Occidental Chemical Corp. v. Bullard

• Citation: 995 F.2d 1046
• Decision Date: 21 July 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-2627,92-2627
• Parties: OCCIDENTAL CHEMICAL CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John Wade BULLARD; Mary Bullard; Charity Mann; Mary E. Willis; Charity B. Trotter; Joseph B. Roberts, IV; Gordon L. Roberts and M. Slade Roberts, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Page 1046

995 F.2d 1046

OCCIDENTAL CHEMICAL CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John Wade BULLARD; Mary Bullard; Charity Mann; Mary E.

Willis; Charity B. Trotter; Joseph B. Roberts,

IV; Gordon L. Roberts and M. Slade

Roberts, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 92-2627.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 21, 1993.

Hume F. Coleman, Susan L. Turner, Holland & Knight, Tallahassee, FL, for plaintiff-appellant.

S. Austin Peele, Darby, Peele, Bowdoin & Payne, Lake City, FL, for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before FAY, and DUBINA, Circuit Judges, and GIBSON ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiff Occidental Chemical Corporation ("Occidental") sued John Wade Bullard and others (collectively "Bullard") in federal district court for specific performance of a contract to sell a parcel of land. Subject matter jurisdiction was alleged to arise under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) by virtue of diverse citizenship of the parties. The district court concluded that Occidental had failed to show that the amount in controversy exceeded the $50,000 required in diversity cases and dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. Occidental appealed; we reverse.

I. Facts Alleged

Occidental secured from Bullard a mineral lease on certain property in northern Florida for the purpose of extracting phosphate. Under the agreement, if any obligation is imposed by law or regulation to reclaim the land then Occidental must assume and perform that duty. Upon completion of reclamation activities, however, the lease grants Occidental an option to purchase the land outright from Bullard at the price of $40 per acre. If Occidental exercises its option to purchase the land, Bullard may avoid the option by paying the complete costs of reclamation.

Occidental commenced reclamation of some 281 acres of the land. After Occidental notified Bullard of its desire to exercise the option with respect to the parcel, allegedly in compliance with the terms of the contract, Bullard refused to execute a deed of conveyance and failed to tender payment of reclamation costs. This lawsuit followed, in which Occidental seeks two remedies: a declaration of rights under the contract and specific performance. R1-1.

II. Proceedings Below

At the contract price of $40 per acre, Occidental would be obligated to pay Bullard $11,240 in exchange for performance. Bullard moved to dismiss, contending that the property's value was the contract price and therefore the amount in controversy failed to exceed $50,000 as required to establish jurisdiction. R2-11. Occidental responded by submitting the affidavit of a certified real estate appraiser who opined that the property's fair market value was $98,350, arguing that the value of the land rather than the contract price established the amount in controversy. R1-10. The district court agreed with Bullard and dismissed the complaint. R2-29.

III. Discussion

It appears from the facts alleged and the affidavit of the real estate appraiser that if Occidental had obtained a remedy at law it would have been entitled to at least $87,110 in damages representing the excess of the property's market value over the contract price and perhaps more in the nature of incidental and consequential damages. But this is not an action for damages. When the value of property sought to be obtained by specific performance exceeds the sum which might have been awarded in damages, the amount in controversy is established by the value of the property. Ebensberger v. Sinclair Refining Co., 165 F.2d 803, 805 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 335 U.S. 816, 69 S.Ct. 35, 93 L.Ed. 371 (1948); cf. Stinson v. Dousman, 61 U.S. (20 How.) 461, 466-67, 15 L.Ed. 966, 969 (1857) (equating value with contract price and finding the jurisdictional amount to be in controversy). Similarly, "[i]n actions seeking declaratory or injunctive relief, it is well established that the amount in controversy is measured by the value of the object of the litigation." Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advt'g Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 347-48, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 2443, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977). Therefore, the amount in controversy was $98,350, the property's undisputed fair market value.

To be sure, Occidental would be required to pay $11,240 in exchange for the property, a fact which reduces the property's value to Occidental by this amount. On the other hand, the same principles of law that authorize the equitable remedy of specific performance recognize the unique value an individual parcel may have for the buyer. E.g., Henry v. Ecker, 415 So.2d 137, 140 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1982), pet'n for review denied, 429 So.2d 5 (Fla.1983). ...