Tansil v. Horlock

204 So. 2d 457
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 28, 1967
Docket44613
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 204 So. 2d 457 (Tansil v. Horlock) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tansil v. Horlock, 204 So. 2d 457 (Mich. 1967).

Opinion

204 So.2d 457 (1967)

B.A. TANSIL
v.
John D. HORLOCK, Jr., et al.

No. 44613.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

November 28, 1967.

*459 Jason H. Floyd, Gulfport, for appellant.

Richard B. Graves, Houston & Johnson, Joseph R. Meadows, John A. Evans, Gulfport, for appellees.

RODGERS, Justice:

B.A. Tansil, the appellant, filed suit in the Chancery Court of Harrison County against John D. Horlock, Jr. and John Kovace, seeking a decree from the court requiring specific performance of a construction contract and a contract for the sale of property, or, in the alternative, a judgment for damages sustained by the plaintiff for the breach of these contracts. The unpaid materialmen and laborers were joined as parties defendant, including Bailey Mortgage Company, which held a recorded construction lien upon the property involved. Dr. Otto Binder and his wife, Erika Binder, who had contracted to buy the house after the original suit had been filed and lis pendens notice placed of record, were also made parties defendant. The defendants filed their respective claims, and Bailey Mortgage Company filed its answer and claim of lien upon the property involved. John D. Horlock could not be found, and process was obtained on him by publication. A judgment pro confesso was taken against him, but no personal judgment was entered because of the lack of personal process.

This controversy had its inception under the following circumstances. B.A. Tansil was employed in Louisiana and resided there. He decided to establish his home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and went to see John Kovace, a man engaged in the sale of real estate as broker for Walker Brothers. Mr. Kovace advised him to contact John D. Horlock, Jr., a building contractor. The appellant selected a desirable building lot in the subdivision of Pass Christian Isles, offered for sale by John Kovace. On November 7, 1964, the appellant and John D. Horlock, Jr. entered into two contracts, one to purchase the selected lot, and the other a building contract in which the contractor agreed to build the house described in the attached specifications for the sum of $21,500.

The appellant made application to Bailey Mortgage Company for a Veterans Administration loan in the sum of $21,500, which was approved by the Veterans Administration. The appellant advanced to John D. Horlock the sum of $500 in cash. It developed, however, that the contractor could not obtain funds to finance the construction of the house; thereupon, John Kovace entered into an arrangement with the building contractor, Horlock, to obtain financial aid in building the house. Horlock deeded the lot to Kovace, who in turn borrowed money from a friend to put down the foundation. Kovace then procured a loan from Bailey Mortgage Company to complete the building so that it could be sold to appellant under the original contract. Bailey Mortgage Company advanced $9,675 upon the statement of Kovace to the mortgage company's title insurance attorneys that all materialmen and labor liens had been satisfied. When the construction had progressed so that the contractor could make an application for a second advancement of funds from the mortgage company, it was discovered that the materialmen and laborers had not been paid, and the title insurance attorneys would not approve the additional construction loan.

Mr. Kovace contends here that the reason the materialmen and laborers had not been paid was that Mr. Tansil had demanded additional changes in the building, and that these changes increased the cost of the building. It is apparent, however, from the testimony that the changes made in the construction of the building were actually changes made to meet the conditions required by the terms of the contract, except *460 an item of $100 for a better grade of flooring and a short counter which added an additional $30 to the contract price.

Mr. Kovace testified that he had agreed for Mr. Horlock to draw $400 to build the building, but that he had gotten an additional $100 as a loan.

Mr. Kovace finished the building as required by the Veterans Administration inspector, but would not close the contract by paying the outstanding materialmen and laborers liens and deeding the property to Mr. Tansil, the appellant, for the contract price of $21,500. He demanded that Mr. Tansil pay the unpaid bills due the materialmen and laborers, in addition to the contract price. He contended that the building contract between Tansil and Horlock was of no concern to him, and that the building was worth much more than the contract price. He then contracted with Dr. and Mrs. Otto Binder to sell the building to them, whereupon appellant sued for the specific performance of the contract he had with John D. Horlock to sell the property to the appellant, upon the ground that John D. Horlock and John Kovace were joint adventurers in the building venture.

The case was tried, and the chancery court entered a decree denying specific performance of the construction and sale contracts, but allowing a personal judgment against John D. Kovace for the total claim of the mortgage company, the materialmen and laborers, and B.A. Tansil for certain damages, but limited the claims to the value of the property involved. The court ordered the house and lot sold by the clerk in the event the various claims were not paid by John Kovace within thirty days. The court directed that out of the proceeds of the sale of the property, the costs be paid first, Bailey Mortgage Company be paid second, and finally the other claimants, including appellant, be paid from the remainder of the proceeds. The decree provided that in the event the funds were insufficient to liquidate the entire claim, the last claimants were to be paid their pro rata share from the balance, after the amounts due on the mortgage and the costs were paid.

The Chancellor, in a well considered opinion, correctly held that Mr. Horlock and Mr. Kovace were joint adventurers in the construction of the house agreed to be built for B.A. Tansil. The testimony shows that Mr. Kovace went into the venture of building the Tansil house with the view of selling other lots. He knew Mr. Horlock had agreed to sell the constructed house to Mr. Tansil. In fact, all his acts in the joint adventure were done in an effort to build the building so it could be sold to Mr. Tansil; nevertheless, in spite of his efforts, he made it impossible for Mr. Horlock to deed the property to Mr. Tansil by taking a deed from Mr. Horlock to the property and later contracting with Dr. and Mrs. Otto Binder to sell the property to them.

In the instant case the chancellor applied the rule of damages involved in abortive sales of land between vendor and vendee as set out in Abraham v. Harvey, 245 Miss. 449, 147 So.2d 639 (1963), and Callicott v. Gresham, 249 Miss. 103, 161 So.2d 183 (1964). We are of the opinion, however, that these cases and the other similar cases (Milam v. Paxton, 160 Miss. 562, 134 So. 171 (1931)) are not applicable to the facts in this case, because in Abraham the verbal contract to sell real estate was unenforceable, and in Callicott we agreed with the chancellor's holding under the facts in that case that "lost profit was too speculative and uncertain on which to base a judgment." See Crystal Springs Ice Co. v. Holliday, 106 Miss. 714, 64 So. 658 (1914). In the instant case, however, we are now confronted with a written contract which is enforceable and with evidence of damages resulting from a breach which are not speculative. If Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
204 So. 2d 457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tansil-v-horlock-miss-1967.