Shipley v. Cook, 15406

• Decision Date: 05 November 1985
• Docket Number: No. 15406,15406
• Citation: 109 Idaho 537,708 P.2d 942
• Parties: Jay Russell SHIPLEY and Linda Lee Shipley, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. Lew D. COOK and Mildred H. Cook, husband and wife, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

Page 942

708 P.2d 942

109 Idaho 537

Jay Russell SHIPLEY and Linda Lee Shipley, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. Lew D. COOK and Mildred H. Cook, husband and wife, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 15406.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

Nov. 5, 1985.

John C. Souza, Whittier & Souza, P.A., Pocatello, and N. George Daines argued, Daines & Kane, Logan, Utah, for defendants-appellants.

Kenneth E. Lyon, Jr., Pocatello, for plaintiffs-respondents.

BURNETT, Judge.

This case presents two issues: (1) Did buyers of real property breach their contract with the sellers by failing to deliver a debenture in payment of the purchase price? (2) If so, what damages are the sellers entitled to recover? The district court, holding that a breach had occurred, awarded damages equaling the face value of the debenture. For reasons explained below, we uphold the court's determination of a breach, but we vacate the damage award and remand the case for further findings on that issue.

The circumstances surrounding the sale of the ranch are extraordinarily complex. The essential facts, as found by the district judge, are as follows. Thomas Willis entered into an earnest money agreement to buy a ranch in Caribou County from Jay and Linda Shipley. The sellers did not own the ranch outright. They had acquired it on an installment contract from Jay Shipley's parents, the original owners. A substantial balance remained on that contract. In the earnest money agreement, Willis recited that he would pay a purchase price of $320,000 by discharging a mortgage obligation owed to the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), by giving the sellers a debenture issued by Murray First Thrift Holding Company (MFT), by giving the original owners a similar debenture from MFT, and by tendering a residual sum in cash to the original owners.

Willis subsequently assigned his interest under the earnest money agreement to a Utah corporation. The corporation, in turn, relinquished its interest in favor of Lew Cook, a principal in the corporation's business. Cook and his wife, taking the place of Willis as buyers of the ranch, executed a "Memorandum of Agreement" with the sellers. The Memorandum expressly incorporated the previous earnest money agreement "to the extent that it does not conflict with further terms of this Memorandum or other exhibits which are attached hereto." The Memorandum left the purchase price intact. It also preserved the scheme by which the FmHA obligation would be discharged, a cash payment would be made, and separate debentures would be furnished to the sellers and to the original owners. However, the Memorandum clarified the procedure by which the debentures would be delivered. The buyers, through their Utah corporation, held an MFT debenture that could be negotiated only in favor of other Utah residents. Accordingly, the Memorandum established a scheme by which this debenture would be returned to MFT and smaller, separate debentures would be reissued to trusts established at a Utah bank for the benefit of the sellers and the original owners.

On or about the closing date, the buyers discharged the FmHA obligation and made a cash payment as provided in the Memorandum. They also delivered their corporation's debenture to the trustee bank and directed MFT to reissue the separate debentures. MFT failed to comply. As the parties later learned, MFT was in financial distress. It ultimately filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

The sellers brought this suit, ¹ alleging that they had not been paid for their interest in the ranch. As noted earlier, the district judge held that the buyers had breached their duty to deliver a reissued debenture to the sellers (or, more precisely, to the bank trustee). The judge awarded damages equal to the face amount of the contemplated debenture. The buyers appealed, asserting that they had fully performed their obligations with respect to the debenture and, in any event, that the judge's damage award was excessive. We now address these issues.

The interpretation of written instruments ordinarily presents a question of law. E.g., Barr Development, Inc. v. Utah Mortgage Loan Corp., 106 Idaho 46, 675 P.2d 25 (1983). On such questions, an appellate court exercises free review of the trial court's rulings. However, if the terms of the instruments are ambiguous, interpretation becomes a question of fact. In that event, the trial court's findings are subject to deferential review and will be overturned only upon a showing of clear error. I.R.C.P. 52(a). In this case, the district judge did not indicate whether his ruling that a breach occurred was posited entirely upon the written instruments or whether he had discovered an ambiguity and had ascertained the underlying intent of the parties. The judge simply concluded that the buyers had a "responsibility and duty" to deliver a reissued debenture.

However, this omission is not fatal to the district court's judgment. In our view, the parties' Memorandum, its exhibits and the earnest money agreement, taken...