Opinion ID: 1966624
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: suttons' damages

Text: The Suttons also argue that the trial court erred in refusing to submit to the jury the issue of whether their real property had been damaged as a result of the removal of the manufactured home. The trial court held that the Suttons failed to sufficiently plead damages to their property caused by the manner of removing the home and that judgment on that issue was to be directed in favor of Green Tree. We disagree with the trial court and find that the Suttons sufficiently pled damages to their real property caused by the manner in which the manufactured home was removed. On February 8, 2000, the Suttons filed an amended answer and counterclaim and claimed, inter alia, the following damages: 4. That the Defendants would be damaged in an amount in excess of $10,000.00, in any event, should the Court order that the Plaintiff in this case should be allowed to remove the residence from the property, and that the Plaintiff in any such case, should be ordered to pay the Defendants damages and restore the property to the same condition as it was prior to the construction of this house on the subject real estate, including replacement of trees and restoration of the landscape. That if Plaintiff has removed the residence from Defendant's real estate prior to trial, Plaintiff should be adjudged liable for replacement value of the residence plus any and all costs necessary to re-erect, construct or otherwise restore Defendant's property to substantially the same condition it was in before wrongful removal; that Defendant's [sic] should further be awarded damages for lost rental income and/or other revenues which Defendants otherwise would have received from the property removed, the beneficial use and enjoyment thereof. 5. That Defendants should be awarded any consequences damages sustained by Defendants resulting from Plaintiff's seizure and removal of the residence. Although a pleading should not leave uncertainty as to the theory of recovery on which the pleader wishes to proceed, we have held that in actions not involving extraordinary remedies, general pleadings are to be liberally construed in favor of the pleader. Becker v. Hobbs, 256 Neb. 432, 590 N.W.2d 360 (1999). Liberally construed, in light of the damages requested in paragraph 4, and when read in conjunction with paragraph 5, we conclude that the request in paragraph 5 for consequences damages . . . resulting from Plaintiff's seizure and removal of the residence did contemplate consequential damages. This paragraph was sufficient to notify Green Tree that the Suttons were requesting damages arising from the manner in which the manufactured home was removed from the real property. Because we have found that the Suttons adequately pled damages to their real estate caused by the manner in which the manufactured home was removed, we find it unnecessary to address whether the trial court erred in failing to grant the Suttons leave to amend their pleading to conform to the evidence of the case. We accordingly reverse the trial court's decision directing a verdict in favor of Green Tree on this issue, and we remand the cause to the trial court for a new trial on the issue of damages.