Bowmer

This is an appeal by plaintiffs Amos Y. Bowmer and his wife, Leah, who recovered a judgment in the trial court based on quantum meruit in the amount of $8,522.57 against defendant H. C. Louis, Inc. The Bowmers have appealed from the remainder of the judgment which rejected their claim of entitlement to a $30,000 interest in a trailer court. The trial court held that fraudulent misrepresentations on the part of Mr. Bowmer constituted a defense to his claim. The issues presented, accordingly, are whether fraud is an appropriate defense to an action based on contract and, if it is, whether the findings of fraud by the trial court are supported by the evidence.

In 1960 Mr. Bowmer first contacted Stephen Engle, President of H. C. Louis, Inc., for the purpose of securing a ground lease of property owned by the corporation. Mr. Bowmer informed Mr. Engle at that time that he was a builder of trailer parks and a manager; that the property involved “was uniquely situated for the development of a good trailer park;” untruthfully, that he was a general contractor and that he could build a trailer park for 50 cents on the dollar of what the normal cost would be.

It appears that Mr. Bowmer…