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Roscoe-Gill v. Newman

Arizona Court of Appeals
937 P.2d 673 (1996)

Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD

Facts

Carolyn Roscoe-Gill (plaintiff) signed a contract to sell her ranch to Charles Newman (defendant). The sale price was $380,000 and Newman provided $5,000 in escrow as earnest money. The contract included a liquidated-damages clause, which specified that Roscoe-Gill would keep the $5,000 earnest money as the total of her damages in the event of a breach by Newman. Over the next few months, the parties agreed to postpone the closing date a number of times because Newman was unable to close due to financial considerations. Roscoe-Gill agreed to each extension in writing and received some changes to the contract in consideration of the extensions, including an increased sale price to $404,000. After Newman was still unable to close, Roscoe-Gill finally declared a breach. Roscoe-Gill by that point was under increased financial pressure to sell and eventually sold the ranch to another purchaser for $260,000. Roscoe-Gill sued Newman for breach of contract and sought damages of $140,000. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment regarding whether Roscoe-Gill was limited to receiving only the contractually specified liquidated-damages amount. The court granted summary judgment to Newman, finding that Roscoe-Gill was entitled only to the $5,000 earnest money as specified in the contract. Roscoe-Gill appealed.

Rule of Law

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Holding and Reasoning (Pelander, J.)

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