Court Opinion

ID: 9599940
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:22:26.005723+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:47.825960
License: Public Domain

McInturff, A.C.J.
(dissenting) I dissent. The contract in question clearly and expressly binds the McElroys personally. Nevertheless, the majority holds the contract ambiguous merely because the McElroys failed to sign the contract twice. I believe this result departs from historical precedent and the express intentions of the parties.
The McElroys signed a contract which "personally" bound them. Can they evade the clear consequences of contractual language merely by placing the names of the offices they held in the corporation under their signatures? I think not.
First, the language binds the parties "personally in addition to their corporations, hereto their heris [sic], successors and assigns." "Personally" here distinguishes individual liability from demands which were against the McElroys in a representative capacity. See 32 Words and Phrases, Personally, at 466 (1956 & Supp. 1984). Moreover, "heris [sic], successors and assigns" are appropriate terms with respect to a natural person, but not to McElroy Trucking, Inc., a corporation. Ricker v. B-W Acceptance Corp., 349 F.2d 892, 895 (10th Cir. 1965). The McElroys, individually, are the only natural persons referred to in the contract.
Second, when a writing in a contract is signed by a person, and contains words to bind him personally, the fact that to such signature is added such words as "president" or "secretary-treasurer" does not change the character of the person so signing, but is considered as merely descriptive of him. "[I]t is simply, as the courts say, 'descriptio personae."' Schwab v. Getty, 145 Wash. 66, 76, 258 P. 1035, 54 A.L.R. 1382 (1927) (quoting Gavazza v. Plummer, 53 Wash. 14, 15, 101 P. 370 (1909)); 2 S. Williston, Contracts § *176299, at 394-95 (3d ed. 1960 & Supp. 1984); 19 Am. Jur. 2d Corporations § 1344 (1965 & Supp. 1984); Annot., Personal Liability of Directors as Affected by Terms of Contract or Form of Signature, 33 A.L.R. 1353, 1354 (1924 & Supp. 1975) .
The addition of descriptio personae to an individual's name renders him prima facie liable unless, from a reading of the whole instrument, an intent appears to bind only the principal. Manufacturers' Leasing, Ltd. v. Florida Dev. & Attractions, Inc., 330 So. 2d 171, 172 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1976) . Indeed, the Supreme Court recognized long ago that one seeking to escape personal liability must explicitly express such intent in the contract language:
If it is desired to escape personal liability in the contract of an agent or other representative, the intention so to do must be expressed in clear and explicit language; otherwise, a personal obligation arises.
Gavazza, at 15.
The McElroys did not express in clear and explicit language that they sought to bind the corporation alone. Rather, they expressly agreed to personal liability. I would, as did two superior court judges, find as a matter of law the McElroys are personally liable, absent the second signature. Given the specific language in this contract, the second signature is unnecessary and superfluous. To hold otherwise disregards the rule that each part of the contract be given some effect. Green River Vly. Found., Inc. v. Foster, 78 Wn.2d 245, 249, 473 P.2d 844 (1970); Victoria Tower Partnership v. Lorig, 40 Wn. App. 785, 789, 700 P.2d 768 (1985); Bremer v. Mount Vernon Sch. Dist. 320, 34 Wn. App. 192, 199, 660 P.2d 274 (1983). By disregarding the personal liability language, the majority negates the parties' express intent and rewrites the contract. In addition, the result is a blueprint for future contractual ambushes in that it allows one to assume liability individually, and in a representative capacity, and then escape that individual liability by using the single signature as a shield. Thus, the personal liability provision becomes only a facade.
*177I would affirm the Superior Court ruling that the contract unambiguously bound the McElroys individually.