Court Opinion

ID: 9604249
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:16:54.942825+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:28:50.774749
License: Public Domain

HOWE, Associate Chief Justice
(concurring):
I concur but write to point out an inconsistency between paragraph G and paragraph H of the agreement. The last sentence of paragraph G provides that if a defect in title is not curable through an escrow at closing, the agreement shall be null and void at the option of the buyer. The last sentence of paragraph H states that if title cannot be made insurable through an escrow at closing, the agreement shall be terminated unless the buyer elects to waive the defects or encumbrances. While paragraph G speaks of a “defect in title” and paragraph H deals with a “title that cannot be made so insurable,” I believe that they both address the same thing. Yet in paragraph G, termination is at the option of the buyer, whereas in paragraph H, termination appears to be mandatory unless the buyer elects to waive the defects. It was here that the court of appeals was misled. It construed paragraph H literally instead of in light of paragraph G. Justice Stewart has properly reconciled the two paragraphs by holding that termination is intended to be at the option of the buyer.
I think the court of appeals also erred in that it did not consider whether the defect in title here could be cured through an escrow at closing as provided for in both paragraphs G and H. From all that appears in the record before us, a stipulated amount could have been withheld from the purchase price at closing and escrowed pending resolution of the boundary dispute.