Allstate Enterprises, Inc. (Allstate), initiated this action against Glenn Heriford (Heriford), Heritage Motors, Inc. (Heritage Motors) and Western Surety Co. (Western Surety) for default in payment of a loan Allstate made to Heriford to purchase a van which Heritage Motors subsequently sold. Western Surety, which had issued a bond to Heritage Motors, filed a third-party complaint against Joseph F. Ollivier and others, claiming Ollivier was liable as an indemnitor on the Western Surety bond. Allstate’s claim against Western Surety was settled. A trial was then held on Western Surety’s indemnification claim against Ollivier. The trial court entered judgment for Western Surety. On appeal, Ollivier seeks reversal of the judgment, claiming the indemnification contract should have terminated when he severed his business relations with Heritage Motors.
On December 7, 1978, Western Surety issued a motor vehicle dealer’s bond to Heritage Motors, as required by the Motor Vehicle Bond Act, Utah Code Ann.
Approximately four years after signing the bond application, Ollivier severed his business relationship with Heritage Motors. He did not, however, notify Western Surety of his severance with Heritage Motors nor of his intent to no longer act as an indemnitor. Two years after Ollivier left the business, Allstate brought this action against Heriford, Heritage Motors and Western Surety to recover the balance of its loan to Heriford. Western Surety settled with Allstate and then pursued its third-party complaint against Ollivier as in-demnitor. The trial court found Ollivier liable as an indemnitor on the bond.
Ollivier contends on appeal that the trial court erred in finding that the indemnity agreement was operative so long as the principal, Heritage Motors, paid annual premiums on the bond, and hence, Ollivier was liable as an indemnitor until he gave notice of his intent to revoke the agreement. He asserts that because the contract did not contain terms governing the duration of the agreement, the court should have construed the contract to terminate when he severed his business relationship with Heritage Motors. Ollivier also argues that the indemnity agreement should be construed against the drafter, Western Surety.
We first examine whether the trial court erred in concluding that Ollivier was liable as an indemnitor under the bond application agreement. Interpretation of a contract may either be a question of law, determined by the words of the agreement, or a question of fact, determined by extrinsic evidence of intent.
Kimball v. Campbell,
In this case, the contract does not contain any terms with respect to duration or methods for withdrawal by an indemnitor. The indemnity provisions of the bond application read in part as follows:
The undersigned applicant and indemni-tors hereby request Western Surety Company (the Company) to become surety for and furnish the above bond and such other bonds as may now or hereafter be required by or on behalf of the applicant ... in case [the Company] does act as surety [it] shall have the right to withdraw or cancel same whenever it shall see fit....
Courts imply two varieties of contract terms, implied-in-law and implied-in-fact terms.
Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hosp.,
In this case, the contract is silent as to its duration and no evidence was presented to demonstrate that a tacit promise existed between Western Surety and Ollivier as to the duration of the agreement. Therefore, we must determine if an implied-in-law term regarding the duration of the indemnity agreement can be applied.
While it is generally held that either party to an indemnity agreement may revoke it at will, it has been held by this Court that such revocation must be with notice to the other party which is clear and unequivocal. Further, it is fair and reasonable that the indemnitor can absolve himself from liability only after giving the surety reasonable time to secure release from its own liability.
Id. at 368 (footnotes omitted).
According to
Lanseair,
an indemnity agreement which is silent as to duration can only be revoked if notice to the other party is clear and unequivocal. In addition, the indemnitor can relieve himself from liability only after giving the surety reasonable time to secure a release from its own liability. Moreover, “[w]here courts have to choose between conflicting interpretations in the agreements under review, an interpretation which will bring about an equitable result will be preferred over a harsh or inequitable one.”
First Sec. Bank of Utah v. Maxwell,
Applying Lanseair to the facts of this case, we conclude that the indemnity agreement Ollivier entered into with Western Surety could be revoked at the will of either party but the revocation must include notice to the other party which is clear and unequivocal. In this case, Ollivier conceded that he did not notify Western Surety of his desire to no longer be bound as an indemnitor. In addition, there was no evidence suggesting Western Surety knew of Ollivier’s withdrawal from Heritage Motors nor his intent to no longer be an indemnitor. Therefore, in light of this implied-in-law term regarding the duration of the contract, we hold that Ollivier was bound by the agreement because he failed to revoke the agreement with timely notice to Western Surety which was clear and unequivocal.
Ollivier also contends that the agreement should be construed against the drafter of the agreement, Western Surety. If a contract is ambiguous, the court will construe it against the drafter only after concluding that extrinsic evidence does not reveal the intent of the parties and uncertainty remains.
Wilburn v. Interstate Elec.,
The decision of the trial court is affirmed.
DAVIDSON and ORME, JJ., concur.
