Jewell v. Seaboard Indus., Inc.
| Decision Date | 09 June 1995 |
| Citation | 667 So.2d 653 |
| Parties | 28 UCC Rep.Serv.2d 168 Thomas E. JEWELL v. SEABOARD INDUSTRIAL, INC., formerly d/b/a Sunshine Village Mobile Home Sales; and Southern Energy Homes, Inc. 1931369. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Appeal from Elmore Circuit Court, No. CV-93-005; John B. Bush, Judge.
John G. Smith of Schmitt & Harper, Tallahassee, for Thomas E. Jewell.
Harry Cole and John R. Bradwell of Hill, Hill, Carter, Franco, Cole & Black, P.C., Montgomery, for Seaboard Industrial, Inc.
John Martin Galese and Carey W. Spencer, Jr. of Galese and Moore, Birmingham, for Southern Energy Homes, Inc.
The plaintiff, Thomas Jewell, appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of Seaboard Industrial, Inc., which formerly did business under the name Sunshine Village Mobile Home Sales ("Sunshine Village"), a mobile home dealer; and from a partial summary judgment entered in favor of Southern Energy Homes, Inc. ("Southern Energy"), a mobile home manufacturer.
In October 1991, Jewell purchased from Sunshine Village a double-wide mobile home that had been manufactured by Southern Energy. While considering the purchase of a mobile home, Jewell had visited Sunshine Village's lot two or three times to look at its inventory of mobile homes.
On Jewell's first visit, he and his daughter met with Jimmy Hart, the manager at Sunshine Village. Jewell told Hart that he was interested in a double-wide mobile home. Jewell and his daughter walked through some of the double-wide mobile homes to see what they were like. Hart stated that he had a "new 1991 mobile home demo" that he was selling at a discount because the new models were coming in soon. This mobile home had a cardboard sign in the window that read "demo." The sale price of the home and the original price were listed on the cardboard sign. Jewell looked through the mobile home and then left Sunshine Village to visit other mobile home dealerships.
At some point thereafter, Jewell returned to Sunshine Village. He walked through the same mobile home and met again with Hart. Because the price was posted in the window of the home, they did not discuss the price. Hart indicated again that the home was a "new 1991 mobile home demo."
A few weeks later, Jewell returned again to Sunshine Village and met with Hart. Jewell told Hart that he was ready to purchase the mobile home, and they discussed the down payment and financing. During these discussions, Jewell brought to Hart's attention that there was a scratch on one of the bathtubs in the mobile home, that there were loose end caps on some of the counter tops, and that some molding was loose or broken. Hart informed Jewell about the one-year warranty provided by the manufacturer, Southern Energy. Hart told Jewell that after the mobile home was "set up," he could make a list of defects and that Hart would forward the list to Southern Energy for it to make the repairs in accordance with its warranty. Sunshine Village gave no warranty on the home.
Shortly after the home was set up, Jewell wrote, in his own handwriting, a list of 128 defects that he found in the home, and he took the list to Hart. An employee of Sunshine Village typed Jewell's list of defects and sent it by facsimile transmission to Southern Energy. It is apparent from the record that no repairs had been done as of early January 1992.
In January 1992, Jewell complained to the Better Business Bureau that Southern Energy had not repaired his mobile home. In February 1992, Jewell complained to the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission that Southern Energy had not repaired his mobile home. A representative from the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission inspected the mobile home and sent a copy of his findings to both Southern Energy and Sunshine Village. The report indicated that Sunshine Village's set-up of the mobile home had been properly performed. The report listed 54 defects in the mobile home, 53 of which the report indicated were the responsibility of Southern Energy. The remaining defect, a faulty furnace, was listed as the responsibility of Sunshine Village. Sunshine Village made arrangements to have the furnace repaired and wrote Southern Energy, in Jewell's behalf, asking that repairs be done to the mobile home.
In April 1992, a service representative of Southern Energy was sent to Jewell's mobile home. The service representative performed repairs on the mobile home for two to three days, repairing the defects that Jewell had listed. After the repairs were made, Jewell reported to Hart that five items had not been repaired. Hart wrote Southern Energy, requesting that the remaining five repairs be made.
