Court Opinion

ID: 9517872
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 00:35:42.777765+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:16:12.510663
License: Public Domain

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE STOUDER specially concurring: I agree with the result reached by the majority of the court to the extent that they affirm the judgment of the trial court on its merits. I disagree with the majority’s holding that appellant lacks standing to appeal the judgment of the trial court and if such holding be regarded as the rule in this case then consistently the appeal should have been dismissed rather than judgment affirmed. Where a court is requested to approve a proposed sale initiated by or on behalf of an officer of the court the issue is presented as to whether the transaction is in accord with established legal principles. Where, as in this case, the administrator is seeking the approval of a proposed private sale the court must determine whether such proposed sale is for the best interest of the estate i.e. is the price reasonable under the circumstances. Where a private sale is proposed the reasonableness of the price is the principal issue, taking into account of course the due diligence of the officer of the court in securing offers. Consequently if at such hearing the court learns that a higher price can be obtained for the properly the court is justified in concluding that the proposed private sale is not for a reasonable price price and not in the best interests of the estate. That the appellant may have been asked concerning his intentions regarding a higher price for the property does not convert the proceeding into a courtroom auction as claimed by appellant but is germaine to the issue before the court namely the reasonableness of the price offered by the proposed buyer. Consequently I believe the court’s action in disapproving the sale to appellant and ordering a resale is in accord with the evidence. The major thrust of the majority opinion is that appellant lacks status to seek a review of the trial court’s judgment because he is not “aggrieved” by such judgment. This issue was not raised in the briefs of the parties nor does it appear to have been raised in any prior Illinois case. Concededly this court may raise issues not called to our attention by the parties but it seems to me that this should be done only where there are clear compelling reasons for considering the issue. I find no compelling reasons for considering this issue on our own initiative particularly because an appellant situated as is the one in this case, has been considered without question to have status to seek review of a trial judgment since at least 1854 when Reynolds v. Wilson, 15 Ill. 394, was decided. Even though I doubt the wisdom or necessity of raising this issue on our own initiative, it is my further conclusion that the position taken by the majority is unwise and is not supported by the persuasive analogies of cases of this State or of other states. As a matter of legislative construction the existence for more than one hundred years of the right of an unsuccessful offeror or bidder to seek judicial review without any change or limitation by the legislature is a substantial reason for concluding there is nothing legally doubtful about appellant’s status. I shall mention only a few older cases in which the trial court’s judgment disapproving a judicial sale was considered on its merits pursuant to review instituted by the unsuccessful buyer. (See Reynolds v. Wilson (1854), 15 Ill. 394; Jennings v. Dunphy (1898), 174 Ill. 86, 50 N.E. 1045; Quick v. Collins (1902), 197 Ill. 394; 64 N.E. 288 and McCallum v. Chi. Title & Trust Co. (1903), 203 Ill. 142, 67 N.E. 823.) In each of the foregoing cases the trial court’s action in disapproving the sale was affirmed, the standing of the appellant to maintain the appeal not being raised. A master’s sale pursuant to a partition decree was involved in Quigley v. Breckenridge (1899), 180 Ill. 627, 54 N.E. 580. The trial court refused to approve the master’s report of the sale and the bidder appealed this time unsuccessfully. On appeal the Supreme Court concluded there was no evidence of fraud, of an agreement to chill the bidding at the auction sale or of any improper conduct involved in the sale procedure. Of more significance to the issue involved in this case is the Court’s observation that “At any rate, mere inadequacy of price * * # will not justify a court in setting aside the sale, so as to deprive the vendee of the benefit of his purchase, unless such inadequacy amounts to evidence of fraud. Here there was not such inadequacy as to amount to proof of fraud. Public policy requires that there should be stability in judicial sales, and that they should not be disturbed for slight causes; otherwise, property cannot be expected to bring its value at such sales. * # * Giving our full adherence to the doctrine that a court of chancery has large discretion in the matter of these sales, and that the sale is in itself incomplete until it is confirmed, and confers no right in the land upon the purchaser, we are yet of the opinion that, upon this record, the sale set aside by the court below was fair, and should have been allowed to stand.” To the same effect is Evans v. Hunold, 393 Ill. 195, 65 N.E.2d 173. If the proposed purchaser is entitled to the benefit of his bargain unless contrary to . some principle of law, then the judgment of a trial court disapproving the sale deprives him of a direct substantial advantage or benefit. In discussing judicial sales which require court approval before they can be considered consummated the analogy has often been suggested that the court is a vendor and the proposed purchaser is an offeror. Based on such analogy it is then suggested that until and unless the offer is accepted (approved) by the court the offeror has no interest in the land and no enforcable contract. While this analogy may be helpful in discussing some aspects of judicial sales, the analogy is not literally true and there are substantial and important differences between a judicial sale and a non judicial sale. The court is not the owner of the land as is the usual vendor and the court in considering whether a sale should be approved is exercising a judicial discretion and not the personal discretion which an individual owner or offeree may exercise in the conduct of his personal affairs. Whether or not the proposed purchaser has an interest in the land or a binding contract before the court is requested to approve the sale does not excuse the court from exercising its judicial discretion, that is the court must act reasonably, fairly and on the basis of evidence presented in open court. (Ryerson v. Apland, 378 Ill. 472, 38 N.E.2d 712). If the court in the view of the proposed purchaser acts arbitrarily, unreasonably or contrary to the evidence or to law the action of the trial court is and should be. subject to review on appeal. The two principal cases relied upon by the majority (Suntherker v. Richter, 261 Ill.App. 547 and Wallace v. Chicago & Erie Stove Co., 46 Ill.App. 571), as tending to support their holding, are in my judgment more appropriately supportative of the position I am taking. In each of the cases a purported creditor of an estate whose claim had not been filed was held not to be aggrieved by judgments refusing to set aside the appointment of an administrator or determining the propriety of an inventory. The gist of these decisions is that since the purported creditors had not filed their claims they were not entitled to participate in the assets of the estate and hence the reversal of the trial court judgment could be of no benefit to them. If the reasoning of the foregoing cases is applied to the facts of this case for the reasons urged by the majority we would reach the curious result that if the judgment of the trial court was reversed and the sale approved such contrary judgment could be of no benefit to the purposed purchaser. Such a conclusion is untenable because approval of the sale would be of direct benefit to the appellant. The cases from other jurisdictions which the majority has cited in support of their holding are not persuasive to me. Each of the cases in varying degree relies on tire mechanical application of the rule discussed earlier in this opinion that a proposed purchaser has no right in the land until the sale has been approved. As I have already observed I neither believe that the rule supports the result nor do I believe it to be an adequate reason for refusing judicial review. In summary I believe the appellant has standing to maintain this appeal and I disagree with the holding of the majority to the contrary whether the rule announced be considered the rule of the case or dicta. Otherwise I would affirm the judgment of the trial court because I believe no error was committed.