McCollam v. Littau
| Decision Date | 17 June 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 13168,13168 |
| Citation | 307 N.W.2d 144 |
| Parties | Lyle McCOLLAM, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Reuben LITTAU, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Dudley R. Herman of Herman & Wernke, Gregory, for plaintiff and appellee.
Donald E. Covey, Winner, for defendant and appellant.
This is an action in which appellee McCollam sought rescission of a land sale contract and appellant Littau counterclaimed for specific performance, recovery of his down-payment, interest, and punitive damages. The trial court denied appellant's motion for summary judgment and entered summary judgment in favor of appellee. We reverse and remand.
In August of 1978, appellee entered into a listing agreement with a real estate broker in order to sell four quarter sections of land situated in Tripp County, South Dakota. The broker contacted appellant with regard to purchasing the land or a part of it. Appellant secured financing in order to purchase one of the quarters but, because it was heavily encumbered, he indicated to the broker that he would withhold an offer until the remaining three quarters were sold.
On October 9, 1978, in reliance upon representations by appellee's agent that the other three quarters of land had been sold, appellant executed a uniform purchase agreement to buy the remaining quarter and delivered $1,000.00 earnest money. Several days later, the agent informed appellant that the total offer would have to be increased by $1,000.00 to be acceptable. Appellant agreed, and on October 13, 1978, appellee accepted appellant's offer to purchase. On November 24, however, appellee repudiated appellant's offer and subsequently refused to perform. Failure of the prospective purchasers of the other three quarters to secure financing apparently prompted the change of mind. This action followed.
Appellant contends the trial court erred in considering parol evidence of his knowledge that his contract to purchase was conditioned upon the sale of the other three quarters. We agree.
Our common law parol evidence rule is codified in SDCL 53-8-5:
The execution of a contract in writing, whether the law requires it to be written or not, supersedes all the oral negotiations or stipulations concerning its matter which preceded or accompanied the execution of the instrument.
It is true that where a contemporaneous parol agreement was the inducing and moving cause of the written contract and where the contract was executed upon the faith of the parol agreement, such evidence is admissible. De Pue v. McIntosh, 26 S.D. 42, 127 N.W. 532 (...
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...intention of the parties upon the subject matter of the contract. See also Flynn v. Flynn, 338 N.W.2d 295 (S.D.1983); McCollam v. Littau, 307 N.W.2d 144 (S.D.1981); Jensen v. Pure Plant Food Intern., Ltd., 274 N.W.2d 261 (S.D.1979); Renner Elevator Co. v. Schuer, 267 N.W.2d 204 In Vaughn v.......
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...ambiguous. See Kjerstad Realty, Inc. v. Bootjack Ranch, Inc., 2009 S.D. 93, ¶ 6, 774 N.W.2d 797, 799–800 (quoting McCollam v. Littau, 307 N.W.2d 144, 145 (S.D.1981)); see also Farmers' Elevator Co. v. Swier, 50 S.D. 436, 443, 210 N.W. 671, 673 (1926). Here, the court concluded that the opti......
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...by this Court is de novo because this case involves the trial court's interpretation of the contract. Bublitz cites McCollam v. Littau, 307 N.W.2d 144 (S.D.1981); Kohlman v. Cahill, 301 N.W.2d 664 (S.D.1981); and North River Ins. Co. v. Golden Rule Constr., Inc., 296 N.W.2d 910 (S.D.1980), ......
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