Spinelli v. Tallcott

272 Cal. App. 2d 589, 77 Cal. Rptr. 481, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2312
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 5, 1969
DocketCiv. No. 1065
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 272 Cal. App. 2d 589 (Spinelli v. Tallcott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spinelli v. Tallcott, 272 Cal. App. 2d 589, 77 Cal. Rptr. 481, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2312 (Cal. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

CONLEY, P. J.

In this case, Tony Spinelli, owner of 154 acres of Merced County farm land, sued Orrian Tallcott, the lessee under a three-year lease, for the balance of the specified consideration for oceupany of the land in the year 1967. The court awarded to plaintiff the full balance of money claimed by him as rental, but countered it by awarding to the cross-complainant lessee two substantial offsets, which reduced the [590]*590net sum for which, judgment was given to the plaintiff. The appellant complains that no such offsets should have been allowed; this is the sole ground of the appeal.

Appellant asserts that during 1967 respondent owed rent in the sum of $5,390 of which only $813.89 was paid; consequently, on October 3, 1967, appellant filed a complaint in which he prayed for judgment in the sum of $4,576.11. Respondent alleged as a defense: that, while the lease commenced on February 1, 1966, appellant told respondent in November of 1966 that he intended to have a considerable portion of the premises leveled and that the respondent would not have to pay rental for the period of time during which the land would thus be unavailable for farming; in February of 1967, the appellant finally told respondent that, after all, he did not intend to level the ground, and by that time it was too late for respondent to plant the first 1967 annual crop on approximately 90 acres of the leased premises. In December of 1966, the landlord had told the renter that he was delaying the leveling and that the lessee should remove interior fences, and do certain other work prior to the leveling, that the respondent proceeded to do the directly or impliedly requested work on the land, such as removing the fences and ripping the ground. Tallcott testified that Spinelli indicated that he would “sign up” at the Soil Conservation office to receive payment from the United States for subsoiling the land. The total reasonable value of the extra work done on the place by the lessee in his opinion amounted to $2,443.

In March of 1967, the owner also requested that the respondent permit him to put a pipeline on part of the property. Although it was represented this would take only a few days, respondent testified that the pipeline was not complete even in June and that, consequently, he lost a barley crop on 40 acres.

In answer to appellant’s complaint for the unpaid rental agreed to in the lease for 1967 ($4,576.11), respondent answered and cross-complained alleging as offsets four items:

No. I: Interference by lessor with his possession of 90 acres of the leased land during the latter part of 1966 and the first part of 1967, resulting in damages of $3,330;
No. II: Reliance on representations made to him by appellant that the owner would level the 90 acres, and that his not planting crops because of the reliance brought damage in the sum of $3,330; it is conceded that this is a separately pleaded claim of the amount asked for in No. I above;
[591]*591No. Ill: A second interference with his possession of 40 acres, because of delay in installing a pipeline, creating damage in the sum of $2,200; and
No. IV: The owner owed for work and labor performed by the defendant at plaintiff’s special instance and request in the sum of $3,543.50.

The trial court granted judgment to appellant in the full amount of the unpaid rent, $4,576.11, and judgment on the cross-complaint in favor of the respondent on item I for $3,330, and on item IV for $1,000; no separate judgment was granted the lessee on item II, and the judgment was for the cross-defendant owner on item III.

Appellant contends that there are two questions involved in this appeal which should be answered in his favor:

1) Did respondent produce sufficient evidence to prove the amount of damages awarded to him on the cross-complaint for appellant’s alleged interference with his possession of 90 acres ?
2) Did respondent’s testimony completely rebut the implied promise imposed on appellant requiring offsetting damages for work and services performed by respondent on the owner’s property?
1) The renter planted a crop of silage upon the 90 acres in June 1967. Tallcott contended he intended to plant oats for hay as the first annual crop in 1967 until the owner said he planned to level a great part of the land, and that when the renter finally found out that Spinelli did not intend to carry on leveling operations on the land it was so late he could not plant the oats, and, consequently, lost that intended crop.

The evidence in support of the damages of $3,330 is as follows:

1 ‘ Q. Was there still time to plant a crop on that 90 acres ?
“A. No.
“Q. It was too late to do that? A. That’s right.
“Q. Is that the first—that was the last word you got from him then that he was not going to do any leveling, is that it ? A. That’s right.
“Q. When did you plant a crop on the 90 acres then ?
“A. In June.
“Q. In June. Now, can you tell the court what you would have made on that crop if you had planted 90 acres in oats ?
“A. Well, the way I figured it out if you hired it all done from a commercial-—someone who worked ground and harvested I should have made about $3300 but I have got my own [592]*592machinery and that would have knocked me out of all my equipment use and I really believe that it should have been closer to 4900.
“Q. In other words if you had done all the work yourself you would have netted about 4900 ? A. That’s right.
“Q. But if you had hired the work done you would have netted around 3300, is that correct? A. That’s right.
‘ ‘ Q. That would be for 90 acres of oats, is that correct ?
“A. That’s right.”

Appellant argues that the evidence quoted is not the proper method of proving damages from the loss of a crop. We concede that the proper method is to show what the crop would have been and to deduct the probable cost of producing and selling such crop with the difference between market value and costs constituting the amount of damages. We have so held in Hayman v. Shoemake, 203 Cal.App.2d 140 [21 Cal. Rptr. 519], and Shoemake v. F. H. Woodruff & Son, Inc., 227 Cal.App.2d 587 [38 Cal.Rptr. 817]. The rule is clearly set forth also in other California eases and authorities: Morris v. George, 57 Cal.App.2d 665, 683-684 [135 P.2d 195]; Shimbori v. Coelho, 18 Cal.App.2d 641, 646 [64 P.2d 479]; Dutra v. Cabral, 80 Cal.App.2d 114 [181 P.2d 26]; Wendt v. Smith, 50 Cal.App. 233 [194 P. 736]; Wells v. B. F. Porter Estate, 205 Cal. 776 [272 P. 1039]; Teller v. Bay & River Dredging Co., 151 Cal. 209 [90 P. 942]; 30 Cal.Jur.2d, Landlord and Tenant, § 317, p. 462.

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Bluebook (online)
272 Cal. App. 2d 589, 77 Cal. Rptr. 481, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spinelli-v-tallcott-calctapp-1969.