Virgil L. Cline and Roberta F. Cline V‪.‬

This action arose out of a 1971 real estate transaction in which plaintiff-respondents Virgil and Roberta Cline allegedly contemplated the purchase of a parcel of real estate from Imo Purcell. Defendant-appellant John Roemer acted as an intermediary between the parties in his capacity as a real estate broker. During the course of the negotiations the Clines delivered $8,000.00 to Roemer as a down payment on the property. The transaction then failed and the Clines sued Roemer for the amount paid. On October 31, 1972, at a time when Roemer was acting as his own attorney, a summary judgment was entered against him for $11,000.00 actual and punitive damages. He now appeals from that judgment, from an October 25, 1974, order denying his alternative motion to set aside the judgment pursuant to I.R.C.P. 60(b) or to enter a new judgment and to direct the clerk to notify the parties pursuant to I.R.C.P. 77(d), and from a November 1, 1974 judgment against a surety. We affirm all judgments. This case involves an extensive procedural history, including numerous motions and two previous appeals. Defendant-appellant Roemer acknowledges that the crux of his position in this appeal is a failure on the part of the clerk of the court to comply with I.R.C.P. 77(d).[Footnote 1] Ostensibly, the time for bringing this appeal has long passed; however, Roemer maintains that under the holding of the United States Supreme Court in Hill v. Hawes, 320 U.S. 520, 64 S.Ct. 334, 88 L.Ed. 283 (1944), a failure to give notice of a judgment tolls the time in which an appeal must be brought. It is not disputed that a clerk of the court failed to give Roemer notice of that judgment as required by I.R.C.P. 77(d). Roemer argues that until he is given notice by the clerk, the time for appeal does not begin to run, and this appeal is timely.