Justia Idaho Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Ida-Therm, LLC appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Bedrock Geothermal, LLC, which held that a reservation of "all the oil, gas, and minerals, in, on, or under the surface of [deeded] lands," in a 1946 warranty deed included the geothermal resources underlying the property. The district court determined that the Deed's mineral reservation severed the mineral estate from the surface estate, and that geothermal resources were included in the scope of the mineral estate. Because the Supreme Court found that the term "mineral" was ambiguous with respect to the deed in question, and because ambiguous grants in deeds are construed against the grantor, the Court construed the grant in favor of Ida-Therm and reversed the district court. View "Ida-Therm v. Bedrock Geothermal" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case stemmed from the grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurance company. The insureds contended that the liability coverage provision in their homeowner's policy required the insurer to defend a lawsuit brought by a contractor they hired to repair fire damage to their home and to remodel the home, and that the insurer was required to indemnify against any recovery by the contractor. Upon review of the policy underlying this case, the Supreme Court found no such duties as the insureds contended and affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Linford v. State Farm Fire & Casualty" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was a jury verdict in favor of the sellers of real property in an action by the buyers to recover damages or be granted rescission of the sale contract on the ground that the sellers made misrepresentations and breached the contract and the Idaho Property Condition Disclosure Act. The buyers also sought to raise the issue of mutual mistake. About a year after purchasing the property, Buyers hired a contractor to see if the garage could be enlarged. The Contractor discovered that the building permit obtained to construct the garage had not been finalized, so that it had lapsed. The permit had been issued in 2000 to construct a garage with storage space above it. In connection with the sale, Sellers completed and delivered to Buyers a property disclosure form as required by the Idaho Property Condition Disclosure Act. When completing that form, Sellers answered "No" to the question: "Have any substantial additions or alterations been made without a building permit?" In 2007, Buyers filed this lawsuit against Sellers seeking damages for breach of the Disclosure Act, misrepresentation, and breach of contract. They also sought, in the alternative, to have the real estate contract rescinded. The matter was tried to a jury in 2010, on the three theories seeking damages. The jury returned a special verdict finding that Buyers had failed to prove a violation of the Disclosure Act, had failed to prove misrepresentation, and had failed to prove a breach of contract. On the second day of trial, Sellers moved to prevent Buyers from raising the issue of mutual mistake of fact, which Buyers had apparently discussed in their pretrial brief. The matter was argued, and the district court ruled that Buyers could not present evidence regarding mutual mistake because it had not been pled. On February 25, 2010, and again on March 8, 2010, Buyers moved to amend their complaint to conform to the evidence by adding a request for rescission based upon mutual mistake. On March 8, 2010, Buyers moved to have the real estate contract rescinded, and on August 30, 2010, they moved for a new trial. The district court denied those motions, and Buyers timely appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court and the court's denial of the motion for a new trial. View "Bolognese v. Forte" on Justia Law

Two real estate developers, a husband and wife, operated through various entities including a corporation and an LLC. In 2002, the corporation borrowed money from a lender; the developers, in their individual capacities, guaranteed this loan and all future advances. The corporation promptly repaid this loan. In 2005, the LLC twice borrowed money from the same lender. The lender originally insisted on a personal guaranty for these loans, but, in order to secure the developer's business, stated that no personal guaranty would be required. In 2006–07, the corporation again borrowed money from the lender in six separate loans. The corporation defaulted on these six loans, and, after the lender foreclosed on the real estate that served as collateral for the loans, the lender sued the developers for the deficiency. The district court granted the lender's motion for summary judgment, holding that the developers' affirmative defenses (1) were barred by the statute of frauds, (2) failed for lack of consideration, and (3) raised no genuine issues of material fact. The developers timely appealed to the Supreme Court. Upon review, the Court held that the developers' affirmative defenses were neither barred by the statute of frauds nor failed for lack of consideration. However, because none of those defenses raised a genuine issue of material fact, the Court affirmed. View "Washington Federal Savings v. Engelen" on Justia Law

Randy and Trudi Poole filed an action against Darin Davis, dba Darin Davis Construction (Davis), alleging breach of contract, breach of warranty, and fraud. Davis counterclaimed for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and promissory estoppel. The jury found that the Pooles had prevailed only on the fraud claim and that Davis had not proved any of his counterclaims. The district court entered judgment in favor of the Pooles for damages on the fraud claim. The Pooles moved for attorney fees and costs, claiming that as the prevailing party in a dispute over a commercial transaction, they were entitled to fees pursuant to Idaho Code 12-120(3). The court determined that there was no prevailing party and denied the motion. The Pooles timely appealed, asking the Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the district court and find, as a matter of law, that the Pooles were the prevailing party and are entitled to attorney fees. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Poole v. Davis" on Justia Law

