Opinion ID: 1838820
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Sale of real estate.

Text: On December 19, 1968, the appellant moved the trial court to set aside the sale on the ground that the receiver was not acting in the best interests of the parties, and that the sale was not calculated to produce the most money or be the most advantageous to all parties in interest. After hearing, the trial court found the sale price reasonable and denied appellant's motion. The appellant now asks this court as a court of equity to set aside the sale on the ground that the price was inadequate. The law in this state concerning the setting aside of judicial sales because of inadequacy of price was recently summarized by this court in Walsch v. Deanovich (1969), 43 Wis. 2d 71, 73, 74, 168 N. W. 2d 213. The court there stated:  The law relating to judicial sale has been well settled in this state for many years. The granting or denying of confirmation rests in the court's broad discretion which is encompassed by the rule that a sale will not be set aside merely because the price is inadequate. Strong v. Catton (1853), 1 Wis. 408 (); Gumz v. Chickering (1963), 19 Wis. 2d 625, 121 N. W. 2d 279. However, the sale may be set aside or not confirmed if the inadequacy of the price is caused by a mistake, misapprehension, or inadvertence on the part of the interested parties or intending bidders, or the inadequacy is so great as to shock the conscience of the court. Barnard v. Coates (1965), 28 Wis. 2d 1, 135 N. W. 2d 809; Bihlmire v. Hahn (1966), 31 Wis. 2d 537, 143 N. W. 2d 433, certiorari denied, 387 U. S. 905; Mueller v. Mizia (1967), 33 Wis. 2d 311, 147 N. W. 2d 269; Hales Corners Savings & Loan Asso. v. Kohlmetz (1967), 36 Wis. 2d 627, 154 N. W. 2d 329. This is traditional descriptive language meaning an injustice to the owners of property would result if the bid were approved. In the original appraisal of appellant's property by two court-appointed appraisers, dated March 11, 1968, a value of $45,000 was placed on the Lake Nagawicka property. On November 1, 1968, the receiver petitioned the trial court for approval of an offer to purchase that property for $30,000, submitted by Raymond E. Brenner and Neil J. Comeford. A hearing on the petition was held on November 11, 1968, at which time the court appointed another appraiser to reappraise the property, gave the appellant permission to submit an offer in excess of $30,000, and adjourned the hearing for one week. Prior to the date of the adjourned hearing, the second court-appointed appraiser filed his written appraisal with the court. The appraisal stated that the fair market value of the property was $34,000 if used for commercial purposes, but that if a conditional use permit could be obtained from the city of Delafield for development of multiple family units, the fair market value would be $56,000.  On November 18, 1968, the date of the adjourned hearing, James W. Landry and Martin Thurnbauer appeared at the invitation of the appellant and offered $36,000 for the property. The court again adjourned the matter to allow the prior offerers time to reconsider their offer and to allow the appellant further time to submit an offer. November 25, 1968, the court approved the sale of the unimproved Lake Nagawicka real estate owned by appellant for $36,000. No offer to purchase the real estate was submitted by appellant. The dispute over the adequacy in price is caused by the fact that the property is zoned for commercial purposes by the city of Delafield and use of the property for multiple-family dwellings is permitted as a conditional use. A permit for conditional use cannot be issued without the approval of the planning commission of the city of Delafield. Use of the property is also limited by a subdivision control ordinance. At the hearing on the motion to set aside the sale, the appellant submitted affidavits by two private appraisers setting their appraised value of the real estate at $50,000. However, each affiant testified at the hearing and stated that at the time of the execution of his affidavit he had not been aware of the subdivision control ordinance adopted in 1968, and that his appraisal would have been different had he been aware of the ordinance. Also, one of the two appraisers originally appointed by the court testified that at the time of his appraisal he was unaware of the ordinance. The second court-appointed appraiser, after citing the zoning regulations and the subdivision control ordinance, had fixed the fair market value at $34,000. We have not discussed the provisions of the subdivision control ordinance. However, the property in question had lake frontage, and the ordinance significantly circumscribes the use of shoreline property.  The trial court, after hearing all the testimony on the issue, found the sale price of $36,000 was reasonable. The sale will not be set aside by this court unless the inadequacy of price is so great as to shock the conscience of the court. Walsch v. Deanovich, supra . In light of the ordinances and the uncertainty of obtaining a conditional use permit, the sale price of $36,000 cannot be considered so inadequate as to shock the conscience of the court.