Aegler v. Gambrell

61 So. 3d 238, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 244, 2011 WL 1549234
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided April 26, 2011·No. No. 2010-CA-00215-COA·Published

Opinion

MAXWELL, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal hinges on what “furnishings” transferred to Stuart and Jean Ae-gler when they purchased Francis Gam-brell’s house. The chancellor granted summary judgment in favor of Gambrell and awarded her possession of a list of items the Aeglers had refused to allow her to remove from the home after closing. Finding the addendum to the sales contract is clear that the claimed items were not included in the purchase of Gambrell’s home, we affirm the chancellor’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Gambrell.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Gambrell and the Aeglers were next door neighbors until separate emergencies drove Gambrell out of her home and the Aeglers into Gambrell’s. In April 2007, Gambrell’s children discovered she was in need of immediate medical care. They removed her from her home in Diamond-head, Mississippi, first to a hospital, then permanently to her daughter’s home in Indiana. All her belongings remained in Diamondhead. On June 1, 2007, Gambrell gave her son Michael power of attorney to sell her home. Michael hired a real estate agent and filled out a property disclosure statement, which disclosed a previous termite infestation.

¶ 3. On June 14, 2007, lightning struck the Aeglers’ house, sparking a fire that consumed the house and everything in it. Homeless and with little amenities, the Aeglers asked Michael if they could move into his mother’s furnished house.

¶ 4. Michael agreed but informed them his mother was trying to sell the house. On June 27, a week and a half after moving in, the Aeglers made an offer on the house. After two days and two counter offers, on June 29, Michael and the Ae-glers agreed on a purchase price of $310,000. The contract they entered stated the Aeglers were purchasing “7616 Fairway DR, Diamondhead, MS together with the following items: appliances as in place at time of offer [and] all items permanently attached, unless specifically excluded herein.” The contract included the following addendum, drafted by Gambrell’s realtor: “Seller reserves right to remove certain articles prior to closure and all other remaining furnishings are to remain with the house.”

¶ 5. The sale was to close on September 1, 2007. Realizing his mother’s health would prevent her from returning to Mississippi to retrieve her property before closing, Michael called Stuart, who assured [241] Michael that Gambrell could come get her things after closing.

¶ 6. The house closed without the Ae-glers having an inspection. Several months later, Gambrell’s daughter called the Aeglers to arrange a time for movers to come and remove Gambrell’s property. The Aeglers said they would ship Gambrell her jewelry, photographs, golf trophies, and personal items belonging to her late husband. But they informed her daughter they now owned everything in the house.' Further, the Aeglers could not send Gam-brell’s clothes because they had already been donated to a local charity.

¶ 7. A dispute erupted over which “furnishings” belonged to whom. The Aeglers argued the main reason they bought the home is because it came furnished. They also expressed dissatisfaction with their newly purchased home. In particular, they were upset the termite damage had not been repaired and that Gambrell had not given them, as Michael indicated she would, her insurance proceeds to repair the smoke damage caused by the Aeglers’ house fire. The Aeglers said they would return all the personal property-along with the house — if Gambrell agreed to rescind the June 2007 contract. If not, she would not get a single item of personal property.

¶ 8. In November 2007, Gambrell sued the Aeglers for breach of contract, asking the chancery court to enforce her right to retrieve certain personal property, a list of which she attached to her complaint. The list included clothing, jewelry, photographs, golf trophies, wall plaques, Christmas decorations, dishes, throw pillows and blankets, small appliances, pieces of furniture, and a golf cart.

¶ 9. The Aeglers denied they had breached the contract and filed a counterclaim. They asked the chancery court to rescind the contract claiming that buying Gambrell’s furnishings was a key reason they purchased the home for $310,000. The Aeglers also asked for the costs associated with buying and maintaining Gambrell’s home (closing costs, taxes, and insurance), $5,000 for needed termite-damage repair, and any insurance proceeds Gambrell received for damage from the June 2007 fire next door.

¶ 10. Gambrell moved for summary judgment in her favor on all claims and counterclaims. Because the material facts were undisputed and because this case hinged on a legal question — the interpretation of the addendum to the contract — she argued summary judgment was appropriate.

¶ 11. The chancellor agreed and granted summary judgment on Gambrell’s request for the listed items of personal property1 and dismissed the Aeglers’ counterclaims. The chancellor found there was no dispute the parties agreed Gambrell could remove her property after the closing. She also found the addendum’s language, in particular “remaining furnishings,” was unambiguous. The Ae-glers had argued “remaining furnishings” encompassed all the furnishings Gambrell had left in the house. But the chancellor found the only logical reading of the addendum is that it allowed Gambrell to remove some of the furnishings. Further, as a matter of common sense, the chancellor reasoned “furnishings” could not include some items the Aeglers had claimed they now owned, like Gambrell’s golf cart.

¶ 12. The Aeglers filed a motion to reconsider, arguing the chancellor failed to [242] apply the dictionary definition of “furnishings.” They also asked the chancellor to clarify the basis for dismissing their counterclaim. The chancellor denied the Ae-glers’ motion to reconsider and explained their counterclaim failed because service was defective.

¶ 13. The Aeglers timely appealed.

LAW

¶ 14. We conduct a de novo review of a trial court’s grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment. Lewallen v. Slawson, 822 So.2d 236, 237 (¶ 6) (Miss.2002) (citation omitted). Summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” M.R.C.P. 56(c).

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Aegler v. Gambrell, 61 So. 3d 238, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 244, 2011 WL 1549234 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

61 So. 3d 238 (Aegler v. Gambrell) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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