Daugherty v. MAGNOLIA ESTATES OF VICKSBURG

900 So. 2d 227, 2005 WL 767126
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 6, 2005
Docket39,587-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 900 So. 2d 227 (Daugherty v. MAGNOLIA ESTATES OF VICKSBURG) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daugherty v. MAGNOLIA ESTATES OF VICKSBURG, 900 So. 2d 227, 2005 WL 767126 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

900 So.2d 227 (2005)

Larry DAUGHERTY, Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
MAGNOLIA ESTATES OF VICKSBURG, INC., Fleetwood Homes of Mississippi, Inc. and Barrett's Mobile Home Service, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 39,587-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 6, 2005.
Rehearing Denied May 5, 2005.

Crawford & Anzelmo, by Jefferson B. Joyce, Monroe, for Appellant.

Corkern & Crews, L.L.C., by Steven D. Crews, Jason O. Methvin, Natchitoches, for Appellee, Magnolia Estates of Vicksburg.

Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson, by Glenn B. Adams, Thomas M. Hayes, IV, New Orleans, for Appellee, Fleetwood Homes of Mississippi, Inc.

Belton, Houck & Associates, by Tracy W. Houck, Ruston, for Appellee, Barrett's Mobile Home Service.

Before STEWART, GASKINS and CARAWAY, JJ.

*228 CARAWAY, J.

In this case, the plaintiff/purchaser of a manufactured home sued the manufacturer, the dealer and the installer of the home after cracks and damages occurred to the home. Following the initial setup and leveling of the home by the dealer through its subcontract with the installer, the house became unlevel soon after the plaintiff constructed a porch that attached to the home. Blaming the plaintiff's addition of the porch as a probable cause of the problems, the three defendants moved for summary judgments which the trial court granted, dismissing plaintiff's suit. Finding that the plaintiff made no showing of a likelihood of prevailing in his claims against the manufacturer and the installer, we affirm the summary judgments granted in their favor. Nevertheless, we find genuine issues of material fact concerning the alleged failure of the dealer to provide the plaintiff with information concerning the construction and attachment of the porch to manufactured homes in violation of the seller's warranty of fitness under the Civil Code. The summary judgment in favor of the dealer/seller is reversed.

Facts

The plaintiff, Larry Daugherty ("Daugherty") appeals the trial court's rendition of summary judgment in favor of all three defendants in connection with his purchase of a new manufactured home in February 2000. Daugherty bought the manufactured home from Magnolia Estates of Vicksburg, Inc. ("Magnolia"), a Mississippi dealer. The home was manufactured by Fleetwood Homes of Mississippi, Inc. ("Fleetwood") and cost approximately $52,000. Upon Daugherty purchasing the home, Magnolia contracted with Barrett's Mobile Home Service, represented by Jack N. Barrett (collectively "Barrett"), to deliver and install the home at a site selected by Daugherty in Eros, Louisiana. Daugherty had lived in an older mobile home on the same site for a number of years.

The home was delivered on March 8, 2000, and installed the next day by Barrett. Subsequently, Daugherty hired a third party, Ben Stone, to construct a porch spanning one side of the home. The porch's dimensions were approximately as long as the home and between 12 and 14 feet wide. The evidence indicates that Daugherty desired that the roof lines of the home and the porch be tied together and that some of the weight of the porch was supported by the home. Construction on the porch began about two weeks after delivery of the home and was completed on April 13, 2000.

Daugherty began having problems with the leveling of the home beginning in July, which caused the doors either to not close or jam. According to paragraph 6 of Daugherty's petition which was not directly contested by Magnolia, "[i]n the latter part of July, 2000, the doors of plaintiff's home would not close and/or remained jammed, and Mr. Daugherty contacted Magnolia concerning this problem. Representatives of Magnolia inspected the home and informed Mr. Daugherty the home needed to be re-leveled."

On August 4, Daugherty hired Butch Woolsey to re-level the home. Woolsey noted there were several loose blocks on each row, and "a significant gap between the blocks and the frame of the mobile home," so that the home was not properly resting on its supports. The problems persisted although not as severely, and Woolsey returned about a month later to re-level the home a second time on September 7, 2000. Daugherty contacted Magnolia about ten days after that to report continued problems with the home.

Daugherty's petition alleges that beginning in December, new problems involving cracks in the ceilings and walls manifested *229 themselves in addition to the problems with the doors. When he contacted Magnolia in mid-December, Magnolia agreed to dispatch their installer, Barrett, to re-level the home. In January, Barrett allegedly refused to work on the home until Daugherty detached the porch from the home. During January and February, 2001, a deputy state fire marshal inspected the installation of the home and discovered some problems. At some point, the porch construction was reconfigured removing any of its weight from attachment to the home and Barrett attempted to repair the home on March 24, 2001.

On April 30, 2001, Daugherty sued the manufacturer, dealer and installer for damages. The petition alleged the existence of manufacturing defects in the home, faulty installation and Magnolia's breach of the implied warranty of fitness under La. C.C. art. 2524. Magnolia asserted a cross claim against Fleetwood for indemnity if either redhibitory defects were discovered in the home or for breach of the manufactured home warranty provided in La. R.S. 51:911.25. Both Magnolia and Fleetwood maintained that whatever problems Daugherty experienced with the home were due to improper site selection or the after-purchase addition of the porch in contravention of the manufacturer's owner's manual. Thereafter, Daugherty amended his petition to allege that the home's defects existed at the time Fleetwood delivered the home to Magnolia.

Daugherty asserts that he never received the owner's manual upon his purchase of the home or when the home was delivered to the site for installation. Barrett testified in his deposition that a portion of the Fleetwood Home Installation Manual specifically recommended the choice of a freestanding porch design and the use of support rails. Barrett further testified that the porch in question was not attached in a freestanding manner as recommended by the manual.

All three defendants moved for summary judgment. Daugherty opposed the motions. After a hearing, the trial court rendered judgment dismissing Daugherty's claims. It is from this judgment that Daugherty appeals.

Discussion

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used to avoid a full-scale trial when there is no factual dispute. Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Arnold, 04-0042 (La.App. 1st Cir.12/17/04), 897 So.2d 705. Appellate courts review grants of summary judgment de novo, viewing the record and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-movant; in ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the judge's role is not either to evaluate the weight of the evidence or to determine the truth of the matter, but to determine instead whether there is a genuine issue of triable fact. Atkins v. Shilo Enterprises, Inc., 39,100 (La.App. 2d Cir.12/15/04), 889 So.2d 487; Williston v. Noland, 03-2590 (La. App. 1st Cir.10/29/04), 888 So.2d 950. A genuine issue is one on which reasonable persons could disagree; all doubts should be resolved in the non-moving party's favor. Id.

The burden of proof remains with the movant. La. C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2).

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900 So. 2d 227, 2005 WL 767126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daugherty-v-magnolia-estates-of-vicksburg-lactapp-2005.