Jones v. Fanning et al.

Jul 05, 2007

OUTCOME: Judgment in Favor of the Plaintiffs

This lawsuit involved claims for specific performance by plaintiffs Trevor and Mandy Jones (Plaintiff Jones) against defendants Joan Fanning and Paul Fishman (Fanning/Fishman) for the purchase of two ... vacant lots that are part of three lot short plat located on Clyde Road near Langley, Washington. The CASA Group, Inc. first started negotiations to purchase the property in question with Fanning/Fishman in February of 2005 and signed an “Agreement to Agree.” The Agreement with the CASA Group, Inc. terminated in early July of 2005 when Fanning/Fishman decided to sell the property to Trevor and Mandy Jones. Fanning/Fishman entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement signed July 20, 2005, after preliminary short plat approval was received from Island County on June 16, 2005. The parties set a closing date of on or before December 31, 2005. The July 2005 Purchase and Sale Agreement required sellers Joan Fanning and Paul Fishman, to act with “due diligence” and “in a timely manner” to complete the tasks necessary to get final short plat approval on or before December 23, 2005. Per the terms of the Purchase and Sale Agreement, Plaintiff Jones was not allowed to do any of the infrastructure work necessary on the short plat unless consented to by Fanning/Fishman. The evidence presented at trial showed that defendants Fanning/Fishman failed to act with due diligence and/or in timely manner to complete the necessary tasks to get final short plat approval by December 23, 2005. The evidence further showed that all the tasks necessary could have been reasonably completed with due diligence, within the time frame allotted. After a two week bench trial in Island County Superior Court, the Honorable Alan R. Hancock found in favor of the plaintiffs, granting an award of specific performance and attorneys fees.