Ace Realty v. Alfred Anderson and Sadie

Nolan and Ruby Victor entered into an agreement with Alfred and Sadie Anderson providing for the sale of a one-half interest in a 640 acre farm to the Andersons. The agreement provided that the Andersons were to operate the farm, take three-fourths of the crop proceeds and half of the proceeds of cattle sales for themselves, and pay the Victors the remainder. The Victors subsequently transferred their interest to Ace Realty, Inc., a corporation which they had formed. Later, Ace Realty sued Alfred and Sadie Anderson, requesting an accounting of farm income, expenses and operation, requesting a judgment for the balance due on notes which the Andersons had not paid, and asking that the land sale contract, on which the Andersons had failed to make payments, be terminated. The Andersons paid all past-due payments on the contract and counterclaimed against Ace Realty and the Victors -- the sole owners of Ace Realty -- for amounts which they claimed the Victors owed them. Each recovered on some of his claims. The Victors, through Ace, appealed. The Andersons cross-appealed. The Victors raise numerous issues on appeal. Their contentions may be summarized as follows. The Victors argue that they are entitled to an additional award of damages, based on undisputed evidence presented at trial. They contend that the trial court should not have permitted testimony concerning the amount of hay fed to cattle from 1969 to 1973. The Victors state that the Andersons were precluded by the contract from having separately-owned cattle on the farm and that the proceeds of all cattle were to be shared equally. They assert that the term cattle, as used in their contract with the Andersons, should be interpreted to include swine and sheep, and that the court should award them half of the proceeds of sales of the Andersons' swine and sheep. The Victors urge that a comment which the Judge made during trial shows that he did not have a sufficient understanding of the proceedings to render a fair and impartial decision. They also argue that the contract principle expressio unius est exclusio alterius should be applied here. Finally, they contend that the court should have awarded them attorney fees at trial and they request an award of attorney fees for this appeal. We find no error and affirm the trial court as to the Victors' appeal. We do not award attorney fees to the Victors on their appeal.