‘Buyer beware’: Tiburon real estate verdict reversed on appeal By GARY KLIEN | gklien@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal PUBLISHED: August 3, 2019 at 11:31 am | UPDATED: August 3, 2019 at 2:20 pm A state appeals court has reversed a trial verdict — and an award of about $700,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees — in a long-running dispute over a Tiburon property sale. The court ruled against a business professor who bought the waterfront property, saying he should have surveyed the site before the purchase. “This is a classic case of ‘buyer beware,’” Justice Therese Stewart wrote. The litigation involved 2308 Mar East St., a four-bedroom property along Racoon Strait. The seller was Julia Handley and her family trust, who also owned the property next door at 2310 Mar East St. A divided stairwell runs between the homes. The buyer was Peter Wilton, a lecturer at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Wilton owns several investment properties, according to the court ruling. The sale was in 2011. Some time later, when Wilton obtained a survey for a remodeling project, he learned that the stairs he thought he owned were mostly on the neighboring property at 2310 Mar East St. By then, Handley was completing the sale of 2310 Mar East St. Wilton and his new neighbor had to litigate rights to the staircase. Wilton sued Handley for alleged breach of contract and intentional misrepresentation. The case went to trial in Marin County Superior Court in 2017. Judge Roy Chernus ruled in Wilton’s favor and directed a jury to decide damages. The jury determined that Wilton should receive nearly $100,000. Chernus also ordered Handley to pay Wilton $598,596 in attorneys’ fees. Chernus, in his ruling, said Handley and her family trust “had missed the opportunity to settle this matter very early on, long before the pre-trial motions and discovery.” “The trust’s refusal to do so is the only reason this action extended over four years, and caused plaintiff to incur this very large attorneys’ fees bill,” Chernus said. Handley appealed to the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco. In a decision released on July 25, a three-judge panel unanimously reversed Chernus’ verdict, the damages and the fee award. “At the time of the sale, both the seller and the buyer believed that the concrete stairway lay within the property’s boundaries,” Stewart wrote. “And, indeed, Wilton had had unfettered access to the stairs from the time he first visited the property before making an offer until the sale closed. “Nevertheless, their written contract put Wilton on notice that ‘Seller may not be aware of all defects affecting the Property or other factors that Buyer considers important’ and ‘strongly advised’ Wilton ‘to conduct investigations of the entire Property in order to determine its present condition.’ The contract specifically disclaimed any representations about the property’s boundary lines, and cautioned the buyer to get his own survey before closing the sale.” “Wilton didn’t get a survey before the sale closed,” Stewart wrote. “He just didn’t think he needed to.” Wilton’s lawyer, Elizabeth Brekhus, said Friday that the litigants have reached a settlement. She declined to discuss the terms or comment on the ruling. “I’m going to let the ruling speak for itself,” she said. “It was a complicated dispute.” Handley’s lawyer, Steven Ellenberg, did not respond to a request for comment
Wow. So many questions, including whether Wilton was represented by an agent or attorney, and whether he was given advice and declined it. Would seem obvious in this particular situation that a survey should have been performed, period. The last survey I had done was less than $2k. Wilton's just an idiot.