42 East, LLC v. D.R. Horton, Inc.

722 S.E.2d 1, 218 N.C. App. 503, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 201
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 7, 2012
DocketNo. COA10-1570
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 722 S.E.2d 1 (42 East, LLC v. D.R. Horton, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
42 East, LLC v. D.R. Horton, Inc., 722 S.E.2d 1, 218 N.C. App. 503, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 201 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

GEER, Judge.

Defendant D.R. Horton, Inc. (“Horton”) appeals from the Order and Rule 52(a) Judgment entered against Horton and in favor of plaintiff 42 East, LLC (“42 East”) after a bench trial. Because (1) the order did not resolve all the issues necessary to determine Horton’s liability, (2) the findings of fact were made under a misapprehension of the law, and (3) some of the findings are not supported by the evidence, we vacate and remand for further findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Facts

Horton is the nation’s largest homebuilder. This case arises out of a Lot Purchase Agreement (“the Agreement”) entered into by 42 East and Horton on 19 May 2006 that anticipated Horton would purchase 273 fully developed residential lots owned by 42 East for a total price of $10,828,300.00. The initial Agreement provided for five successive closings with Horton purchasing at each closing an approximately equal number of lots.

Within five business days of the effective date of the Agreement, the parties executed an escrow agreement pursuant to which Horton deposited, as earnest money, a letter of credit with the escrow agent in the amount of $400,000.00 naming 42 East as the beneficiary. The Agreement provided that in the event Horton defaulted in the performance of any of its obligations under the Agreement, then 42 East’s “sole and exclusive remedy” would be to receive payment of the letter of credit as liquidated damages.

Horton’s obligation to close on the purchase of the lots was contingent on certain specified conditions, including the following contained in Section 5(b) of the Agreement:

5. Contingencies.
b. Conditions to Buyer's Obligation to Close. Buyer's obligation to close on the purchase of Lots under this Agreement is contingent upon satisfaction of all of the following conditions (collectively, the “Conditions to Closing”)[:] ... (6) Seller shall deliver good and marketable title to the Property to Buyer and the Title Company shall be unconditionally prepared to issue a standard ALTA owner’s form title insurance policy insuring good and marketable fee simple title to the Property with a lia[505]*505bility limit in the amount of the Purchase Price at standard premium rates ....

“Good and marketable title” was defined by Section 8 of the Agreement as “title that is insurable by the title insurance company designated by [Horton] . . . under a standard ALTA owner’s form at standard rates, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and other exceptions to title and rights of others . . . . “ Section 8 of the Agreement further provided that 42 East would have until closing to cure all title objections, at their sole cost.

Section 9 of the Agreement allowed for a 60-day inspection period during which Horton’s agents, consultants, and contractors could enter upon and inspect the property and conduct any tests and studies that Horton deemed necessary or appropriate. Section 9 further specified that “[t]he results of all inspections, tests, examinations and studies of the Property performed during the Inspection Period and the Covenants, Site Plan, Subdivision Plans, Grading Plan, Drainage Plan, and the plans and design for the Private Sewer System must be suitable to [Horton], in its sole discretion.” If, on or before the end of the 60-day period, Horton did not deliver a written “Notice of Suitability,” then the Agreement would “automatically terminate on that date.”

Originally, the Agreement provided that the first closing would occur between 1 November 2006 and 31 December 2006. The parties, however, entered into a First Amendment to the Agreement on 25 August 2006 delaying the initial closing date due to water and sewer issues unrelated to the current dispute.

In addition, by mutual agreement, the parties extended the inspection period to 9 October 2006. On 2 October 2006, Chris Crowson, the attorney doing the title work on the property for Horton, notified 42 East of Horton’s objections regarding the title of the property. Mr. Crowson had particular concern about certain issues because he perceived that they would be difficult to resolve. Those issues included an easement identified as the “18’ Cart Path Easement”; a pathway called the “Needham Path” crossing over a 186.14 acre tract that makes up a portion of the property; and assignments of leases and rents to Four Oaks Bank & Trust Co. that were never cancelled.

Horton sought title insurance for the property from Investors Title Insurance Company. Investors Title prepared a commitment letter to Horton in September 2006 advising defendant of the terms of [506]*506the title insurance policy, including the exceptions it would make to its coverage — in other words, items for which Investors Title would not be obligated to provide coverage if any claim were made on those exceptions.

Although Horton’s normal practice was to deal with significant title issues during the inspection period, Horton, on the advice of Mr. Crowson, decided to propose a Second Amendment to the Agreement rather than just further extending the inspection period. The Second Amendment, executed 6 October 2006, not only moved the inspection period expiration date to 23 October 2006, but also added a section 40 to the Agreement that Horton believed would be its “best remedy” and would give the company the “protection” it needed regarding the title issues.

Section 40 provided:
40. Additional Contingency. Buyer’s obligation to close on the purchase of Lots under this Agreement is contingent upon Buyer’s receipt from Seller of evidence in a form acceptable to Buyer that all of the objections to title to the Property listed in Exhibit H attached hereto and incorporated herein have been cured or removed (“the Additional Contingency”). Should this Additional Contingency not be satisfied or waived in writing by Buyer prior to each Closing, then Buyer, at its option, may terminate this Agreement by giving written Notice to Seller, in which event, all of the Earnest Money on deposit with Escrow Agent shall be immediately refunded to Buyer.

In turn, Exhibit H listed in substantially similar form the objections set forth in Mr. Crowson’s 2 October 2006 letter. On 12 October 2006, Horton issued a “Notice of Suitability” for the property in which it stated that the property was suitable for purchase.

In addition to the title issues, various other factors unrelated to Horton’s activities at the site — such as the sewer system, roadway design, and grading — were causing delays on the project. On 23 May 2007, Horton’s on-site manager at the time, Scott Morrison, sent an email to Mr. Crowson discussing a new “take down” schedule for purchase of the lots on the project. The parties amended the Agreement for a third time on 18 September 2007. That amendment doubled the number of closings from five to ten and substantially reduced the number of lots to be closed at each closing, reducing Horton’s purchase price at the initial closing by $1,000,000.00. The Third Amendment also set a new initial closing date of 28 November 2007.

[507]*507Shortly after the execution of the Third Amendment, the parties began discussing a fourth amendment to the Agreement in light of the deteriorating real estate market. In fact, Horton ultimately lost $700,000,000.00 for fiscal year ending 31 December 2007.

On 5 December 2007, Mr. Morrison sent the terms of a proposed Fourth Amendment to Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
722 S.E.2d 1, 218 N.C. App. 503, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/42-east-llc-v-dr-horton-inc-ncctapp-2012.