Opinion ID: 2068270
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Value of the Lost Property

Text: [¶ 21] The Garlands contend that the court erred by granting Roy's motion for judgment as a matter of law on the Garlands' claim for the value of the lost property because ownership of property alone provides a sufficient foundation for an opinion of the value of real estate, and Angeline's testimony therefore provided a sufficient basis for the jury's award of damages. Property owners, by reason of their ownership alone, may state their opinion as to the fair market value of their property. Ferrell v. Cox, 617 A.2d 1003, 1007 (Me.1992) (quotation marks omitted); see also Landry v. Landry, 1997 ME 173, ¶ 8, 697 A.2d 843, 845-46. We have upheld an award of damages for real property based solely on the owner's opinion of value. See Ferrell, 617 A.2d at 1007 (Me. 1992) (upholding an award of damages where there was no evidence conclusively contradicting the owner's opinion as to the decrease in the value of his property); see also Glidden v. Belden, 684 A.2d 1306, 1320 (Me.1996); Titcomb v. Saco Mobile Home Sales, Inc., 544 A.2d 754, 758 (Me. 1988) (stating that a wronged party need not prove damages to a mathematical certainty). [¶ 22] We agree with the Garlands that the court erred by concluding that Angeline's opinion as to the value of the lost property was so speculative that a judgment as a matter of law for Roy on the issue had to be entered. Although Angeline provided limited testimony as to the basis of her opinion of the value of the lost property, her testimony was admissible, and the lack of a more substantial basis to support her opinion goes to the weight of the evidence. See Currier v. Toys `R' Us, Inc., 680 A.2d 453, 455 (Me.1996) (stating that it is the jury's role to weigh the evidence and determine witness credibility). Moreover, although Roy elicited testimony from Angeline that the Garlands paid less than $10,000 for the entire Vennen lot in 1971, and that the Garlands never attempted to sell or market the land, Roy did not offer any evidence conclusively contradicting Angeline's testimony that the disputed property was worth $200,000 at the time the Garlands lost it in 2002. See Ferrell, 617 A.2d at 1007. The evidence of the land's value, expressed in Angeline's opinion testimony, is sufficient to support the jury's award of damages, see id., an award that should be reinstated on remands. [5]