Court Opinion

ID: 9703326
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:52:20.332747+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:10:54.060402
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(concurring). Although I believe the majority has reached the right result in this case, I do not think the majority has set forth its rationale fully.
The circuit court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismissed the action with prejudice. The majority, using the procedure set forth by this court for reviewing an order granting summary judgment, looks first at the complaint, treating the motion for summary judgment as the functional equivalent of a motion to dismiss the complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See sec. 802.06 (2) (f), Stats.; 6 Moore, Federal Practice par. 56.11 [2], p. 56-210 (2d ed. 1976).
The amended complaint alleges that the defendants, by virtue of their occupancy of the house, knew or should have known of a serious water leakage problem in the basement; that the problem was within the special knowledge of the defendants; that the problem was not observable or discernible by the plaintiffs; that the condition of the basement materially affected the value and desirability of the property; and that the defendants failed and neglected to disclose the condition with the *436purpose of inducing the plaintiffs to buy the property. The plaintiffs sought damages in the amount of $4,600.00.
For purposes of testing the legal sufficiency of the complaint, the facts pleaded and all reasonable inferences are admitted to be true. Legal conclusions and unreasonable inferences need not be accepted. Hartridge v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 86 Wis.2d 1, 4-5, 271 N.W.2d 598 (1978). The pleadings are to be liberally construed with a view to substantial justice to the parties. Sec. 802.02(6), Stats. The complaint should be dismissed as legally insufficient only “if it is quite clear that under no circumstances can the plaintiff recover.” Clausen & Lowe, The New Wisconsin Rules of Civil Procedure, Chapters 801-803, 59 Marq. L. Rev. 1, 54 (1976), quoted with approval in Morgan v. Pennsylvania General Ins. Co., 87 Wis.2d 723, 731, 275 N.W.2d 660 (1979).
The majority opinion recognizes that there may be instances where non-disclosure of a defect by a noncommercial seller engaged in a real estate transaction may constitute intentional misrepresentation. The majority, however, refuses to interpret the complaint in the instant case broadly enough to state such a claim. Although such a narrow interpretation of the complaint appears contrary to prior decisions in which we stated that a claim should not be dismissed “unless it appears to a certainty that no relief can be granted under any set of facts that plaintiff can prove in support of his allegations,” Morgan v. Pennsylvania General Ins. Co., supra, 87 Wis.2d at 732, the majority’s narrow interpretation of the complaint in the instant case rests on precedent.
In Wilson v. Continental Insurance Co., 87 Wis.2d 310, 326, 274 N.W.2d 679 (1979), we noted that where certain public policy questions are involved the com*437plaint must set forth the facts in detail to withstand a motion to dismiss. We said:
“Under the guise of notice pleading, the complaint before us requires the court to indulge in too much speculation leaving too much to the imagination of the court. The appellants contend that such necessary facts will be supplied by the discovery process. We think not. We hold the appellants have not set forth facts constituting a claim in negligence . . . especially in light of the public policy questions raised by this appeal . . . .”
In Ollerman v. O’Rourke Co., Inc., 94 Wis.2d 17, 288 N.W.2d 95 (1980), we recognized that the traditional rule that no action lies against the seller of real estate for failure to disclose in an arm’s-length transaction is in part based on the desirability of avoiding uncertainty in real estate transactions and on the desirability of avoiding litigation. The majority is obviously saying, as we said in Wilson, that in a cause of action such as one for non-disclosure in real estate transactions, because of public policy considerations, the complaint must set forth facts in great detail if it is to survive a motion to dismiss.
After concluding that the complaint fails to state a claim, the majority, without explanation, affirms a summary judgment dismissing the amended complaint on the merits. Ordinarily when a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is granted the plaintiff is given an opportunity to plead over if any factual basis can exist for a claim. An opportunity to replead may also be granted after summary judgment. 6 Moore, Federal Practice par. 56.10 (2d ed. 1976). In the case at bar, however, the plaintiffs are not given this opportunity. Again, this result rests on precedent. The plaintiffs bought the house in March 1976 and began their lawsuit in August 1976. The plaintiffs served an amended complaint in March 1977. The defendant answered both complaints and moved for summary judgment. Depositions were taken *438and affidavits were filed in 1977. The circuit court’s order granting summary judgment was entered on May 17, 1977. This appeal is being decided a little more than four years after the purchase of the house was completed. In light of the two complaints, two answers, depositions, motions, an appeal, and the four-year time period, this court obviously does not believe that the ends of justice would be served by granting the plaintiffs leave to plead over for a third time. Wilson v. Continental Insurance Co., 87 Wis.2d 310, 326, 274 N.W.2d 679 (1979).
I concur in the result reached by the majority.