purchase agreement; second, whether the trial court abused its discretion in awarding the damages. The first assignment of error relates to the issue of a breach.

{¶ 19} Fransen makes three claims under the first assignment of error. First, she claims that the trial court erred in ignoring evidence showing “a lack of a final deed.” Second, she alleges that a correct deed vesting title in Fransen’s name individually was not in escrow by December 31, 2004, and, third, therefore, the sellers themselves were in breach of the contract.

{¶ 20} The Deed

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Walters v. Goddard
2020 Ohio 870 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
Coldwell v. Moore
2017 Ohio 526 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
Smith v. Smith
2013 Ohio 4101 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
Spalla v. Fransen
936 N.E.2d 559 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
936 N.E.2d 552, 188 Ohio App. 3d 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spalla-v-fransen-ohioctapp-2010.