| Route 217, LLC v Greer |
| 2014 NY Slip Op 04998 [119 AD3d 1018] |
| July 3, 2014 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
[*1]
| 1 Route 217, LLC, Respondent, v Peter Greer et al.,Appellants. |
Freeman Howard, PC, Hudson (Paul M. Freeman of counsel), for appellants.
Francis J. Roche, Hudson, for respondent.
Rose, J. Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court (Nichols, J.), entered May 30,2013 in Columbia County, which, among other things, denied defendants' motion forsummary judgment dismissing the complaint.
In January 2011, plaintiff entered into a contract to purchase property in the Town ofClaverack, Columbia County for $1,400,000 from Beaver Creek Realty, LLC(hereinafter contract No. 1). Six months later, plaintiff entered into a separate contractwith ESL Partners, LLC, whereby it was agreed that plaintiff would convey the subjectproperty to ESL for $1,650,000 in a simultaneous closing with Beaver Creek (hereinaftercontract No. 2). Pursuant to the terms of contract No. 2, ESL was required to make adown payment of $82,500 to plaintiff. ESL then assigned contract No. 2 to defendantBLP Partners, LLC.
Although the closing for both contracts was originally scheduled for October 2011,the closing date was extended several times due to BLP's financial inability to close oncontract No. 2. As part of the agreements to extend the closing date, BLP agreed, amongother things, to release its $82,500 deposit to plaintiff. Additionally, a second addendumto contract No. 2 was executed in February 2012, wherein the parties agreed that "[i]n theevent that the closing shall not take place on or before April 20, 2012, [contract No. 2]shall be considered null and void, and the deposit . . . shall be retained by[plaintiff] as liquidated damages." Ultimately, the closing did not take place by the April2012 deadline and contract No. 2, by its terms, became null and void. Plaintiff thenelected not to proceed with its purchase of the property from Beaver Creek pursuant tocontract No. 1.
[*2] In June 2012, BeaverCreek entered into a new contract directly with BLP to convey the subject property for apurchase price of $1,400,000, with Beaver Creek agreeing to finance a substantialportion of the purchase price by taking back a $1,000,000 mortgage. When Beaver Creekconveyed the property to BLP's assignee, plaintiff commenced this action against BLP,its assignee and a number of other related entities. In its complaint, plaintiff allegescauses of action in fraud and prima facie tort, claiming $167,500 in actual damages (thedifference between BLP's deposit of $82,500 and plaintiff's anticipated profit of$250,000), and also seeks a declaratory judgment as well as $500,000 in punitivedamages. Prior to discovery, defendants moved to dismiss the complaint and plaintiffcross-moved for summary judgment in its favor. Supreme Court notified the parties thatit would treat defendants' motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment(see CPLR 3211 [c]) and, thereafter, denied the parties' summary judgmentmotions as premature, without prejudice, pending discovery. Defendants nowappeal.
Plaintiff's cause of action alleging fraud requires "a misrepresentation or omission ofa material fact known to be false and made with the intent to deceive, as well asjustifiable reliance and damages" (84 Lbr. Co., L.P. v Barringer, 110 AD3d 1224, 1226[2013]; see McColgan vBrewer, 112 AD3d 1191, 1193 [2013]; Kurtz v Foy, 65 AD3d 741, 742 [2009]). Here, plaintiffalleges that it was assured by defendants that they would not purchase the propertydirectly from Beaver Creek and, based on those assurances, plaintiff terminated both ofits contracts. Even assuming that these allegations are sufficient to sustain a fraud causeof action (see 84 Lbr. Co., L.P. v Barringer, 110 AD3d at 1226; compare Kaufman v Torkan,51 AD3d 977, 980 [2008]), we nonetheless note that plaintiff seeks only lost profitsas its damages and, therefore, cannot succeed on this cause of action. "The true measureof damage [for fraud] is indemnity for the actual pecuniary loss sustained as the directresult of the wrong or what is known as the out-of-pocket rule" (Lama Holding Co. vSmith Barney, 88 NY2d 413, 421 [1996] [internal quotation marks and citationsomitted]). Damages for fraudulent acts should "compensate plaintiffs for what they lostbecause of the fraud, not for what they might have gained" (Continental Cas. Co. vPricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 15 NY3d 264, 271 [2010]). As plaintiff does notdispute that it seeks only the lost profit it anticipated earning as a result of conveying theproperty to BLP, defendants are entitled to summary judgment dismissing the first causeof action (see Eitan Ventures,LLC v Peeled, Inc., 94 AD3d 614, 616 [2012]; Kaddo v King Serv., 250AD2d 948, 949-950 [1998]).
