Bank of New York Mellon v. Jaafar ( 2015 )

Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
July 2, 2015 Robert P. Young, Jr.,
Chief Justice
Stephen J. Markman
Mary Beth Kelly
150957 Brian K. Zahra
Bridget M. McCormack
David F. Viviano
Richard H. Bernstein,
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, f/k/a BANK Justices
OF NEW YORK, as Trustee for the Certificate
Holders of CWABS, INC., ASSET-BACKED
CERTIFICATES SERIES 2003-3,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v SC: 150957
COA: 316521
Wayne CC: 11-008424-CH
JAAFAR K. JAAFAR and BADIA JAAFAR,
Defendants-Appellees.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the December 23, 2014
judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(H)(1), in
lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
An offer “is the manifestation of willingness to enter into a bargain, so made as to
justify another person in understanding that his assent to that bargain is invited and will
conclude it.” See Eerdmans v Maki, 226 Mich App 360, 364 (1997). Here, and contrary
to the judgment of the Court of Appeals, the January 20, 2012 e-mail from plaintiff’s
counsel to defendants’ counsel did not constitute an offer to settle this case. Instead, this
e-mail inquired whether defendants would present an offer at some point in the future,
which they did, through a subsequent e-mail by their counsel. Defendants’ counsel
confirmed that this subsequent e-mail was an offer by later inquiring whether plaintiff
had accepted their offer. For these reasons, and for the reasons stated by the Court of
Appeals’ dissenting opinion, no enforceable settlement agreement existed to bind the
parties in this case. We REMAND this case to the Wayne Circuit Court for further
proceedings not inconsistent with this order.
We do not retain jurisdiction.
I, Larry S. Royster, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
July 2, 2015
s0630
Clerk