That same month, Jewell noticed that an absence of water drains on his front porch had caused water to leak into the home. Jewell notified Sunshine Village, which, again, notified Southern Energy of the problem. As of November 1992, the leak had not been repaired. Hart tried unsuccessfully to remedy the leaking problem. After the unsuccessful attempt, Jackie Compton, the president of Sunshine Village, wrote Southern Energy a second time, requesting that the leak be repaired. Thereafter, Southern Energy made some efforts to repair the mobile home; however, no repairs were actually made, either because Southern Energy could not get in touch with Jewell or because the parties could not agree on a time for the repairs.
On January 6, 1993, Jewell sued Southern Energy and Sunshine Village, alleging breach of contract, breach of warranty, negligent and wanton repair, and fraud. The trial court entered a partial summary judgment for Southern Energy on the fraud claims and made that partial summary judgment final pursuant to Rule 54(b) Ala.R.Civ.P. 1 It entered a summary judgment in favor of Sunshine Village on all counts. Jewell appeals.
A summary judgment is proper and must be affirmed on appeal if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56, Ala.R.Civ.P.; Gray v. Liberty Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 623 So.2d 1156 (Ala.1993). We review a summary judgment by the "substantial evidence" rule. Under this rule, once the movant has made a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law, the nonmovant must rebut this showing by presenting "substantial evidence" creating a genuine issue of material fact. "Substantial evidence" has been defined as "evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870 (Ala.1989); Henson v. Celtic Life Ins. Co., 621 So.2d 1268 (Ala.1993); Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12(d). Also, reasonable doubts concerning the existence of a material fact must be resolved in favor of the nonmoving party. Henson; Hanners v. Balfour Guthrie, Inc., 564 So.2d 412 (Ala.1990).
Because this case involves multiple claims against multiple defendants, we consider each defendant and the claims against it separately.
Jewell asks this court to reverse the partial summary judgment entered in favor of Southern Energy on his various fraud claims; those claims alleged suppression, misrepresentation, and deceit.
To establish a cause of action for fraudulent misrepresentation, the plaintiff must show 1) that the defendant made a misrepresentation; 2) that that misrepresentation concerned a material existing fact; 3) that the plaintiff relied on the misrepresentation; and 4) that the reliance was to the plaintiff's detriment. Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-101; Crowder v. Memory Hill Gardens, Inc., 516 So.2d 602 (Ala.1987). Under § 6-5-101, "legal fraud" includes misrepresentations of material fact made "by mistake or innocently," as well as misrepresentations made "willfully to deceive, or recklessly without knowledge." Young v. Serra Volkswagen, Inc., 579 So.2d 1337 (Ala.1991).
In order to establish a cause of action for fraudulent suppression, the plaintiff must show 1) that the defendant had a duty to disclose material facts, 2) that the defendant concealed or failed to disclose those facts, 3) that the concealment or failure to disclose induced the plaintiff to act; and 4) that the defendant's action resulted in harm to the plaintiff. Interstate Truck Leasing, Inc. v. Bender, 608 So.2d 716 (Ala.1992). A duty to communicate can arise from a confidential relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, from the particular circumstances of the case, or from a request for information, but mere silence in the absence of a duty to disclose is not fraudulent. Dodd v. Nelda Stephenson Chevrolet, Inc., 626 So.2d 1288 (Ala.1993); Hardy v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama, 585 So.2d 29 (Ala.1991); King v. National Foundation Life Ins. Co., 541 So.2d 502 (Ala.1989); See, McGowan v. Chrysler Corp., 631 So.2d 842 (Ala.1993); Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-102.
A cause of action for deceit, under Ala.Code 1975 §§ 6-5-103 and -104, results from either a willful or a reckless misrepresentation or a suppression of material facts with an intent to mislead. Whitlow v. Bruno's, Inc., 567 So.2d 1235 (Ala.1990).
Jewell's fraud claims are based mainly on the premise that the home was not "new," because, he claims, it did not meet his "reasonable expectations." Jewell claims that Southern Energy either misrepresented that the home was a "new" home, when it was not, or failed to disclose that the home was not "new." He also claims that Southern Energy acted fraudulently in failing to repair the home. Southern Energy, relying on Hart's statement that the mobile home was a "new 1991 mobile home demo," claims that Jewell's various claims for fraud should be barred because Jewell was sold a demonstrator model and any statement that the home was "new" was therefore not a representation of a...
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