RAYMOND D LOFGREN V LINDA CARLSON
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
RAYMOND D. LOFGREN and TRUDY A.
LOFGREN,
UNPUBLISHED
October 30, 2001
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
No. 224461
Cheboygan Circuit Court
LC No. 96-005807-CH
v
LINDA CARLSON, BARRY CARLSON, and
MARIELLEN LANDRY,
Cross-Defendants-Appellees,
and
TIMOTHY J. ENGLISH, THERESA ENGLISH,
and CHESTER G. KELLY,
Defendants-Cross-PlaintiffsAppellees,
and
ROBERT J. BUTTS, P.C.,
Third-Party Defendant.
Before: Doctoroff, P.J., and Wilder and Chad C. Schmucker*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right the judgment of no cause of action entered after a bench trial.
We affirm. This appeal is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
Betty Carlson was the owner of three parcels of land in Cheboygan County. She entered
into a lease agreement with a corporation owned by plaintiffs, allowing it to construct and
maintain a sign on the property. Carlson subsequently granted plaintiffs a right of first refusal to
purchase the property. Betty Carlson deeded the properties to her children, retaining a life estate.
She died prior to the expiration of the lease. The heirs extended the lease on an annual basis, and
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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subsequently sold the property. Plaintiffs brought this action seeking to enforce the option. The
trial court found that the length of the lease was a reasonable time for the right of first refusal to
extend, and found no cause of action.
In Michigan, first refusal agreements, like option agreements, must be for a definite
period of time. Brauer v Hobbs, 151 Mich App 769, 777; 391 NW2d 482 (1986). The absence
of a specific time limit will not render the agreement void. Rather, courts will construe the
agreement to be for a reasonable time. Id. In Brauer, the Court stated that it would have
remanded the matter to the trial court for a determination of a reasonable time, but a remand was
unnecessary because the right terminated upon the grantor’s death. The agreement required an
act of personal volition by the grantor within her lifetime. The option is limited to the life of the
grantor, unless there is clear evidence of a contrary intent. Id., 779.
The trial court did not err in entering a judgment of no cause of action. Even if the right
survived the death of Betty Carlson, plaintiffs have not shown that the trial court erred in finding
that a reasonable time to imply for the length of the agreement is the duration of the lease.
Glockstein v Malleck, 372 Mich 115, 119; 125 NW2d 298 (1963).
Affirmed.
/s/ Martin M. Doctoroff
/s/ Kurtis T. Wilder
/s/ Chad C. Schmucker
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