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Gettis v. Green Mountain Economic Development Corp.10/28/2005
515, 482 A.2d 61 (1984), which holds that a business owner denied a promised loan is entitled to have his or her consequential damages determined by a jury. Stacy has, however, limited applicability here, and does not stand for the claimed proposition. In Stacy, a dairy farmer was promised a loan by defendant bank to cover the period between the date that the Farmers Home Administration made a commitment to extend financing to plaintiff and the date the money actually arrived. After defendant reneged on the loan commitment, plaintiff went out of business and sued for his "unrecoverable investment" in the farm. We announced a general rule that:
Where a contract involves a promise to lend money, the law presumes that alternative financing is always available on the open market; therefore, recovery for a breach will often be limited to the cost of obtaining the promised amount elsewhere. . . . The above authorities are in accord, however, that if the borrower is unable to obtain alternative funds at the time of the breach, the lender will be liable for such actual damages incurred by the borrower as were reasonably foreseeable at the time the contract was made.
Id. at 520, 482 A.2d at 64 (citations omitted).
42. The general rule of Stacy is of no help to plaintiffs. Assuming that we should view this case as one in which alternative financing is unavailable, the question is what "actual damages" plaintiffs can prove were within the parties' contemplation and were reasonably certain. To the extent Stacy answers that question, the answer does not support plaintiffs' position. As in this case, the plaintiff in Stacy overclaimed his compensable damages seeking "all labor and material costs incurred in the preparation of the farm prior to purchasing the cows, as well as all of his operating expenses, minus income, incurred during the short life of the farm." Id. at 518, 482 A.2d at 63. We reversed a jury verdict allowing these damages, holding that plaintiff could recover only those expenses incurred in reliance upon receipt of the loan when established with reasonable certainty. Id. at 522, 482 A.2d at 65. In any event, Stacy does not support plaintiffs' argument that they are entitled to have their damages determined by a jury when we find as a matter of law that those damages are not shown with reasonable certainty.
43. We concur with the superior court that there is no disputed issue of material fact relevant to whether plaintiffs can recover economic damages on any of their theories. In light of defendants' uncontroverted expert evidence, we also agree that as a matter of law plaintiffs cannot recover economic damages. This holding applies to all counts of plaintiffs' complaint.
44. Since plaintiffs can recover neither economic nor non-economic damages, the superior court was correct in awarding summary judgment on all counts for defendant. Because of our disposition, we do not reach the other issues decided by the superior court and briefed by the parties.
Affirmed.
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