Stoneledge at Lake Keowee Owners' Ass'n v. IMK Dev. Co.

• Decision Date: 08 December 2021
• Docket Number: 28070,Appellate Case 2019-000041
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of South Carolina
• Parties: Stoneledge at Lake Keowee Owners' Association, Inc.; C. Dan Carson; Jeffrey J. Dauler; Joan W. Davenport; Michael Furnari; Donna Furnari; Jessy B. Grasso; Nancy E. Grasso; Robert P. Hayes; Lucy H. Hayes; Ty Hix; Jennifer D. Hix; Paul W. Hund, III; Ruth E. Isaac; Michael D. Plourde; Mary Lou Plourde; Carol C. Pope; Steven B. Taylor; Bette J. Taylor; and Robert White, Individually and on Behalf of all others similarly situated, Petitioners-Respondents, v. IMK Development Co., LLC; Larry D. Lollis; William Cox; Integrys Keowee Development, LLC; Marick Home Builders, LLC; Bostic Brothers Construction, Inc.; and Rick Thoennes, Defendants, Of Which Bostic Brothers Construction, Inc. is the Respondent-Petitioner.

Stoneledge at Lake Keowee Owners' Association, Inc.; C. Dan Carson; Jeffrey J. Dauler; Joan W. Davenport; Michael Furnari; Donna Furnari; Jessy B. Grasso; Nancy E. Grasso; Robert P. Hayes; Lucy H. Hayes; Ty Hix; Jennifer D. Hix; Paul W. Hund, III; Ruth E. Isaac; Michael D. Plourde; Mary Lou Plourde; Carol C. Pope; Steven B. Taylor; Bette J. Taylor; and Robert White, Individually and on Behalf of all others similarly situated, Petitioners-Respondents,
v.
IMK Development Co., LLC; Larry D. Lollis; William Cox; Integrys Keowee Development, LLC; Marick Home Builders, LLC; Bostic Brothers Construction, Inc.; and Rick Thoennes, Defendants,

Of Which Bostic Brothers Construction, Inc. is the Respondent-Petitioner.

No. 28070

Appellate Case No. 2019-000041

Supreme Court of South Carolina

December 8, 2021

Heard October 14, 2020

Appeal from Oconee County Alexander S. Macaulay, Circuit Court Judge

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

1

Robert T. Lyles Jr. and Lee Anne Walters, both of Lyles & Associates, LLC, of Charleston, for Petitioners-Respondents.

Alan R. Belcher Jr. and Elizabeth F. Wieters, both of Hall Booth Smith, P.C., of Mt. Pleasant, and Paul Trainor, of Hall Booth Smith, P.C., of Atlanta, GA, for Respondent-Petitioner.

JAMES, JUSTICE

This appeal arises from a construction defect lawsuit involving waterfront townhomes on Lake Keowee in Oconee County. After a two-week trial, Petitioners-Respondents Stoneledge at Lake Keowee Owners' Association, Inc. (the HOA) received plaintiff's verdicts against several defendants, including Respondent-Petitioner Bostic Brothers Construction, Inc. (Bostic). Bostic and other defendants appealed, and in a pair of published opinions, the court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part. Stoneledge at Lake Keowee Owners' Ass'n, Inc. v. IMK Dev. Co., LLC, 425 S.C. 276, 821 S.E.2d 509 (Ct. App. 2018) (hereinafter Stoneledge I); Stoneledge at Lake Keowee Owners' Ass'n, Inc. v. IMK Dev. Co., LLC, 425 S.C. 268, 821 S.E.2d 504 (Ct. App. 2018) (hereinafter Stoneledge II).

We granted several writs of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decisions. In this opinion, we review the court of appeals' opinion in Stoneledge II, which addressed Bostic's argument that the trial court erred in denying Bostic's motion for a directed verdict based on the statute of limitations. We respectfully disagree with Bostic and affirm the court of appeals on this issue. We are aware of the public policy...