Plaintiff's second cause of action alleging a conspiracy to commit fraud must also bedismissed because " 'a mere conspiracy to commit a [tort] is never of itself acause of action' " (Alexander & Alexander of N.Y. v Fritzen, 68NY2d 968, 969 [1986], quoting Brackett v Griswold, 112 NY 454, 467 [1889];see Aprea v New York State Bd.of Elections, 103 AD3d 1059, 1061 [2013]; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Wine, 90 AD3d 1216, 1218[2011]). Plaintiff's third cause of action for prima facie tort "requires a showing of anintentional infliction of harm, without excuse or justification, by an act or series of actsthat would otherwise be lawful" (Lerwick v Kelsey, 24 AD3d 931, 931 [2005], lvdenied 6 NY3d 711 [2006]; accord Hobler v Hussain, 111 AD3d 1006, 1008-1009[2013]). Significantly, "[s]uch acts must be motivated solely by malevolence"(Cavanaugh v Doherty, 243 AD2d 92, 101 [1998]; see Burns Jackson MillerSummit & Spitzer v Lindner, 59 NY2d 314, 333 [1983]; Hobler vHussain, 111 AD3d at 1008-1009; Morrison v Woolley, 45 AD3d 953, 954 [2007]). Plaintiffhas itself asserted that the goal of defendants' "scheme[ ]" was to "sav[e]$167,500" and it makes no claim that defendants were motivated—even inpart—by malevolence. As for plaintiff's fourth cause of action for declaratoryrelief, it too must be dismissed as entirely unnecessary under the circumstances here(see James v Alderton Dock Yards, 256 NY 298, 305 [1931]; Niagara Falls Water Bd. v City of[*3]Niagara Falls, 64 AD3d 1142, 1144 [2009];Singer Asset Fin. Co., LLC vMelvin, 33 AD3d 355, 358 [2006]).
Nor, in light of our determination that plaintiff failed to establish its causes of actionfor fraud and prima facie tort, is this a case for punitive damages. There is no basis uponwhich to conclude that defendants' conduct " 'evince[s] a high degree of moralturpitude and demonstrate[s] such wanton dishonesty as to imply a criminal indifferenceto civil obligations' " (Ross v Louise Wise Servs., Inc., 8 NY3d 478, 489 [2007],quoting Walker v Sheldon, 10 NY2d 401, 405 [1961]; accord Dowlings, Inc. v HomesteadDairies, Inc., 88 AD3d 1226, 1231 [2011]).
Finally, we are aware that discovery has not yet been conducted between theseparties. Nevertheless, the additional information that plaintiff hopes to discover regardingwhen defendants first began planning to purchase the property directly from BeaverCreek would not overcome defendants' entitlement to judgment as a matter of law asdemonstrated by the record evidence and undisputed facts (see Clochessy vGagnon, 58 AD3d 1008, 1009-1010 [2009]; George S. May Intl. Co. v Thirsty Moose, Inc., 19 AD3d721, 722 [2005]; Wright vShapiro, 16 AD3d 1042, 1043 [2005]).
Peters, P.J., Garry, Egan Jr. and Clark, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order ismodified, on the law, with costs to defendants, by reversing so much thereof as denieddefendants' motion; motion granted, summary judgment awarded to defendants andcomplaint dismissed; and, as so modified, affirmed.