Hoffheins v. Heslop
| Decision Date | 16 June 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 3676.,3676. |
| Citation | 210 A.2d 841 |
| Parties | Frances P. HOFFHEINS and Francis M. Hoffheins, Appellants, v. Byron E. HESLOP, t/a Heslop Contracting Company, Appellee. |
| Court | D.C. Court of Appeals |
Before HOOD, Chief Judge, and QUINN and MYERS, Associate Judges.
Appellants, husband and wife, joint owners and residents of 3517 Rodman Street, N.W., consulted appellee Byron E. Heslop, a general contractor with business headquarters in Maryland, with reference to certain home improvement work. Mr. Heslop, although licensed in Maryland as a home improvement contractor or home improvement salesman, had never applied for or been granted such license in the District of Columbia. Sometime after July 6, 1963, appellant-husband received in the mail a proposed contract for the work in question. After various handwritten additions thereto, the price of $15,635 was agreed upon and Heslop wrote in the space pertaining to payment the words "three payments" and "1/2 when 1/3 1/3." This copy, signed by Heslop, was kept by appellants, while the copy retained by Heslop and signed only by Mr. Hoffheins had no similar notation as to payment. Work was started in August 1963. On August 16th appellants sold Heslop a used car for $50 and he credited the price of the car to the contract price for the home improvements. Appellee ceased work on October 18, 1963, not having completed it but admittedly having done at least $6,000 worth of work.1 Upon Hoffheins' refusal to pay, Heslop filed suit for breach of contract, claiming $9,750 as damages. Appellants counterclaimed, asking that the contract be declared illegal and unenforceable and that they be awarded $30,000 compensatory and punitive damages for fraud and deceit.
The trial court, after taking the case under advisement, held that the "plaintiff's [appellee's] evidence preponderates on the question of the services performed under
the contract and their value"; that "no payment was required or accepted within the meaning of § 2 of the Regulations Governing the Conduct of the Home Improvement Business in the District of Columbia, that the contract is not governed by these regulations, and that it is valid." The court further found that "the allegations of the counterclaim [were] not supported by a preponderance or by clear and convincing evidence." After granting appellant-wife's motion to dismiss the complaint as to her,2 the trial court entered judgment against appellant-husband only in the sum of $9,371.10 and granted judgment for Heslop on the counterclaim. This appeal followed.
Mr. Hoffheins seeks to avoid liability by asserting that the contract sued upon is illegal and unenforceable. Compare Kirschner v. Klavik, D.C.Mun.App., 186 A.2d 227, 229 (1962). He argues that Heslop's failure to acquire a District of Columbia license placed him in violation of the Home Improvement Business Act, 2 D.C.Code, 1961 § 2301 et seq., and Regulations adopted pursuant thereto. We do not agree.
The Commissioners for the District of Columbia on May 11, 1961,3 pursuant to the Code, promulgated certain Regulations Governing the Conduct of the Home Improvement Business in the District of Columbia. Section 2 of these Regulations, in effect at all times pertinent to the case before us, provided:
...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Cevern, Inc. v. Ferbish
...bulk (or a substantial portion) of the work was done on one side of the line rather than the other.12 The dissent cites Hoffheins v. Heslop, 210 A.2d 841 (D.C.1965), and Thompson v. Wolfrey, supra note 8, 483 A.2d 636, as support for its view that one who, during contractual performance, ob......
-
Dist. of Col. v. Nat. Bank of Washington
...conclusion of the trial court when its outcome follows necessarily from findings of fact by which we are bound. See Hoffheins v. Heslop, D.C.App., 210 A.2d 841, 843 (1965). Somewhat greater latitude to scrutinize the trial court's factual findings, however, exists in the situation presented......
-
Hummel v. Koehler
...1973). Here, the findings of the trial court are supported on the record and accordingly may not be reversed on appeal. Hoffheins v. Heslop, 210 A.2d 841, 843 (D.C.1965). * Sitting by designation pursuant to D.C.Code § 11-707(a) (1981). 1. The trial court properly allowed appellees to file ......
-
Thompson v. Wolfrey
...relevant only where the contractor requires or accepts payment in advance of full completion of the contracted work." Hoffheins v. Heslop, 210 A.2d 841, 843 (D.C.1965). Since that did not happen here, the trial court was correct when it ruled that section 2.1 did not bar appellee Wolfrey's ......