Holman v. Howard Wilson Chrysler Jeep, Inc.

972 So. 2d 564, 2008 Miss. LEXIS 28, 2008 WL 95774
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 10, 2008
Docket2005-CT-01154-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 972 So. 2d 564 (Holman v. Howard Wilson Chrysler Jeep, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holman v. Howard Wilson Chrysler Jeep, Inc., 972 So. 2d 564, 2008 Miss. LEXIS 28, 2008 WL 95774 (Mich. 2008).

Opinion

972 So.2d 564 (2008)

Coye A. HOLMAN and Ted Holman
v.
HOWARD WILSON CHRYSLER JEEP, INC.

No. 2005-CT-01154-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

January 10, 2008.

*566 Mark W. Prewitt, Vicksburg, attorney for appellants.

Jeffrey P. Hubbard, Jackson, Susan D. McNamara, attorneys for appellee.

EN BANC.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

WALLER, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. The motion for rehearing is denied. The original opinion is withdrawn and this opinion substituted therefor.

¶ 2. Coye and Ted Holman filed suit against Howard Wilson Chrysler Jeep, Inc., in the Circuit Court of Rankin County, Mississippi, seeking actual and punitive damages for claims related to their purchase of a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. They made six claims in their original complaint, alleging Howard Wilson: negligently failed to notify them the vehicle they purchased had previously been damaged in an automobile accident; concealed or misrepresented the fact the vehicle had sustained damage; and committed fraud. Howard Wilson answered and, after discovery, filed a motion for summary judgment. At the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the Holmans expressed their desire to amend their complaint to add a claim that Howard Wilson violated Mississippi's Consumer Protection Act when selling them the Jeep. Miss.Code Ann. §§ 75-24-1 through XX-XX-XXX (Rev. 2000). The circuit court considered the merits of this proposed amendment when hearing the motion for summary judgment, and decided that the additional claim would not change its ruling even if the amendment were granted. The circuit court then allowed the Holmans to amend their complaint, and shortly thereafter entered its order granting summary judgment in favor of Howard Wilson on all claims.[1]

*567 ¶ 3. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the circuit court in a 9-0 opinion. Holman v. Howard Wilson Chrysler Jeep, Inc., 972 So.2d 645, 2006 WL 3290633, 2005-CA-01154-COA (Miss. Ct.App. November 14, 2006). The Holmans filed a petition for writ of certiorari, which this court granted. We find genuine issues of material fact exist concerning whether Howard Wilson was under a duty to disclose the repaired damage to the Holmans' vehicle prior to purchase, whether the language of the purchase contract is sufficient to place the Holmans on notice of the damage to the vehicle from the prior accident, and whether Howard Wilson violated the Consumer Protection Act when selling the Jeep to the Holmans. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals which affirmed the judgment of the circuit court, and remand this matter for further proceedings.

FACTS

¶ 4. The Holmans purchased a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee from Howard Wilson on July 30, 2002. The purchase price of the Holmans' vehicle was listed on the purchase contract as $33,685.[2] The Jeep was a demonstrator vehicle and had been driven 8,821 miles when purchased. Within the purchase contract was a clause which states, in full:

4. The Vehicle may have suffered damages and may have had repairs performed on it during prior ownership or usage, during transit or while in the control or possession of Howard Wilson. It is acknowledged that the Vehicle has been inspected in accordance with the law, and that it has been test driven and fully inspected by offeror(s) and all others requested or desired by offeror(s) to do so. The Vehicle is fully acceptable to offeror(s) in its present condition. Howard Wilson has no obligation to furnish any loaner car to offeror(s) or to provide any other substituted transportation to offeror(s) for any reason.

¶ 5. On October 2, 2003, the Holmans' insurance agent informed them that the Jeep was involved in an automobile accident prior to their purchase of it.[3] The Holmans contacted Howard Wilson and confirmed that the vehicle had been in a wreck and was repaired prior to their purchase. The repair bill indicated that several automotive parts were replaced or repaired, including the condenser, deflector, cross-members and brackets, freon *568 and coolant, and the front bumper. The bill for the repairs totaled $2,190.38.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. We apply a de novo standard of review to a trial court's grant of summary judgment. Moss v. Batesville Casket Co., 935 So.2d 393, 398 (Miss.2006). "The moving party has the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of material fact exists, and the non-moving party must be given the benefit of the doubt concerning the existence of a material fact." Howard v. City of Biloxi, 943 So.2d 751, 754 (Miss.Ct.App.2006) (citing City of Jackson v. Sutton, 797 So.2d 977, 979 (Miss.2001)). If any triable issues of material fact exist, this Court will reverse the trial court's decision to grant summary judgment. Price v. Purdue Pharma Co., 920 So.2d 479, 483 (Miss.2006).

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO THE HOLMANS' CLAIMS OF NEGLIGENCE, MISREPRESENTATION AND FRAUD.

¶ 7. Howard Wilson made three arguments in its motion for summary judgment: (1) It owed the Holmans no duty to disclose the damage to them due to Regulation One of the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Commission; (2) it had, in fact, disclosed the possibility of damage to them within the terms of the purchase contract; and (3) the Holmans suffered no damages due to the failure to disclose. It reiterates these arguments on appeal. The Holmans argue that the Consumer Protection Act and Regulation One of the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Commission are in direct conflict, and the regulation must give way. Miss.Code Ann. §§ 75-24-1 through XX-XX-XXX (Rev.2000); 50-014 Miss.Code R. § 003-2 (2005).[4] They claim a genuine issue of material fact remains to be tried: Whether Howard Wilson sold the Jeep demonstrator vehicle to them as new.

¶ 8. The Court of Appeals agreed Regulation One "did not require [Howard Wilson] to disclose any damage." Holman, 972 So.2d at 647, 2005-CA-01154-COA at ¶ 7. It also concluded that the disclosure recited above "fulfilled [Howard Wilson's] duty [to disclose] had there been one." Id. at ¶ 12. Finally, the Court of Appeals found the Holmans "failed to show any connection with the prior damage to the damages they allegedly suffered." Id.

¶ 9. The duty to disclose is based upon a theory of fraud that recognizes that the failure of a party to a business transaction to speak may amount to the suppression of a material fact which should have been disclosed and is, in effect, fraud. Welsh v. Mounger, 883 So.2d 46, 49 (Miss. 2004) (discussing Guastella v. Wardell, 198 So.2d 227 (Miss.1967)). According to the Restatement (2d) of Torts:

(2) One party to a business transaction is under a duty to exercise reasonable care to disclose to the other before the transaction is consummated . . .
(b) matters known to him that he knows to be necessary to prevent his partial or ambiguous statement of the facts from being misleading; and . . .
(d) the falsity of a representation not made with the expectation that it would be acted upon, if he subsequently learns that the other is about to act in reliance upon it in a transaction with him; and

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
972 So. 2d 564, 2008 Miss. LEXIS 28, 2008 WL 95774, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holman-v-howard-wilson-chrysler-jeep-inc-miss-2008.