In Which Messy Handwriting Renders a Contract Ambiguous

If you’ve ever been in charge of taking care of a swimming pool, you know that it has a lot of moving parts and requires a working knowledge of chemistry and an adroitness at mathematics that is often lacked by those who become lawyers.* So I started reading this case because the first sentence told me it was about a swimming pool, but it’s an interesting and fairly straightforward situation of contract ambiguity being resolved by extrinsic evidence. If you’re looking for a recent case for your students to see this in action, this one might be it. 

The case is Horizon Pools & Landscapes, Inc. v. Sucarichi, No. 01-15-01079-CV, out of Texas. Sucarichi entered into a contract with Horizon to install a swimming pool and spa. The dispute centered around the number of lights Horizon was supposed to install. Sucarichi alleged that Horizon was supposed to install three lights total: two in the swimming pool and one in the spa. Horizon maintained that it was supposed to install two lights total: one in the swimming pool and one in the spa. 

The contract was ambiguous on this point. The contract was divided into many different sections. The relevant ones were as follows: 

• A section reading “Lights(s)” [sic] with the handwritten notation “(2) L.E.D.”
• A section reading “Pool Light” with a handwritten notation that was illegible
• A section concerning the spa reading “Light 100 watt.” 

The court found that it was equally plausible that the contract here required three lights total, with the first general light section referring to two in the swimming pool and the spa section referring to one, or that the contract required two lights total, with the first general light section giving just the total of lights to be installed between the swimming pool and the spa. The illegibility of the “Pool Light” section made this question impossible to resolve without looking to extrinsic evidence. 

Horizon admitted that its salesman filled out the contract (including the illegible notation). Horizon also did not contest that its salesman told Sucarichi he needed to have two lights installed in his swimming pool. Sucarichi testified that he thought the contract provided for two lights in the swimming pool, based on the Horizon salesman’s recommendation, and one light in the spa, for three total. He wrote as much in a letter to Horizon prior to the beginning of the court case, when he was trying to get Horizon to add the second light. Therefore, the court thought there was sufficient proof that the parties had agreed to install a total of three lights, with two in the swimming pool and one in the spa. 

One of the lessons to take away: Make sure your contracts are legible! 

*gross overgeneralization based on me and my frequent intense confusion when I try to take care of our family swimming pool. My talents lie elsewhere!