Ziegler Furniture and Funeral Home, Inc., V. Bill Cicmanec

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I. Style of Case Ziegler Furniture and Funeral Home, Inc., v. Bill Cicmanec, 709 N.W. 2d 350 (2006 SD 6). II. Disposition and Court Below Vendor brought action against purchaser for breach of real estate purchase agreement. Following a bench trial, the Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Pennington County, Thomas L. Trimble, J., entered judgment in favor of purchaser. Vendor appealed. III. Facts In this breach of contract action, we are asked to decide, among other things, whether the parties formed an enforceable purchase agreement. After a trial, the circuit court ruled that only an option contract was formed and that it was unenforceable. Although it was labeled as an option contract, it had all the elements of a purchase agreement, and the parties treated it as a purchase agreement. Therefore, we reverse and remand. IV. Issue Contract interpretation is a question of law reviewable de novo. When the meaning of contractual language is plain and unambiguous, construction is not necessary. If a contract is found to be ambiguous the rules of construction apply. Whether the language of a contract is ambiguous is a question of law. We review a circuit court's decision regarding an equitable remedy under the abuse of discretion standard. V. Holding We conclude that Cicmanec entered into a binding, enforceable contract, and because he breached this contract, Ziegler Funeral Home is entitled on remand to relief. VI. Rationale or Reasoning All the essential terms were expressed in this agreement. It set the price, the down payment, the interest rate, the approximate closing date, the personal and real property to be sold, the governing law, and the earnest money deposit. The parties could have closed their deal with this contract. Therefore, we conclude that the circuit court erred in ruling that this agreement was
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