Court Opinion

ID: 9512610
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:17:35.054054+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:05:26.930966
License: Public Domain

Judge GUTIERREZ
specially concurring.
I concur in the affirmation of the district court’s order denying Peterson’s motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment in favor of the Shores. The majority of this Court holds that, in his deposition, William Shore did not admit to the material terms of the agreement alleged by Peterson and that, therefore, there was no acknowledgement of the contract. I disagree that William Shore’s statements did not constitute an admission, of the contract. The record shows that Peterson and the Shores entered into an oral agreement whereby the Shores would purchase the property and re-convey that property to Peterson for the amount which they paid plus interest. This much of the agreement was admitted to by William Shore in his deposition. However, I concur in the majority’s result because the agreement also provided for Peterson to purchase the property at the end of one year. This time frame is consistent with the Shores’ reliance on a Section 1031 exchange. This effectively made their agreement for the sale of real estate one in which time was of the essence. Regarding this question of when an agreement becomes one in which time is of the essence, it has been noted:
[Tjhere is a tendency of judicial authority to regard the question as one of construction of the intent of the parties and to hold that time is not of the essence of the contract unless made so by express stipulation or unless there is something connected with the purpose of the contract and the circumstances surrounding it making it apparent that the parties intended that the contract must be performed at or within the time named.
*48377 Am.Jur.2d Vendor and Purchaser § 83 (1997) (emphasis added). The contract terms for when Peterson was to purchase the property, along with the use of a Section 1031 exchange by the Shores, make it apparent that the parties intended the oral contract to be performed at the end of one year.
A breach of contract is material or substantial if it “touches the fundamental purpose of the contract and defeats the object of the parties in entering into the contract.” Tentinger v. McPheters, 132 Idaho 620, 622, 977 P.2d 234, 236 (Ct.App.1999), quoting Ervin Constr. Co. v. Van Orden, 125 Idaho 695, 699, 874 P.2d 506, 510 (1993). When one party materially breaches an agreement, the other party’s performance is excused. J.P. Stravens Planning Assocs., Inc. v. City of Wallace, 129 Idaho 542, 545, 928 P.2d 46, 49 (Ct.App.1996). Peterson materially breached the agreement by unreasonably delaying the exercise of his right to purchase until the fourth year after the parties entered into the oral agreement. Thus, the Shores performance under the contract was excused.
Even if time were not of the essence, “it is usually said that failure of timely performance will be considered a breach of contract only at law, and that in equity no breach will be deemed to occur until the performance becomes unreasonably late.” Roger A. Cunningham et al. The Law of Property 670 (1984). In this case, four years is unreasonably late. Therefore, whether it is considered that time was of the essence or not, in either case Peterson’s unreasonable delay operates as a material breach of the agreement and he is, thus, not entitled to relief at law or equity.