Opinion ID: 2760897
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Enforceability of the 1978 Agreement

Text: [¶8] Testa’s argues that the 1978 agreement is unenforceable because one of the five parties, Catherine Riccardo, did not sign it. “A contract exists when the parties mutually assent to be bound by all its material terms, the assent is either expressly or impliedly manifested in the contract, and the contract is sufficiently definite.” McClare v. Rocha, 2014 ME 4, ¶ 16, 86 A.3d 22 (quotation marks omitted). The existence of an enforceable contract is a question of fact that we 6 review for clear error. See Thurston v. Galvin, 2014 ME 76, ¶ 11, 94 A.3d 16; McClare, 2014 ME 4, ¶ 16, 86 A.3d 22 (“Whether a contract exists, the intent of the parties in entering into a contract, and whether a breach occurred are questions of fact.”). We will affirm a trial court’s findings of fact if they are supported by competent record evidence, and we “examine the record, and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the record, in the light most favorable to the trial court’s judgment.” Pelletier v. Pelletier, 2012 ME 15, ¶ 13, 36 A.3d 903 (quotation marks omitted). [¶9] There was no error here under our deferential standard of review noted in Pelletier. First, the court properly found that Riccardo’s signature was unnecessary to establish a binding agreement between the Testas and the Sanborns as to the Coopersmith building. The Testas and the Sanborns were the only parties necessary to come to agreement regarding access over the Testas’ parking lot for the benefit of the Coopersmith building. Second, the trial court’s finding that Riccardo consented to the terms of the 1978 agreement is not clearly erroneous. Riccardo’s daughter, Joan Purcell, testified that she conveyed the Tourmaline building to her mother in order to protect the asset—in other words, Riccardo was an owner “in name only” and it was Purcell, not Riccardo, who occupied the property. Purcell testified that she understood that the 1978 agreement allowed her to access her parking area behind the Tourmaline building over the Testa’s parking 7 lot. The court found no evidence that Riccardo (or anyone else) had concerns about the terms of the agreement. Purcell consistently accessed the Tourmaline property in accordance with the agreement and without objection from the Testas. Based on these particular facts, the court did not clearly err in concluding that Riccardo’s failure to sign the agreement was not the result of any objection she had to it. The 1978 agreement, which both Testas signed and the parties followed for many years, is valid and enforceable.