Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/mo-court-of-appeals/1897334.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FindLawMoCtApp+%28FindLaw+Case+Law+Updates+-+MO+Court+of+Appeals%29
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 18:12:47+00:00

Document:
JOHN WESLEY STRANGE and SAUNDRA J. STRANGE, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. DANNY L. ROBINSON and TAYNIA ROBINSON, Defendants-Appellants.
ROBERT T. WILHELMUS, Kansas City, Mo, for Appellant. GARY W. ALLMAN, Branson, Mo, for Respondent.
Finding their first claim unpreserved, and their second claim moot, we affirm.
We will affirm the judgment unless there is no substantial evidence supporting it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). “When reviewing a court-tried case, we view all evidence and [reasonable] inferences in the light most favorable to the judgment and disregard all contrary evidence and inferences.” Ortmann v. Dace Homes, Inc., 86 S.W.3d 86, 88 (Mo. App. E.D. 2002).
Rescission is an equitable remedy, Ehlert v. Ward, 588 S.W.2d 500, 503 (Mo. banc 1979), and it may be granted if there is a mutual mistake. See Mick v. Mays, 459 S.W.3d 924, 927 (Mo. App. S.D. 2015).
“A mutual mistake occurs when both parties, at the time of contracting, share a misconception about a basic assumption or vital fact upon which they based their bargain.” Husch & Eppenberger, LLC v. Eisenberg, 213 S.W.3d 124, 134 (Mo.App.2006) (quoting Alea London Ltd. v. Bono–Soltysiak Enterprises, 186 S.W.3d 403, 415 (Mo.App.2006)). “This is normally a question of fact.” Id. “In a bench-tried case such as this, the trial judge is the finder of fact.” Kerr v. Jennings, 886 S.W.2d 117, 125 (Mo.App.1994).
Will Investments, Inc. v. Young, 317 S.W.3d 157, 165 (Mo. App. S.D. 2010).
Evidence at trial included that in 2005, Buyers lived in a condominium adjacent to another building in which Ms. Clark's and Sellers' condominiums were located. Buyers' condominium did not include a garage, but Ms. Clark's and Sellers' condominiums included garages, which were located in a separate garage structure. In April 2005, Buyers gave Ms. Clark a $14,000 check for the Clark garage, and a “Bill of Sale” was executed to memorialize the transaction. A secretary for the Association had informed Mr. Strange how such a situation “should be handled and [the secretary] actually prepared” the Clark bill of sale.
Buyers learned from Ms. Clark's son that Sellers were also interested in selling their garage. The Association's secretary again told Mr. Strange that a bill of sale was the “recognized practice by” the Association for accomplishing such transactions. Mrs. Robinson spoke with someone in the Association office and, based upon that conversation, Sellers believed that all the parties needed to do was “agree on a price and a bill of sale.” The transaction was arranged through Ms. Clark's son. Neither Buyers nor Sellers had read the Condominium Declaration or other rules governing their condominiums before engaging in the transaction. Buyers and Sellers did not speak directly with each other about the transaction before it took place.
I'm not going to call it a windfall, but -- but it is a -- but it is additional money on top. And one of the remedies that the [trial c]ourt has to look at is -- is if there's a potential mutual -- mutual mistake in putting the parties back in their original condition. I'm not saying that's the avenue the [trial c]ourt's going to take. That's just one of the potential remedies here and I need -- I need to know that information. [The trial court is] going to take a five-minute recess, let you have an opportunity to review your documents, because it's important to get this right.
No objection was raised to the trial court considering the possibility of mutual mistake.
Sellers filed their “MEMORANDUM ON DAMAGES FOR FRAUD AND RESCISSION” (“Sellers' memorandum”) that argued that “the remedy of rescission is not available to [Buyers].” Sellers based this on their view that Buyers failed to tender Sellers' garage back until after Sellers had sold their own condominium without the garage. Sellers' memorandum went on to assert the degree of proof necessary to establish mutual mistake, and it contended that mutual mistake was a question of law, not of fact, thereby preventing rescission. Sellers' memorandum also argued that Buyers should not prevail on a theory of fraudulent representation, and it addressed the type of damages recoverable for rescission. The memorandum did not claim that the trial court could not consider mutual mistake because that theory had not been pleaded by Buyers.
We need not determine whether Buyers' petition properly pleaded mutual mistake or whether the matter was tried by implied consent because Sellers never gave the trial court an opportunity to rule on the complaint Sellers now attempt to raise on appeal.
Brown v. Brown, 423 S.W.3d 784, 787-88 (Mo. banc 2014) (citations omitted).
Sellers had several opportunities to raise the objection to the trial court. The first appeared when the trial court informed the parties that it was considering deciding the case based upon mutual mistake. Sellers could also have raised the complaint when opposing counsel argued that the case should be decided on that ground. Finally, Sellers could have included the objection in their post-trial written memorandum. Having done none of these things, Sellers acquiesced in the trial court considering the application of mutual mistake and cannot challenge it in this appeal.
Point 2 combines questions of law and fact in challenging whether false representations were made and relied upon and whether Buyers' reliance thereon was reasonable. The point is defective in combining such questions, see Ivie v. Smith, 439 S.W.3d 189, 199 n.11 (Mo. banc 2014), but, more importantly, the point is moot because it challenges a finding that the trial court did not make.
The judgment relies upon mutual mistake, not fraud. “Misrepresentation or fraud is not essential to proof of a mutual mistake.” Housden v. Berns, 273 S.W.2d 794, 802 (Mo. App. S.D. 1954). Thus, a particular representation by Sellers was not the basis for the judgment. Cf. Droz v. Trump, 965 S.W.2d 436, 441 (Mo. App. W.D. 1998) (discussing the elements of fraudulent misrepresentation where the speaker is or is not aware that his representation is false).
Indeed, the trial court specifically found “that [Sellers did not intend] to defraud [Buyers].” Instead, it found that both parties “believed and though[t that] they were purchasing and selling respectively [Sellers' garage.]” No particular statements by Sellers to Buyers were critical; it is sufficient for mutual mistake that the parties both thought and believed that they could and were doing something that they could not actually do. See Will Investments, Inc., 317 S.W.3d at 165. Because the trial court did not find that Sellers had committed any fraud, Point 2 is moot.
1. The judgment also awarded Buyers $14,000 from Virginia L. Clark in connection with the purported sale of another garage (“the Clark garage”). Ms. Clark did not appear at the trial, and she has not filed a brief in this appeal. Buyers' amended petition (“the petition”) also asserted a claim against Pointe Royale Condominium Property Owners Association, Inc., and Pointe Royale Property Owners Association for failing to inform Buyers that a transfer of a condominium garage violated the Condominium Declaration, but this claim was dismissed via summary judgment. During the trial, the lawyers and witnesses sometimes used “Pointe Royale” without specifically identifying the intended legal entity. For purposes of simplicity and convenience, and without making findings of fact regarding the associations, we will use “the Association” for either or both associations as our analysis does not turn upon the particular role of either association.
3. All rule references are to Missouri Court Rules (2018).

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.