Chris Raney v. Margarita Ackerman, et al.
Published: Dec. 2, 1995 | Result Date: Sep. 8, 1995 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 160059 – $0
Judge
Court
Marin Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Jeffory S. Morshead
(technical)
David Kirchhoff
(technical)
Defendant
Ronald Conklin
(technical)
Frederick A. Tegeler III
(technical)
Facts
In March of 1993, Margareta Ackerman entered into a listing agreement for the sale of 2 continuous, unimproved lots of real property on Wellesley Avenue in Mill Valley, California, with Frank Howard Allen & Company. She had owned these lots since 1962, had never previously offered them for sale, and had no opinion regarding their fair market value. The agent at Frank Howard Allen placed the lots on the market at $150,000 and $195,000 and they did not sell. Cross-defendants Kessner and Williamsen, agents of Re/Max of Central Marin specializing in the sale of raw land, presented offers for the purchase of the property during the listing period from general contractors and home builders. None of the offers for either of the lots was above $110,000. In December of 1993, after the listing agreement had expired, Mrs. Ackerman agreed to sell both lots to Chris Raney, a general contractor, for $225,000 total, and agreed that Messrs. Kessner and Williamsen could act in the capacity of dual agents and receive a 5 percent commission. During the pendency of the feasibility contingency (45 days), Mrs. Ackerman became concerned that she had sold these lots for substantially less than their fair market value. She therefore canceled escrow on the date after the feasibility contingency was to expire and refused thereafter to sell the lots to Mr. Raney. Mr. Raney sued Mrs. Ackerman for specific performance; she Cross-complained against Mr. Raney on the ground that the purchase price was so low as to be unconscionable and sued the real estate agents for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and other claims. Through pretrial negotiations, Plaintiff Raney agreed to pay an additional $25,000 to acquire the subject property and settled his dispute with Mrs. Ackerman prior to trial.
Settlement Discussions
Cross-defendant contends it made no offers and Cross-complainant demanded $350,000.
Damages
Ackerman asked the jury for $350,000 plus punitive damages. Re/Max asked the jury for a Defense verdict.
Result
Cross-Defendant Verdict
Deliberation
2.5 hours
Poll
10-2
Length
11 days
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