T-1 Construction, Inc. v. Tannenbaum Development Co.

314 S.W.3d 740, 2009 Ark. App. 169, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 220
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 11, 2009
DocketCA 08-889
StatusPublished

This text of 314 S.W.3d 740 (T-1 Construction, Inc. v. Tannenbaum Development Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
T-1 Construction, Inc. v. Tannenbaum Development Co., 314 S.W.3d 740, 2009 Ark. App. 169, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 220 (Ark. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge.

| [Appellant T-l Construction, Inc., appeals the April 7, 2008 order of the Cle-burne County Circuit Court, which denied its claim for specific performance against appellee Tannenbaum Development Co., LLC, and granted appellee’s claim for rescission on the contract between the parties. On appeal, appellant argues that there was not substantial evidence to support the circuit court’s finding of unconscionable unilateral mistake by appellee’s owner/manager, Gray Turney. We affirm.

Facts & Procedural History

Appellee, through its owner/manager, Gray Turney, signed an exclusive right-to-sell agreement with Lake Real Estate in Heber Springs, Arkansas. The agreement was for the sale of five lakefront lots in Tannenbaum, Cleburne County, Arkansas. The agreement |2stated the legal description and address of the property as “Lots 13-17, East Shores at Tannenbaum, Cle-burne County, Arkansas,” and listed a total offering price of $75,000. A real estate contract was subsequently negotiated and signed on or about February 2, 2007, for “Lots 13-17, East Shore Subdivision, Cle-burne County, Arkansas,” for a total purchase price of $70,000. That form was prepared by appellant’s broker with appellant. On March 14, 2007, the day before the closing was to occur, Mr. Turney learned that the sales price was to be for all five lots as a group, as opposed to $70,000 per lot, for a total of $350,000. He refused to consummate the sale, claiming that the sales price was a mistake.

Appellant did not contest that appellee was operating under a unilateral mistake, and appellee did not contend that any fraud was perpetrated by appellant. Appellant maintained that the four elements of unconscionability necessary to void the contract for unilateral mistake had not been met. Appellant filed a complaint for specific performance on March 30, 2007. Appellee filed a timely answer to the complaint on April 13, 2007, and later an amended answer and counterclaim for rescission of the contract on January 2, 2008. The matter was heard on January 3, 2008, and the circuit court entered an order on April 7, 2008, denying appellant’s claim for specific performance against appellee and granting appellee’s claim for rescission of the contract. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on May 2, 2008.

Standard of Review

Our standard of review for an appeal from a bench trial is not whether there was ^substantial evidence to support the findings of the circuit judge, but whether the circuit court’s findings were clearly erroneous or clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Duke v. Shinpaugh, 375 Ark. 358, 290 S.W.3d 591 (2009). A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with a firm conviction that an error has been committed. Id.

Discussion

Appellant asserts that the sole issue to be determined is whether the mistaken belief of appellee’s owner/manager, Gray Turney, that the sales contract was $70,000 per lot for each of the five lots, instead of $70,000 total for all five lots, was unconscionable. The circuit court found that it would be inequitable and unconscionable to enforce the contract because of the damages that would be incurred by appellee if the contract were enforced. Appellant states, however, that there was no proof of damages offered at trial, only the loss of bargain by appellee if it was required to honor its obligations under the sales contract.

Citing Mountain Home School District v. T.M.J. Builders, Inc., 313 Ark. 661, 858 S.W.2d 74 (1993), appellant sets out the elements necessary to support the circuit court’s finding of rescission due to unilateral mistake as follows: (1) the mistake must be of so great a consequence that to enforce the contract as actually made would be unconscionable; (2) the matter as to which the mistake was made must relate to a material feature of the contract; (3) the mistake must have occurred notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable care by the party making the mistake; (4) it must be able to get relief by way of rescission |4without serious prejudice to the other party, except for loss of his bargain. It is appellant’s contention that appellee did not meet its burden of proof with regard to the first and third requirements. Specifically, the evidence presented at trial indicated that Mr. Turney had a real estate broker, as well as a real estate agent, and further indicated that he read the sales contract but did not learn of his own mistake until the day before closing.

Appellant initially analyzes the facts of the instant case with respect to the first requirement for rescission, that the mistake must be of so great a consequence that to enforce the contract as actually made would be unconscionable. Appellant refers to case law in which a mistake costing 3.9% of a bid contract was found to be not unconscionable under the standard, see T.M.J. Builders, supra; acknowledging, however, that a mistake costing 22.7% of a bid contract could be unconscionable. See State ex rel. Arkansas State Highway Commission v. Ottinger, 232 Ark. 35, 334 S.W.2d 694 (1960). Here, appellant maintains, there is no “cost” to appellee at all, only a loss of bargain in the purchase price due to the unilateral mistake. Appellant asserts that appellee’s loss should be disregarded as a factor of unconscionability just as appellant’s speculative gain would be under the fourth factor of this test.

Regarding the third requirement— whether appellee’s manager’s unilateral mistake occurred notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable care by him — appellant claims it did not. Appellant states that the record shows that appellee had signed an exclusive right-to-sell agreement, with the broker of appellee’s choosing, Lake Real Estate in Heber Springs, | ¡Arkansas. That agreement was for the sale of five lots in Tannenbaum, Cleburne County, Arkansas. The agreement stated the legal description and address of the property as “Lots 13-17, East Shores at Tannenbaum, Cleburne County, Arkansas,” and listed a total offering price of $75,000. A real estate contract was subsequently negotiated and signed on or about February 2, 2007, for “Lots 13-17, East Shore Subdivision, Cleburne County, Arkansas,” for a total purchase price of $70,000. That form was prepared by appellant’s broker, with appellant.

Appellant urges that the standard of review for unconscionability tried by a circuit court sitting without a jury is whether the circuit court’s findings are clearly erroneous given the totality of the circumstances. Associated Press v. Southern Arkansas Radio Co., 34 Ark.App. 211, 214, 809 S.W.2d 695, 697 (1991) (holding that two important considerations are (1) whether there is a gross inequality of bargaining power, and (2) whether the aggrieved party was made aware of and comprehended the provision in question).

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Related

Hume v. United States
132 U.S. 406 (Supreme Court, 1889)
State Ex Rel. Arkansas State Highway Commission v. Ottinger
334 S.W.2d 694 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1960)
Mountain Home School District No. 9 v. T.M.J. Builders, Inc.
858 S.W.2d 74 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1993)
Duke v. Shinpaugh
290 S.W.3d 591 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2009)
Associated Press v. Southern Arkansas Radio Co.
809 S.W.2d 695 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1991)
Arkansas National Life Insurance v. Durbin
623 S.W.2d 548 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
314 S.W.3d 740, 2009 Ark. App. 169, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/t-1-construction-inc-v-tannenbaum-development-co-arkctapp-2009.