Carter v. Cline

2011 Ark. 474, 385 S.W.3d 745, 2011 Ark. LEXIS 561
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 10, 2011
DocketNo. 10-870
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 2011 Ark. 474 (Carter v. Cline) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carter v. Cline, 2011 Ark. 474, 385 S.W.3d 745, 2011 Ark. LEXIS 561 (Ark. 2011).

Opinion

ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice.

|,Appellant M. Jay Carter, a financial advisor at Clayton, Biltmore & Shouse, LLC, appeals the order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court awarding appellees Ernie and Karen Cline money damages for the breach of a contract to purchase real estate and attorneys’ fees and costs. Appellant raises four points for reversal. We reverse on the basis that the circuit court erred in denying Carter’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

In 2006, Carter hired Robert “Casey” Jones, a real estate agent at The Janet Jones Company, Inc., to represent him in a real estate transaction with the Clines by which he intended to purchase residential property located at 8 Longfellow Place in Little Rock. The real estate contract was signed on June 11, 2006. It contained a provision setting the purchase price for the property at $1,037,500,1 “subject to Buyer’s ability to obtain financing.” The l2contract also included a handwritten provision under this same subsection that the buyer was required to “provide a letter of approval within 10 business days.”

On June 21, 2006, Pulaski Mortgage Company approved a loan for Carter to purchase the Longfellow property. The approval letter was conditioned upon, among other things, there being no material change in Carter’s financial condition that might adversely affect his current level of creditworthiness, credit score, debt, or income. Pursuant to this conditional approval, Carter was required to submit to Pulaski Mortgage prior to closing an employment certification certifying that his employment and income situation had not changed since his conditional approval. This approval letter from Pulaski Mortgage was submitted to The Janet Jones Company, Inc., within ten business days as required by the contract, and closing was set for September 22, 2006.

According to Carter and the documentation submitted to Pulaski Mortgage, Carter’s income began declining in July 2006. On September 8, 2006, Carter orally informed Pulaski Mortgage of his decline in income, and the company requested that Carter provide it with a year-to-date profit-and-loss statement and balance sheet. Carter also contacted Casey Jones on September 8, 2006, and told him that he had a decline in his third-quarter income and that he had informed Pulaski Mortgage of his current financial situation. On September 11, 2006, Carter submitted to Pulaski Mortgage his compensation comparison; a balance sheet for Clayton, Biltmore & Shouse, LLC, as of September 10, 2006; and an income statement for Clayton, Bilt-more & Shouse, LLC, from January 1, 2006, to September 10, 2006.

|3On September 11, 2006, Pulaski Mortgage sent a notice of adverse action to Carter advising him that his “recent application for an extension or renewal of credit has been denied.” The company informed him that “the decision to deny your application was based on the following reasons: ... Excessive obligations ... Insufficient income ... Additional] current income information furnished by applicant.” On September 11, 2006, Shannon Treece, an independent contractor at The Janet Jones Company and the Clines’ agent, was informed by Casey Jones that Carter would not be able to close the real estate transaction on the Longfellow property because he had lost his financing approval from Pulaski Mortgage. She then informed the Clines that Carter would be unable to close on their property.

On September 18, 2006, the Clines sued Carter for breach of contract. On April 24, 2007, Carter moved for summary judgment alleging that he was excused from performance under the contract based on the language “subject to Buyer’s ability to obtain financing,” which was a condition precedent. The circuit court denied Carter’s motion for summary judgment. On March 19, 2008, Carter filed a third-party complaint against Casey Jones and The Janet Jones Company, Inc. (the Jones Defendants), for negligence. On September 16, 2008, upon Carter’s motion, the circuit court consolidated the two lawsuits for trial. Carter moved a second time for summary judgment on October 7, 2008, and argued that no contract was formed because there was no meeting of the minds. The circuit court again denied his motion.

The jury trial on the consolidated lawsuits commenced on August 17, 2009. At the close of the Clines’ case-in-chief, Carter moved for a directed verdict on the grounds that 14there was no meeting of the minds regarding the contract. Carter also requested that the arguments raised in his motion for summary judgment be incorporated into his motion for a directed verdict. The circuit court denied Carter’s motion. Carter next renewed his directed-verdict motion at the close of all of the evidence and argued, in addition to the argument raised in the previous directed-verdict motion, that the Clines had failed to prove that the fair market value at the time of the breach was $940,000. The circuit court again denied Carter’s motion. The jury returned a verdict against Carter and in favor of the Clines on the Clines’ breach-of-contract claim and awarded the Clines $42,500 as damages for the breach. The jury also returned a verdict against the Jones Defendants and in favor of Carter on Carter’s negligence claims and awarded Carter $30,000 as damages. The circuit court entered an order dated August 31, 2009, in favor of the Clines in the amount of $42,500.

On September 14, 2009, Carter filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The same day, the Clines filed a motion for fees, costs, and prejudgment interest. On October 19, 2009, the circuit court entered an order denying Carter’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. In that order, the court also granted the Clines’ motion for fees and costs and awarded them $85,266. The court denied the Clines’ motion for prejudgment interest. On December 1, 2009, the Jones Defendants moved for reconsideration and for a new • trial, which the circuit court granted on December 28, 2009. In its order, the circuit court explained that it was granting a new trial as between Carter and the Jones Defendants and that the new trial would be limited to deciding the liability of the Jones Defendants to Carter for the liquidated damages established in the first trial.

|sOn February 26, 2010, the Clines filed a Motion for Rule 54(b) Certification. On April 28, 2010, the circuit court entered a final judgment in favor of the Clines in the amount of $127,766 (representing the $42,500 damage award awarded by the jury and the $85,266 for attorneys’ fees and costs awarded by the circuit court). In that order, the circuit court certified that there was no just reason for the delay of the entry of a final judgment in favor of the Clines.

I. Rule 5U(b) Certification

Carter asserts as his first point on appeal that the circuit judge erred in granting certification under Arkansas Civil Procedure Rule 54(b). We disagree.

Ordinarily, an appeal is to be taken from a final judgment or decree entered by the circuit court. See Ark. R.App. P.-Civ. 2(a)(1). Rule 54(b) deals with the finality of orders in connection with judgments upon multiple claims or involving multiple parties. See Hanners v. Giant Oil Co. of Ark, 369 Ark. 226, 253 S.W.3d 424 (2007). It provides in pertinent part:

(1) Certification of Final Judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
2011 Ark. 474, 385 S.W.3d 745, 2011 Ark. LEXIS 561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carter-v-cline-ark-2011.