Court Opinion

ID: 9713189
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:10:33.870991+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:17.359582
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE McCULLOUGH, dissenting: The testimony shows that in 1972 the plaintiffs purchased 1.6 acres for $11,000. Improvements on the property consisted of a house, a barn, a chicken house, and a garage. Plaintiffs testified repairs made to the house and to the barn, including approximate costs of the electrical work, paint, shingles, support beams and concrete. The plaintiffs did not have any receipts for the materials that went into the repairs, and the testimony was made only upon a reasonable estimate as to the costs. No evidence was presented by plaintiffs concerning the value of the 1.6 acres with the improvements thereon at the time of the fire and after the loss. We are dealing with a total loss of the barn and the law with respect to this matter, although not clear, would indicate that the measure of damages for that loss is the fair market value immediately before the loss and the fair market value after the loss. As indicated by the evidence and agreed to by the parties, the building burned to the ground, damaged beyond repair, and had no salvage value. Jones, Myers, and Zosky, does not deal with instances where a building was totally destroyed; the properties had been tortiously damaged and could be repaired. Contrary to the majority’s opinion, Myers is not a persuasive case to justify the recovery granted to the plaintiffs in this case. Myers involved concrete being placed upon the premises. It did not involve a destruction or loss of any building thereon. Granting restoration of the premise’s damages to the plaintiffs in Myers does not require this court, where the barn was a total loss, to permit replacement damages. Here, the barn, a structure separate from the other improvements on the property, cannot be repaired but must be reproduced. In Johnson v. Pagel Clikeman Co. (1951), 343 Ill. App. 346, 99 N.E.2d 148, which involved the total destruction of a barn by a fire, the appellate court of the Fifth District correctly stated: “ ‘We are of the opinion the proper measure of damages in the instant case is the difference in market value of the property before and after the fire.’ ” (Johnson, 343 Ill. App. at 349, 99 N.E.2d at 150, quoting Clark v. Public Service Co. (1934), 278 Ill. App. 426, 446.) I respectfully disagree that granting to the plaintiffs the full cost of reproducing the barn sets the proper amount of damages to be recovered by the plaintiff. The damages should be determined based on the fair market value of the property before and after the loss. The trial court did not apply the proper standard in determining damages, and the judgment should be reversed and remanded for a new trial on damages.