Ex parte AB/Wildwood Ltd. Partnership
Decision Date | 17 November 2000 |
Citation | 793 So.2d 784 |
Parties | Ex parte A.B./WILDWOOD LIMITED PARTNERSHIP. (Re WBT, L.L.C., an Alabama Limited Liability Company v. A.B./Wildwood Limited Partnership). |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
James A. Harris, Jr., and James A. Harris III of Harris & Harris, L.L.P., Birmingham, for petitioner.
R. Dale Wallace, Jr., and Mark M. Hogewood of Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, L.L.C., Birmingham, for respondent.
A purported assignee of four owners of real estate sues a prospective buyer for specific performance of a purported contract to sell and to buy the land. On certiorari review, we determine that specific performance is not due.
Jeff O. Wise, Joan C. Wise, D. Lloyd Bowers, and Carolyn M. Bowers (hereinafter "original owners") owned a parcel of real estate. In December 1995, Ronald Carlson, an agent of A.B./Wildwood (hereinafter "A.B."), negotiated with William H. Moss, the original owners' real estate agent, to purchase the parcel. Thereafter, Moss drafted a contract instrument for the sale and purchase of the parcel. The instrument was later edited by hand many times. (C.R.63-64.) This edited instrument is hereinafter called "the agreement," but its validity is not assumed by this reference.
The purchase price in "the agreement" had been crossed out and rewritten a number of times. Only one of the original owners—D. Lloyd Bowers—initialed the changes to the purchase price. Only three of the original owners—Jeff O. Wise, D. Lloyd Bowers, and Carolyn M. Bowers— signed "the agreement." Joan C. Wise did not sign "the agreement." On March 13, 1996, all four of the original owners transferred the property by general warranty deed, not to A.B., but to WBT, L.L.C. (hereinafter "WBT"), a limited liability corporation whose members included Jeff O. Wise and D. Lloyd Bowers, who were two of the original owners, and Bowers's accountant, "in consideration of the sum of TWO HUNDRED TEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($210,894.00), and other good and valuable consideration." (C.R.125-27.) A.B. did not know about this property transfer.
On January 28, 1997, WBT sued A.B. to enforce "the agreement." WBT sought specific performance and damages for the breach. On May 29, 1998, the trial court granted A.B.'s motion for summary judgment, and WBT appealed. The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the summary judgment entered in favor of A.B. WBT, L.L.C. v. A.B./Wildwood Ltd. Partnership, 793 So.2d 779 (Ala.Civ.App.1999). On November 18, 1999, this Court granted A.B.'s petition for a writ of certiorari to determine whether the Court of Civil Appeals erroneously found that a valid contract and a valid assignment of that contract existed.
In its order granting A.B.'s motion for summary judgment, the trial court decided 1) that WBT had standing to bring suit because "[t]he gauge of the conveyance is certainly broad enough to convey any rights the original owners may have had in the sale of the property"; 2) that "the agreement" was void under the Statute of Frauds because "[t]here [was] no clear expression of consideration"; and 3) that "the agreement" was void for lack of mutuality because "[i]f the original owners were sued by A.B. for specific performance of the contract or for damages for its breach, its claim would fail." (C.R.148-51.) The Court of Civil Appeals held 1) that WBT had standing to bring suit by virtue of the conveyance language in the deed; 2) that "the agreement" was not void under the Statute of Frauds; and 3) that "the agreement" was not void for lack of mutuality. We now reverse the Court of Civil Appeals and remand the cause for reinstatement of the summary judgment in favor of A.B. because, first, "the agreement" was void for lack of mutuality, and, second, WBT was without standing to sue for specific enforcement of "the agreement" inasmuch as the deed from the original owners to WBT did not constitute an assignment of "the agreement."
A.B. contends that its contract with the original owners was void for lack of mutuality. The trial court found as follows:
(C.R.151.) The Court of Civil Appeals reversed, finding:
793 So.2d at 782. We note that the "seller's [concession] that it is obligated to perform" is no concession at all, as it serves the self-interest of the seller in the very litigation where the "concession" is made.
In a well-reasoned dissent, Judge Yates recognized that "the agreement" was "no valid promise to sell, because one of the original property owners did not sign the contract document." 793 So.2d at 784. We agree that, because only three of the four original owners signed "the agreement" purportedly between the original owners and A.B., "the agreement" was void for lack of mutuality.
Northcom, Ltd. v. James, 694 So.2d 1329, 1336 (Ala.1997) (emphasis added). Therefore, for the absence of execution by one of the original owners, "the agreement" was void for lack of mutuality because, although the trial court could have ordered A.B. to pay for the land if it were conveyed to A.B., the trial court could not have legally ordered all four original owners to convey the land to A.B., as required by the doctrine of mutuality of remedy.
Although we find that...
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