Opinion ID: 883878
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: ISSUE 2 and ISSUE 3

Text: Did the District Court err when it entered judgment for Western in the principal amount of $232,730.04? Did the District Court err when it awarded Western pre-judgment interest from February 1, 1991? When we review a district court's conclusions of law, the standard of review is whether those conclusions are correct. Carbon County v. Union Reserve Coal Co. (1995), 271 Mont. 459, 469, 898 P.2d 680, 686. When the District Court granted Western's renewed motion for summary judgment, it entered a final judgment in the principal sum of $232,730.04 plus pre- and post-judgment interest ... as of February 1, 1991 to February 22, 1996.... The Guarantors contend that the District Court erred when it entered this judgment, and that, therefore, it must be vacated. Specifically, they assert that the judgment should be reduced to the principal amount of $196,849.72, and that pre-judgment interest should be calculated only from August 31, 1994. The Guarantors guaranteed payment as of February 1, 1991. However, the stipulated judgment was not entered until August 31, 1994. THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF $232,730.04 Section 28-11-201, MCA, states: Obligation of guarantor not to exceed that of principal. The obligation of a guarantor must be neither larger in amount nor in other respects more burdensome than that of the principal, and if in its terms it exceeds it, it is reducible in proportion to the principal obligation. CMC (the principal debtor) and Western entered into a stipulated judgment in the amount of $196,849.72. This stipulated judgment conclusively established CMC's obligation. Therefore, pursuant to § 28-11-201, MCA, the Guarantors' obligation cannot exceed the amount to which CMC and Western stipulated. Accordingly, we hold that the District Court erred when it entered judgment for Western in the principal amount of $232,730.04. PRE-JUDGMENT INTEREST FROM FEBRUARY 1, 1991 Section 27-1-211, MCA, states, in relevant part: Right to Interest. Every person who is entitled to recover damages certain or capable of being made certain by calculation and the right to recover which is vested in him upon a particular day is entitled also to recover interest thereon from that day.... Pursuant to the express terms of the guaranties, Western's right to recover from the Guarantors vested on February 1, 1991, the date on which CMC failed to make the payment that was then due, and the date by which the Guarantors guaranteed payment. The amount was also capable of being made certain by calculation on that date. It was simply the difference between the amount set forth in the written guaranties, and any amount paid. Accordingly, we hold that the District Court did not err when it awarded Western pre-judgment interest from February 1, 1991. We affirm and modify the judgment of the District Court, and remand the case for entry of judgment in the principal amount of $196,849.72, plus pre-judgment interest from February 1, 1991, and post-judgment interest to the date on which the judgment is satisfied. TURNAGE, C.J., and NELSON, GRAY and ERDMANN, JJ., concur.