Biegler v. Kraft

Decision Date07 February 2013
Docket NumberNo. CIV 11–3010–RAL.,CIV 11–3010–RAL.
Citation924 F.Supp.2d 1074
PartiesMartin A. BIEGLER, Cara M. Biegler, and Christine K. Schirber, Ira, by and through its Trustee, BankWest, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. Richard KRAFT and Caryn R. Kraft, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of South Dakota

924 F.Supp.2d 1074

Martin A. BIEGLER, Cara M. Biegler, and Christine K. Schirber, Ira, by and through its Trustee, BankWest, Inc., Plaintiffs,
v.
Richard KRAFT and Caryn R. Kraft, Defendants.

No. CIV 11–3010–RAL.

United States District Court,
D. South Dakota,
Central Division.

Feb. 7, 2013.


[924 F.Supp.2d 1077]


John W. Burke, Thomas Braun Bernard & Burke, LLP, Rapid City, SD, for Plaintiffs.

Terry G. Westergaard, Bangs, McCullen, Butler, Foye & Simmons, Rapid City, SD, for Defendants.


FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, OPINION AND ORDER

ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Martin A. Biegler, Cara M. Biegler, and Christine K. Schirber, IRA, by and through its Trustee, BankWest, Inc., (collectively “Bieglers”) sued Defendants Richard Kraft and Caryn R. Kraft (“Krafts”) seeking specific performance of what the Bieglers allege to be a contract for the purchase of 314 acres in Dewey County, South Dakota. The Bieglers started this case by filing a Complaint and a lis pendens on May 26, 2011. The Krafts answered, raised the statute of frauds as a defense, and denied that there was an enforceable contract. The Krafts also filed a counterclaim for slander of title due to the filing of the lis pendens. After discovery in this case, the Krafts filed a motion for summary judgment, which this Court granted in part and denied in part. Doc. 45. This Court conducted a court trial of the fact issues in this case on December 10 and 11, 2012.

I. Findings of Fact

Plaintiffs Martin and Cara Biegler are married and live in Timber Lake, South Dakota. Christine Schirber is the mother of Cara Biegler and has a self-directed Individual Retirement Account (IRA) through BankWest, Inc., as Trustee. Martin Biegler is a general contractor and carpenter from Timber Lake. He also owned and operated a tent leasing business servicing the Upper Midwest until recently when he sold that business. Martin Biegler is a capable and sophisticated businessman who was described by witnesses from both sides of this lawsuit as sometimes loud, brash, and excitable. Cara Biegler has been a teacher in the Timber Lake school district for many years. Christine Schirber is married to Walter “Bud” Schirber, and they have retired to Lead, South Dakota. Christine Schirber had a career in banking culminating in heading a bank in Timber Lake, where her husband Bud was the cashier and vice president. Each of the Plaintiffs are very intelligent and both Martin Biegler and Christine Schirber are very sophisticated in the conduct of business.

Defendants Richard and Caryn Kraft are married and have lived together in Sitka, Alaska since 2008. The Krafts previously lived just outside of Timber Lake, on a 314–acre farm/ranch. Caryn Kraft was the record owner of that property. The Krafts had purchased the property, including a five bedroom, three-and-a-half bath, 4,000–square–foot home on the property, in 1997, and had lived there until 2008. Richard Kraft is a physician who has worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Indian Health Services. The Krafts are very intelligent, and Richard Kraft is sophisticated in business dealings.

[924 F.Supp.2d 1078]

When the Krafts originally moved to Alaska, they had intended to return to live in their home outside of Timber Lake. However, in 2011, the Krafts decided to make Alaska their permanent home and to sell the 314–acre farm/ranch, the home, and all improvements on the land. Although Caryn Kraft was the sole record owner of the property, she chose to have her husband Richard Kraft handle the sale of the property.

The Krafts hired Timber Lake attorney Steven Aberle to represent them in the sale of their home and farm/ranch. Aberle had conducted between 50 and 100 auction sales of real estate. The Krafts and Aberle put together an announcement of the auction of the property describing the land as a 314–acre farm, consisting of 135 acres used for grass or grazing, 135 tilled acres for farming, areas of trees and a large yard. Exhibit 1. The advertisement described the Kraft home as well maintained and including two custom-built rock fireplaces, oak trim, sunken living room, over 4,000 square feet, five bedrooms, three and a half baths, surrounding golden maple trees, and a driveway with a mix of oak, plum, chokecherry, and apple trees. Exhibit 1. Other buildings on the property included a large machinery quonset with a cement floor, self-standing garage, corrals with a barn, and two functioning wells. Exhibit 1. The property was to be sold as a single unit through a two-phase auction, with sealed bids to be submitted no later than 11:00 a.m. on May 3, 2011. Exhibit 1. The top three bidders then would be notified and invited back to bid in person at Aberle & Aberle Law Office on May 10, 2011. Exhibit 1. The sale announcement contained the following language: “Seller reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Any announcements made day of auction supersede any and all previously printed material and any other oral statements made.” Exhibit 1.

