Opinion ID: 1366742
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the district court err in denying Seubert's claim for overpayment?

Text: The district court held that Seubert was not entitled to recover an alleged overpayment to Steelman-Duff of $977.60 on the grounds that Thomas Reiner, Seubert's office manager, had testified that the overpayment was inadvertent and that Reiner's testimony, the facts, and the exhibit which displayed the overpayment figure did not constitute a preponderance of the evidence. We reverse this ruling because it was clearly erroneous. I.R.C.P. 52(a). Reiner testified, without objection or rebuttal, to a standard procedure in payments for construction contracts. The record does not illustrate that his testimony was inherently improbable, nor did facts or circumstances disclosed at trial render it so. Therefore, this Court must accept his testimony as true. Smith v. Idaho State Univ. Fed. Credit Union, 114 Idaho 680, 685, 760 P.2d 19, 24 (1988) (citations omitted). Since no evidence contradicted Reiner's testimony and exhibit, the finding by the district court as to this issue was unsupported by substantial and competent evidence.