Opinion ID: 2521518
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the District Court Err in Dismissing All of the Claims of Lexington Heights?

Text: In their first cause of action, Lexington Heights sought specific performance of the Agreement. Because the Agreement was invalid under the statute of frauds, the district court properly granted summary judgment dismissing that claim. In its complaint, Lexington Heights also alleged causes of action seeking damages for breach of the Agreement; damages for fraud and deception based upon the sale of the forty acres to Mayes; damages for negligence based upon Mayes' conduct in removing signs giving notice of a public hearing to be held on February 19, 2002, in connection with Lexington Heights's proposed development of the property; damages for intentional interference with prospective economic advantage based upon the sale of the forty acres to Mayes; and an order expunging from the public records the deed to Mayes and holding that Mayes and the Crandlemires are estopped from asserting any claim to the ninety acres. The district court dismissed these remaining claims because it concluded that they all rely on the existence of a valid contract between the parties. On appeal, Lexington Heights argues that the district court erred. It addresses only four of the counts: fraud and deception, negligence, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, and equitable estoppel. It merely lists the elements of those causes of action and then argues that because they were tort claims, they do not require the existence of a contract. Issues considered on summary judgment are those raised by the pleadings. O'Guin v. Bingham County, 139 Idaho 9, 72 P.3d 849 (2003). In its allegation of fraud and deception, Lexington Heights alleged that the Crandlemires and Mayes conspired to terminate the Agreement and then conveyed the forty acres to Mayes in an attempt to defraud the Plaintiff and to inflict damage, loss, cost, expense and attorney fees. Lexington Heights does not attempt to explain how either the termination of the Agreement or the sale of the forty acres to Mayes could constitute an attempt to defraud it, nor does it point to any evidence in the record supporting that claim. In its allegation of negligence, Lexington Heights alleged that the Crandlemires and Mayes took actions that delayed the planning and zoning hearing regarding the subject property and refused to close the transaction under which Lexington Heights was to purchase the property. Lexington Heights did not own and did not have a valid contract to purchase the property. It does not attempt to explain how delaying the planning and zoning meeting or refusing to close the transaction constituted a claim for negligence, nor does it point to any evidence in the record supporting that claim. In its allegation of tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, Lexington Heights alleges that the sale of the forty acres to Mayes caused it significant economic damage. That tort requires a showing that the interference was wrongful beyond the fact of the interference itself. Idaho First Nat'l Bank v. Bliss Valley Foods, Inc., 121 Idaho 266, 824 P.2d 841 (1991). Lexington Heights does not attempt to explain how the sale to Mayes of the forty acres was wrongful in the manner required for that tort, nor does it point to any evidence in the record supporting that allegation. Finally, in its claim for estoppel Lexington Heights alleged that the Crandlemires and Mayes have been guilty of dealing with the Plaintiff with unclean hands and that each of them should be estopped from asserting any claim to the real property and the Warranty Deed which was placed as record should be expunged. Assuming that a real estate contract that was invalid because of noncompliance with the statute of frauds could be enforced under the doctrine of equitable estoppel, Lexington Heights has not explained how equitable estoppel even applies to the facts of this case, nor does it point to any evidence in the record supporting that allegation. The district court did not err in dismissing the remaining counts in Lexington Heights's complaint.