Cara Biegler noticed an advertisement of the sale of the Kraft home and land in the local paper and informed her husband Martin Biegler. See Exhibit 2. Martin and Cara Biegler then visited a website for information on the sale. Exhibit 3. Cara Biegler desperately wanted to buy the Kraft home, because the Bieglers' existing home was in a neighborhood that had changed for the worse and a burglar had broken into the Bieglers' home leaving Cara Biegler and her daughter very unnerved. Cara Biegler saw the Kraft home location as being ideal—outside of Timber Lake, on a paved road, large enough for hosting gatherings—and considered purchase of the Kraft home as presenting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Martin Biegler, familiar with the home after having re-roofed it for the Krafts in 2008, was more cautious about the home and saw problems with it, including the home's construction in the early 1970s and the bathrooms and furnace being of that vintage, some single pane windows, some hail damage of the siding, floor covering in the kitchen and dining room that he would have wanted to replace, and two wood burning fireplaces that he considered to be obsolete. Martin Biegler discussed with his wife not having enough cash on hand to buy the home and land and not wanting to borrow money to finance the purchase. Meanwhile, Cara Biegler's mother, Christine Schirber, had been looking to acquire farm or ranch land to diversify her self-directed IRA and liked the prospect of acquiring the portion of the Kraft property that would be separate from the home. Christine Schirber knew that her self-directed IRA could not be used to buy a home for her daughter but could benefit from possible purchase of the agricultural land apart from the home. The Bieglers were genuinely interested in acquiring the Kraft home. In late March of 2011, the Bieglers sent a series of questions about

[924 F.Supp.2d 1079]

the home to the Krafts, Exhibit 4, to which the Krafts responded. Exhibits 5, 6, 7, and 8.

The Bieglers and the Krafts knew each other and there were no ill feelings whatsoever between them at that point. Indeed, Martin Biegler and Richard Kraft were childhood friends and had graduated from Timber Lake High School in the same class. Richard Kraft had hired Martin Biegler's construction company to do work on his home. Likewise, there were no hard feelings between Aberle and the Bieglers. Aberle had hired Martin Biegler's business to do construction work on his law office as well, and both the Krafts' son and Aberle's son had worked for Biegler Construction without issue.

At the first phase of the auction, the Krafts received nine sealed bids. Exhibit 12. The top three bids were from the Bieglers, Dennis Ulrich, and Roger “Chip” and Rita Long, with the Bieglers' bid of $397,500 being the highest. Exhibits 9, 10, 11, 12. Tyrone Kraft, the nephew of the Krafts, submitted a bid which was not among the top three bids. Exhibit 12.

Aberle notified the top three bidders and invited them back to phase two of the auction scheduled for May 10, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. Dennis Ulrich, who was from Pennsylvania, told Aberle that he was not interested in bidding above the Bieglers' bid of $397,500, but remained interested in the property and would bid as high as $360,000, if the home and land could be purchased for that price. Ulrich declined to return to South Dakota to participate in phase two of the auction. The Bieglers asked Aberle to move up the time of phase two of the auction to 8:00 a.m., because Martin and Cara Biegler's son was graduating from South Dakota State University in Brookings on May 12, and they wished to drive the nearly six hours to arrive in Brookings for dinner on May 11. Aberle checked with the Krafts and Chip and Rita Long who all agreed to an 8:00 a.m. start to phase two of the auction.

In the days before phase two of the auction, Aberle met with Richard Kraft to discuss terms of a draft purchase agreement. Both Richard Kraft and Aberle were pleasantly surprised at the amount of the top bid. Richard Kraft and Aberle discussed a term of the draft purchase agreement to allocate a value of $250,000 to the residence in order to reduce the amount of capital gains tax the Krafts would owe. Both Aberle and Richard Kraft admitted at trial that if the initial bids had been lower, the value they would have allocated to the home probably would have been lower, but both Aberle and Richard Kraft felt comfortable assigning $250,000 as the value of the residence in light of the top sealed bid of $397,500. Aberle prepared a draft purchase agreement leaving blanks for the buyer's name, the amount to be paid, the amount of earnest money deposit, and the values to be assigned to other structures on the land, such as the detached two-car garage, steel shed with concrete floor and apron, pole calving barn, two wells and water line and land. Exhibit 14. However, the draft purchase agreement assigned $250,000 of the...

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