Dooley v. Berkner
| Decision Date | 25 January 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 1,No. 41665,41665,1 |
| Parties | W. D. DOOLEY v. Prentice BERKNER |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
A seller-builder of a residence who conveyed the property by deed to the plaintiff after the completion of the building is not liable to the purchaser for the negligent construction of the building alleged to have been caused solely by the negligence of the seller or his employees.
W. D. Dooley sued Prentice Berkner to recover compensatory and punitive damages by reason of the negligence of the defendant or his employees in constructing a house which defendant subsequently sold to plaintiff. The actual damages sought were for repairs to part of the roof and subflooring of the house. The court sustained the general demurrer to the petition from which judgment the plaintiff appeals.
Shi & Raley, Trammell F. Shi, J. Jerome Strickland, Macon, for appellant.
J. Douglas Carlisle, Warren H. Oliver, Macon, for appellee.
At common law the rule of caveat emptor applied strictly to a purchaser of real property. Walton v. Petty, 107 Ga.App. 753, 131 S.E.2d 655; Whiten v. Orr Construction Co., Inc., 109 Ga.App. 267, 136 S.E.2d 136; Morgan Construction Co. v. Kitchings, 110 Ga.App. 599, 139 S.E.2d 417; 8 A.L.R.2d 218; Law of Torts, Prosser 3rd Ed., Ch. 11, § 62 Vendor & Vendee, p. 408; Thompson on Real Property, Vol. 8A, § 4470, pp. 393-397. Implicit in the rule that there is no implied warranty in a conveyance of realty is the further principle that the vendee accepts the property as it is and assumes full responsibility for defects, etc., with the exception stated in the Georgia cases above that recovery may be had for the fraudulent concealment of known defects. This legal consequence excludes the tort liability based on the doctrine of products liability as initiated by MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co., 217 N.Y. 382, 111 N.E. 1050, L.R.A.1916F, 696. We are foreclosed from an abandonment of the common law rule of caveat emptor in cases of realty sales because the common law of force prior to May 14, 1776, is of force in this state except where modified by statute or not adjusted to our circumstances. Harris v. Powers, 129 Ga. 74(2), 58 S.E. 1038, 12 Ann.Cas. 475; Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Wilson, 123 Ga. 62, 67, 51 S.E. 24, 3 Ann.Cas. 128; Annotations, Code Ann. § 2-8003, Const. art. XII, § I, par. III; Cobb's Digest, 1851, p. 721. To hold...
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Holmes v. Worthey
...of a house, the doctrine of caveat emptor applies and therefore there can be no action for negligence. See for instance Dooley v. Berkner, 113 Ga.App. 162, 147 S.E.2d 685. Some Georgia cases have mixed the principles of merger and caveat emptor to defeat a home buyer's action based on defec......
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Garrett v. Panacon Corp.
...of Georgia v. Kuniansky, 125 Ga.App. 537, 538, 188 S.E.2d 278. The rule as to seller-builders is 'caveat emptor.' Dooley v. Berkner, 113 Ga.App. 162, 147 S.E.2d 685; see Welding Products of Georgia v. S. D. Mullins Co. Inc., 127 Ga.App. 474, 193 S.E.2d We find no case in which, for example,......
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Russell v. Cynwid Investments
...concealment of known defects. Morgan Construction Company v. Kitchings, 110 Ga.App. 599, 139 S.E.2d 417 (1964); Dooley v. Berkner, 113 Ga.App. 162, 147 S.E.2d 685 (1966); Welding Products of Georgia v. Kuniansky, 125 Ga.App. 537, 538, 188 S.E.2d 278 (1972). See Garrett v. Panacon Corp., 130......
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Welding Products of Ga. v. Kuniansky, 46874
...completion is not liable to the purchaser thereof for property damages allegedly resulting from negligent construction. Dooley v. Berkner, 113 Ga.App. 162, 147 S.E.2d 685. Cf. Amos v. McDonald, 123 Ga.App. 509, 181 S.E.2d 515; Reynolds v. Wilson, 121 Ga.App. 153, 173 S.E.2d 256. Where, as h......