This appeal came before the Supreme Court from a declaratory judgment action brought by Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho (Farm Bureau). Farm Bureau brought suit in response to a claim for insurance benefits filed by the personal representatives of the estate of a deceased policyholder (the Estate). Farm Bureau requested a judgment declaring that the Estate was not an "insured" under the decedent's insurance policy and was therefore not entitled to payment of wrongful death damages under the Policy's underinsured motorist coverage. The district court granted the Estate's motion for summary judgment, determining that Idaho's wrongful death statute, entitled the insured's Estate to recover damages for wrongful death and that the Policy provided coverage for those damages. Farm Bureau appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court reversed: as to the Estate, the Court determined that under the plain language of the wrongful death statute, the Estate was not legally entitled to recover damages for itself, but only to bring an action on behalf of the heirs to recover their damages. "The Estate stepped into [the decedent's] shoes for those claims, and Farm Bureau made those payments to the Estate. Farm Bureau's payment of these legitimate claims under the insurance contract does not constitute a change of position or an admission that coverage exists for other claims. We hold that these payments do not prevent Farm Bureau from arguing that it is not required to pay the Estate for damages that [the decedent] was not legally entitled to recover." View "Farm Bureau v. Estate of Eisenman" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Christina Brooksby demanded payment from Defendant GEICO General Insurance Company, her father's liability insurer, alleging that he negligently injured her by crashing the car in which she was riding. After GEICO refused Plaintiff's demand pursuant to an exclusion in its insurance policy with Father, she sued GEICO for a declaratory judgment establishing coverage. The district court dismissed Plaintiff's complaint for lack of standing, holding that Idaho has no common-law direct-action rule that would give an injured third party standing to sue her tortfeasor’s insurer absent some statutory or contractual authorization, and that Idaho's Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act does not confer standing where it does not otherwise exist. Plaintiff appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s grant of GEICO’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) because the Court concluded Plaintiff lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment against GEICO. View "Brooksby v. GEICO" on Justia Law

This was an appeal of a judgment which held that a mechanic’s lien had priority over a mortgage. The judgment was predicated upon the district court's refusal to permit the mortgagee to withdraw an admission made in open court by its counsel that the mechanic's lien was valid. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court reversed the district court and held that the mechanic's lien was invalid because the lien did not show that it was verified before a person entitled to administer oaths. View "First Federal Savings Bank of Twin Falls v. Riedesel Engineering, Inc." on Justia Law

Krystal Kinghorn and Kelly Clay agreed that Clay would co-sign for a loan for Kinghorn's benefit. In order to protect Clay in the event that Kinghorn defaulted on the loan, Kinghorn agreed to execute a quitclaim deed to real property that Clay could record if King defaulted. When Kinghorn defaulted, Clay recorded the deed and conveyed the property to BRP Incorporated (BRP). Kinghorn filed suit, and the district court unwound the conveyance, granting summary judgment that the deed was a mortgage and that Kinghorn had a right to redeem the property. BRP filed and prevailed upon a cross-claim against Clay for breach of its warranty deed. BRP later petitioned for a writ of attachment. The district court held that Kinghorn had not timely exercised her right to redeem and ordered Clay to foreclose the mortgage. Kinghorn and Clay stipulated that Kinghorn would purchase the property and that the court should perform an accounting and set off of their liabilities. The court found that a balance remained due to Clay, and entered judgment in his favor. Clay's attorney, Brian Smith (Smith), then moved to perfect an attorney's lien as to the judgment. Kinghorn deposited the amount due with the court, and after the court denied Smith's motion, the court awarded the deposited funds to BRP. Smith appealed the court's denial of the motion for lien, as well as the order for transfer of funds to BRP. Upon review, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, finding Smith was not a party to the action, and therefore had no standing to assert his claim. View "Kinghorn v. Clay " on Justia Law

This appeal arose from a dispute between two competing creditors, DAFCO, LLC, and New Phase Investments, LLC. DAFCO appealed the district court's determination on summary judgment that DAFCO's deed of trust, although first recorded, was void under I.C. 32-912 because it encumbered community real property but was not signed by both spouses. Because I.C. 32-912 was enacted for the protection of the community rather than third-party creditors, the Supreme Court found that New Phase could not invoke that statute to void DAFCO's competing encumbrance. Accordingly, the Court reversed: the district court erred in declaring DAFCO's trust deed void under that statute at New Phase's request. View "New Phase Investments v. Jarvis" on Justia Law