Opinion ID: 2617755
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Doyle's Claim of an Irrevocable License.

Text: The superior court found that [t]he license given to Don and Marie Doyle by Roland Kickbush to use water from the well located on Lot 23 for their residence was a revocable license. Doyle claims that the license was irrevocable because he purchased the house in reliance upon a permanent supply of water. We agree with the superior court: [A] license for the use of land is revocable, both at law and in equity, whether the license is or is not executed by the expenditure of money by the licensee; and ... the latter, upon the revocation of the license can claim compensation for expenditures made by him on the faith of the license, as against the original licensor only. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Brack, 175 Md. 615, 3 A.2d 471, 475 (1939). [8] Thus, whatever expenditures Doyle incurred in reliance on the license granted by Kickbush cannot be recovered from Peabody. Because Peabody purchased his property without notice that Doyle was taking water from the Kickbush-Peabody well, any license possessed by Doyle to take water from the well did not survive the 1981 conveyance from McCourt to Peabody. See City of Anchorage v. Nesbett, 530 P.2d 1324, 1329-30 (Alaska 1975) (license generally revocable by alienation of servient estate). Thus, any legal right possessed by Doyle to take water from Peabody's well must have been granted by Peabody. Assuming that Peabody granted Doyle a license to take water from his well between 1982 (when Peabody learned that Doyle was taking water from his well and charged Doyle for a new pump) and 1986 in exchange for $144/year, Peabody nevertheless had the right to revoke this license in 1986. As a consequence of this revocation, Doyle can claim compensation for expenditures made by him in reliance upon the license to the extent that the value of such expenditures had not yet been realized and was lost by the termination of the license. Thus, under this scenario, Doyle cannot recover the cost of his new well because this expenditure was not made in reliance upon the license granted by Peabody, but rather was made after and as a result of the revocation of the license. Given that the installation of a well on Doyle's property has probably appreciated its value, this result equitably deprives Doyle of a possible windfall. Nor, under this scenario, can Doyle recover the $144 payments he made to Peabody in 1983 and 1984, as these payments were the quid pro quo for the water Doyle used for two years. Thus, the only possible qualifying expenditures made by Doyle are the $981.64 he expended in 1982 for a new pump for Peabody's well, and the $328 he expended in the same year for a new pressure tank as part of his own water system. Assuming that Doyle is not equitably estopped from seeking to recover the cost of the new pump on the basis that the need for it was attributable to him, Doyle may recover the cost of this expense, less an appropriate deduction for four years' use of the pump. Doyle may similarly recover the costs of the new pressure tank (less an appropriate reduction for four years' use) if the pressure tank was rendered useless by the revocation of the license. If, however, the pressure tank could be utilized by Doyle in his new water system, then he is not entitled to any recovery for this expense because, in this case, the revocation of the license did not deprive him of the value of his expenditures. In addition, we think it equitable that any recovery by Doyle for the lost value of expenditures be reduced by any amounts owed to Peabody for water used by Doyle from 1984 to 1986. Should these amounts exceed Doyle's damages, however, Peabody is not entitled to an affirmative recovery because he never sought them. Therefore, we remand this issue to the superior court to determine whether Peabody granted Doyle a license to take water from his well, and if so, the amount of damages, if any, to which Doyle is entitled as a result of Peabody's revocation of the license.