Joe Yates Builders, Inc. v. Tyson

• Decision Date: 26 February 1985
• Docket Number: No. 69433,69433
• Citation: 173 Ga.App. 548,327 S.E.2d 234
• Parties: JOE YATES BUILDERS, INC. v. TYSON et al.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 234

327 S.E.2d 234

173 Ga.App. 548

JOE YATES BUILDERS, INC. v. TYSON et al.

No. 69433.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Feb. 26, 1985.

David T. Emerson, Douglasville, for appellant.

Robert A. Kunz, Douglasville, Wallace C. Clayton, Austell, for appellees.

CARLEY, Judge.

Appellees Charles R. and Vickie Tyson contracted with appellant for the construction of a house. Certain materials which were used to build the house were supplied to appellant by Poole Hardware & Supply Company. Prior to the completion of the construction, Mr. and Mrs. Tyson terminated their contract with appellant, refused to pay appellant the full contract price, and finished the work themselves. Thereafter, the partners who were doing business as Poole Hardware & Supply Company (Poole) instituted the instant suit against appellant and the Tysons, seeking to collect a balance of $4801.81 due for materials which were used in the construction of the house. A materialman's claim of lien for that amount had previously been filed on the real property which was the Tysons' construction site. Appellant answered Poole's complaint and filed a cross-claim against Mr. and Mrs. Tyson for sums allegedly owed it for work done on the house. The Tysons answered Poole's complaint, but they did not file a cross-claim against appellant.

A consent judgment was entered against appellant in favor of Poole in the amount of $4801.81. The remaining claims proceeded to trial. A special verdict form to which the parties had given their prior consent was submitted to the jury. Utilizing that form, the jury found in favor of Poole against Mr. and Mrs. Tyson for a special lien against their property in the amount of $4801.81. Additionally, the jury found for appellant on the cross-claim against the Tysons, and awarded appellant $7318.77. No objection was made to the form of the verdict as returned by the jury. Judgment in rem was duly entered, foreclosing the lien in favor of Poole on the Tysons' property in the amount of $4801.81. A separate judgment in personam in the principal amount of $7318.77 was entered in favor of appellant against the Tysons.

Subsequently, an order denying the Tysons' motion for new trial was entered by the trial court. In addition to denying that motion, the order further stated "that there appear[ed] some duplication in the [previous two orders of judgment] and direct[ed] that amounts included in the lien of Poole Hardware [were] inclusive in the award to Joe Yates Builders, Inc. and that Joe Yates Builders, Inc. [was] barred from attempting to collect any portion of this judgment of $4801.81, [the] amount [of the] lien." Appellant appeals from that part of the order which bars it from attempting to collect a portion of its $7318.77 judgment against the Tysons.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in entering an order amending the jury's verdict in a matter of substance after the jury had dispersed. See OCGA § 9-12-7. As previously noted, the jury awarded a special lien in favor of Poole and monetary damages in favor of appellant. The entry of one judgment in rem against the Tysons' property and one judgment in personam against Mr. and Mrs. Tyson accurately reflected the verdict actually rendered. The subsequent order, which was characterized by the trial court as a "clarification," effectively reduced the amount of appellant's judgment by more than half. Thus, this order constituted an amendment of the jury's verdict in a matter of substance. See generally Parrish Bakeries of Ga. v. Wiseman Baking Co., 104 Ga.App. 573, 122 S.E.2d 260 (1961). The verdict rendered by the jury was not ambiguous and did not indicate any intent to reduce appellant's award by the amount of the lien which was awarded in favor of Poole, nor was any such intent apparent from the record...