Vroman v. Town & Country Credit Corp.

2007 WY 82, 158 P.3d 141, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 89, 2007 WL 1413091
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 2007
DocketNo. 06-170
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2007 WY 82 (Vroman v. Town & Country Credit Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vroman v. Town & Country Credit Corp., 2007 WY 82, 158 P.3d 141, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 89, 2007 WL 1413091 (Wyo. 2007).

Opinion

BURKE, Justice.

[¶ 1] Appellant Carol Vroman initiated this litigation seeking damages for a mortgage refinancing transaction that went awry. Appellee Town and Country Credit Corp. ("Town and Country") admitted liability. Following a bench trial, the district court entered its Judgment and Order in favor of Town and Country because it found that Ms. Vroman was not entitled to damages. On appeal, Ms. Vroman challenges the district court's decision, claiming that she should have received punitive and compensatory damages. We find no error in the district court's failure to award punitive damages. However, we conclude that, in light of Town and Country's admission of liability, the district court erred in failing to award compensatory damages caused by the failure to obtain releases of all mortgages of record on Ms. Vroman's properties. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

ISSUES

[T2] Ms. Vroman presents the following issues:

I. Did the District Court err in failing to award damages for the injury resulting from the admitted negligence and admitted breach of contract of [Appellee] Town and Country?
IIL. Did the District Court err in failing to award punitive damages?

FACTS

[¶ 3] Town and Country is in the mortgage lending business and, in 2003, identified Ms. Vroman as a potential customer. Ms. Vroman owned two properties, each with two mortgages. Her residence was encumbered by a first mortgage in favor of CitiFinancial with a balance of approximately $85,000 and a second mortgage held by Beneficial with a balance of approximately $46,000. Ms. Vro-man's rental property was encumbered by a CitiFinancial first mortgage of $55,000 and a second mortgage of $20,000 held by WyHy Federal Credit Union ("WyHy").

[¶ 4] Jeremigsh Jennings, a loan officer employed by Town and Country, initiated telephone contact with Ms. Vroman to solicit her business. At the time, Ms. Vroman was behind in her payments on her second mortgage with Beneficial Her $20,000 WyHy mortgage debt had been discharged in bank-ruptey but a lien remained on the property. As a result of the discharge, Ms. Vroman had not made any payments on the WyHy debt for several years. In addition to her mortgage debt, Ms. Vroman had personal consumer debt of $4,450, some of which was in collection. She also owed $3,207.29 in delinquent property taxes.

[¶ 5] Due to Ms. Vroman's poor credit history, and the lack of equity in the properties, refinancing proved difficult. From Town and Country's perspective, refinancing was not possible unless something could be worked out with Beneficial and WyHy. Mr. Jennings testified that he negotiated a "short sale" with both companies. According to Mr. Jennings, Beneficial agreed to accept $30,000 for release of its second mortgage on the residence and WyHy agreed to accept $10,000 for release of its second mortgage on the rental property.

[¶ 6] Based on these arrangements, Ms. Vroman and Town and Country entered into a refinancing agreement. The total amount loaned by Town and Country was agreed to be $207,500. For this amount, all existing mortgages were to be satisfied, closing costs paid, and certain personal debt and property taxes would be paid. The settlement statement Ms. Vroman signed reflected that additional funds would be disbursed to her for personal use.

[¶ 7] Closing of the Town and Country loan occurred in December 2008. In January 2004, the title company, relying on a payoff statement provided by Town and Country, issued a check to Beneficial in the amount of $30,433.18 for release of its mortgage on the Vroman residence. Beneficial returned the check asserting that the amount was insufficient to satisfy the underlying debt. Beneficial refused to release its mortgage until the debt was paid in full. As a result, the Town and Country mortgage on the Vroman residence property was subordinate to the Beneficial mortgage and Ms. Vroman remained liable for monthly payments on the Beneficial [144]*144mortgage in addition to her payment obligations resulting from the new Town and Country loan.

[T8] The title company also issued a $10,000 check to WyHy for release of its mortgage on the rental property pursuant to the payoff statement provided by Town and Country. WyHy cashed the check, but did not release its mortgage. Instead, WyHy subordinated its mortgage to the Town and Country mortgage.

[¶ 9] Ms. Vroman was not advised that the Beneficial and WyHy mortgages had not been satisfied and released. She learned of the continued existence of Beneficial's mortgage when Beneficial initiated foreclosure proceedings. In order to forestall foreclosure by Beneficial, Ms. Vroman was forced to make an additional mortgage payment to Beneficial in the amount of $1,001. In April 2004, Town and Country paid Beneficial $46,631.10 for release of the Beneficial mortgage.1 Ms. Vroman learned of the continued existence of the WyHy mortgage when she sold her rental property in May 2005. In order to provide clear title to the purchaser, Ms. Vroman paid the balance of $12,968.98 on the WyHy mortgage.

[¶ 10] Ms. Vroman filed suit in the district court for Laramie County against Town and Country and others associated with the refinancing. She alleged various causes of action against some or all of the defendants. The claims against Town and Country relevant to this appeal include Ms. Vroman's claim for compensatory damages predicated upon Town and Country's negligence, breach of contract, fraud, and her claim for punitive damages.

[T11] Prior to trial, Town and Country admitted that it was negligent in the refinancing of Ms. Vroman's properties and admitted that it had breached its contracts with Ms. Vroman. Town and Country conceded that it "was the sole cause of [Ms. Vroman's] alleged damages," but continued to deny that she had suffered any damages. Town and Country also asserted a counterclaim against Ms. Vroman for the additional $16,197.92 it had paid Beneficial for release of its mortgage.

[T12] A two day bench trial was held in March 2006. During trial, the district court granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of Town and Country on Ms. Vroman's fraud claim, and dismissed Town and Country's counterclaim against Ms. Vroman for the $16,197.92.2 At the conclusion of the trial, the district court determined Ms. Vroman was not entitled to damages despite Town and Country's admission of liability. The district court reasoned that any such damages would be offset by the additional amount that Town and Country paid to release the Beneficial mortgage. As a result, the district court entered judgment in favor of Town and Country. Ms. Vroman appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[113] We review a district court's findings of fact under a clearly erroncous standard.

The factual findings of a judge are not entitled to the limited review afforded a jury verdict. While the findings are presumptively correct,. the appellate court may examine all of the properly admissible evidence in the record. Due regard is given to the opportunity of the trial judge to assess the credibility of the witnesses, and our review does not entail weighing disputed evidence. Findings of fact will not be set aside unless the findings are clearly erroneous. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.

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Bluebook (online)
2007 WY 82, 158 P.3d 141, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 89, 2007 WL 1413091, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vroman-v-town-country-credit-corp-wyo-2007.