Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. Kendrick

810 So. 2d 645, 2001 Ala. LEXIS 482, 2001 WL 792790
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJuly 13, 2001
Docket1981938
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 810 So. 2d 645 (Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. Kendrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. Kendrick, 810 So. 2d 645, 2001 Ala. LEXIS 482, 2001 WL 792790 (Ala. 2001).

Opinion

810 So.2d 645 (2001)

JIM WALTER HOMES, INC.
v.
Arthur KENDRICK.

1981938.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

July 13, 2001.

*647 Richard H. Gill, George W. Walker III, and J. David Martin of Copeland, Franco, Screws & Gill, P.A., Montgomery, for appellant.

Jere L. Beasley, Andy D. Birchfield, Jr., Karen L. Mastin, and P. Leigh O'Dell of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., Montgomery; and Russell L. Irby, Eufaula, for appellee.

On Application for Rehearing

PER CURIAM.

The opinion of May 11, 2001, is withdrawn and the following is substituted therefor.

The defendant, Jim Walter Homes, Inc. ("JWH"), appeals from a judgment entered against it on a jury verdict for the plaintiff Arthur Kendrick.

JWH builds houses to an agreed-upon percentage of completion (up to 90%), and the buyer finishes the house. In 1992, Kendrick visited a JWH sales office in Phenix City, where he walked through several model homes built on the sales lot and obtained brochures containing descriptions and pictures of available JWH house styles. Kendrick testified that the JWH salesperson assured him that JWH "builds good quality homes" and that JWH used "good quality materials."

Kendrick signed a contract and related financing documents for the purchase of a *648 JWH house. The house was constructed on Kendrick's land in Bullock County, at a cost of $47,940. Kendrick took possession of the house in April 1992, after signing a JWH form to acknowledge substantial completion of the house. Kendrick and his wife moved into the house in May 1992.

As Kendrick noticed defects in the house, he notified JWH and JWH sent workers to repair the problems. Kendrick testified that he knew in 1992 that he did not have a "good quality" house, that in 1992 he was aware of most of the problems he later complained of, and that by the end of 1993 he knew about almost all of the problems with the house.

In 1995, Kendrick filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, listing JWH as one of his creditors; however, Kendrick did not list his possible claims against JWH as "potential assets."[1] In December 1997, Kendrick sued JWH, alleging breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent suppression, and breach of warranty.

The case was tried in May 1999. JWH moved for a judgment as a matter of law at the close of Kendrick's case. The trial court granted the motion as to the fraudulent-suppression claim, but denied the motion as to all remaining claims. At the close of the evidence, the trial court denied JWH's renewed motion for a judgment as a matter of law and submitted the case to the jury on Kendrick's claims of breach of contract, breach of warranty, and fraud.

The jury returned a general verdict for Kendrick, awarding him $40,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. The trial court entered a judgment on the verdict and later denied JWH's postjudgment motion for a judgment as a matter of law.

I.

JWH contends that because Kendrick's bankruptcy petition was pending in December 1997, when he sued, Kendrick's claims against JWH were part of his bankruptcy estate. JWH argues that, according to the decision in Cooks v. Jim Walter Homes, Inc., 695 So.2d 19 (Ala.Civ.App. 1997), Kendrick had no standing to bring this action. In Cooks, the plaintiffs sued JWH while their petition in bankruptcy was pending. The Court of Civil Appeals held that, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1306(a)(1), the plaintiffs' claims against JWH became part of their bankruptcy estate and the bankruptcy trustee was the proper party to maintain the action against JWH.

This Court, in Ex parte Moore, 793 So.2d 762 (Ala.2000), overruled the holding in Cooks, stating:

"[I]n a recent opinion the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stated: `Although some courts of appeals have held that Chapter 7 debtors have no standing to pursue causes of [action] that belong to the estate, see, e.g., Bauer v. Commerce Union Bank, 859 F.2d 438, 441 (6th Cir.1988), we reach the contrary holding with respect to Chapter 13 debtors who pursue such causes of action.' Olick v. Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co., 145 F.3d 513, 515-16 (2d Cir.1998). We find the Second Circuit's opinion to be well reasoned. In holding that Chapter 13 debtors have standing to pursue causes of action that belong to the bankruptcy estate, the Second Circuit looked at both the legislative history of 11 U.S.C. § 1306 and the purpose for denying standing to bankruptcy debtors.... The Second Circuit, in considering the differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings, explained *649 that the purpose for denying standing to debtors in Chapter 7 proceedings is absent in Chapter 13 proceedings:
"`In Chapter 13 proceedings (unlike Chapter 7 proceedings) the creditors' recovery is drawn from the debtor's earnings, not from the assets of the bankruptcy estate.... Accordingly, the trustee's participation in such an action is generally not needed to protect the Chapter 13 creditors' rights.'
"Id. A Chapter 13 debtor does not lose standing to proceed on a cause of action after a proceeding in bankruptcy is instituted, as does a debtor under Chapter 7."

793 So.2d at 764.

Kendrick filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Thus, he had standing to proceed in his action against JWH after his bankruptcy proceeding was instituted.

II.

JWH maintains that Kendrick was judicially estopped from bringing this action because Kendrick did not list his claims against JWH as assets of his bankruptcy estate.

"Courts in Alabama have repeatedly held that a plaintiff is judicially estopped from bringing a cause of action in state court that was not timely listed in his bankruptcy proceedings as at least a contingent asset." In re Tippins, 221 B.R. 11, 26 (Bankr.N.D.Ala.1998).

In Jinright v. Paulk, 758 So.2d 553 (Ala.2000), this Court observed that the purpose of the doctrine of judicial estoppel would not be accomplished, but would be frustrated, if a defendant was allowed to use the doctrine to the defendant's advantage and at the expense of plaintiffs who had claims against the defendant but had failed to include those claims as part of their bankruptcy estate. "[A] debtor's mere knowledge or awareness of a potential claim and the debtor's failure to include the claim as an asset on the bankruptcy schedules ..., without more, are not sufficient to invoke the application of the doctrine of judicial estoppel." