SUN FIRST NAT. BANK OF ORLANDO v. Grinnell

416 So. 2d 829
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 9, 1982
Docket81-972
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 416 So. 2d 829 (SUN FIRST NAT. BANK OF ORLANDO v. Grinnell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
SUN FIRST NAT. BANK OF ORLANDO v. Grinnell, 416 So. 2d 829 (Fla. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

416 So.2d 829 (1982)

SUN FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ORLANDO, As Trustee, and Hattie Dann, Appellants,
v.
Frederick K. GRINNELL a/k/a Fred K. Grinnell, John G. Pierce, William C. Demetree and Jack C. Demetree, Appellees.

No. 81-972.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

June 9, 1982.
Rehearing Denied July 9, 1982.

*830 James B. Byrne, Jr., Orlando, for appellants.

James O. Driscoll of Driscoll, Langston, Layton & Kane, P.A., Orlando, and John G. Pierce, Orlando, for appellees.

*831 COWART, Judge.

This case involves the allegedly improper refusal of a mortgagee to release property under a partial release provision of a mortgage.

In December of 1970, Ernest C. and Hattie Dann, as sellers, and two of the appellees, as buyers, entered into a contract for the sale and purchase of 19.34 acres of land for a purchase price of $255,000, payable $66,250 down and the balance of $188,750 to be evidenced by a promissory note payable in 21 periodic annual payments of principal and interest and secured by a purchase money mortgage. The contract provided that the mortgage would contain a subordination clause and a partial release provision to the effect that:

Upon written consent of the Mortgagee, which said consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, property may be released from the lien of this mortgage upon payment to Mortgagee of the portion of the balance due on the note and mortgage which the number of acres requested to be released bears to the total acreage covered by this mortgage.

Thereafter, the sellers conveyed said property subject to said contract to the predecessor of appellant bank as trustee under an inter vivos trust. In December, 1971, the real estate transaction contemplated by the contract was closed and the appellant's predecessor trustee-bank accepted the balance of the down payment, delivered a deed and accepted the buyers' note and mortgage with the release provision, all as provided in the contract. The mortgagors took possession of the land and improvements and made certain payments on the note. In May of 1977, the mortgagors requested a partial release of 8.092 acres. The mortgagee's agent responded that 4.1446 acres was "the maximum we feel can be released ... at this time." On September 26, 1977, the mortgagors responded that they believed they were entitled to a release of 8.092 acres, but, since there was no question about a release of 4.1446 acres, requested a partial release of that acreage to be delivered at the earliest possible date. The mortgagee did not respond to the letter of September 26, 1977, nor to two follow-up letters. After some disputes and payments and delay, on December 27, 1977, the mortgagee confirmed that all payments were then current and stated "we are now in the process of executing the partial release of mortgage." Nevertheless, the mortgagee did not deliver the partial release, despite further requests. Finally, by letter dated June 23, 1978, the mortgagee notified the mortgagors that no property would be released because the unpaid balance on the note would be inadequately secured by the value of the mortgaged property if a release was granted.

Alleging the background facts and that the mortgagee had wrongfully denied a partial release and that the mortgagors had therefore elected to rescind the sale, the mortgagors brought an action against the mortgagee and Hattie Dann.[1] Count I sought rescission of the original land sale contract, cancellation of the deed and the purchase money note and mortgage and restitution of all sums paid and expended in connection with the purchase, interest thereon and court costs. Count II sought money damages for breach of the mortgage provision for partial release of secured lands upon partial payment of the secured indebtedness. The mortgagee answered, alleged certain affirmative defenses and counterclaimed for foreclosure of the mortgage for non-payment of an accelerated principal balance of $142,400.53.

After an arduous trial, the trial court cancelled the contract, rescinded the deed, note and mortgage and entered judgment in favor of the mortgagors and against the *832 mortgagee and Hattie Dann in the sum of $333,141.58.[2]

The bank and Hattie Dann appeal, arguing four points:

(1) That the mortgagee did not unreasonably withhold a partial release of the mortgaged property in view of the mortgagor's prior late payments, the failure of the mortgagors to properly maintain the mortgaged property and an appraisal indicating that the mortgaged property was worth less than the then balance of the secured indebtedness.

(2) That, upon rescission, mortgagee should have been allowed, as restitution, a reasonable amount for the use value for the nine years and seven months that mortgagors possessed the security property.

(3) The remedies of rescission and damages for breach of contract being mutually exclusive, the mortgagor should have been required before trial to have elected remedies.

(4) Undetailed expert witness fees should not have been awarded as costs without proof of their reasonableness.

With all due respect to counsel and the trial court, we believe that there are certain fundamental misconceptions inherent in this litigation. The original contract for the sale and purchase of land is the usual bilateral executory contract, each party being both a promisor and a promisee. The seller promises to convey title to land by delivery of a deed to the buyer in exchange for the buyer's promise to pay the seller the purchase price. The two sets of promises are mutually dependent and conditional, requiring concurrent performances. At the "closing," both parties simultaneously and fully discharge their promises and contractual duties by performance when the seller delivers a proper deed and the buyer delivers the purchase money in full.

The first complexity arises when the seller agrees to accept as consideration both a buyer's promise to deliver some money at closing and the buyer's formal promise to pay the balance of the purchase price in future installments (a promissory note) and to secure the promised future performance by a lien against the subject property in the form of a purchase money mortgage. Again, at "closing" both parties simultaneously and fully discharge their promises and contract duties by performance when the seller delivers a proper deed and the buyer delivers purchase money due at closing and the promised note and mortgage. It is important to recognize that, while such sales contracts customarily state a total purchase price as composed of an earnest money deposit, cash at closing, balances on assumed mortgages and balances evidenced by the buyer's promissory note secured by a purchase money mortgage, the true nature of such sales agreement is that the buyer's promise is not an agreement to pay the full purchase price in money but is a promise to make and deliver secondary contracts in the form of a promissory note and mortgage, just as he may "pay" part of the purchase price by assuming some existing indebtedness already secured by an existing mortgage on the property. That this is true is demonstrated by the fact that, if the deferred portion of the purchase price, or part of it, is not paid, the then owner of the indebtedness that originated in the real estate sale, whether that owner be the original *833

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Bluebook (online)
416 So. 2d 829, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sun-first-nat-bank-of-orlando-v-grinnell-fladistctapp-1982.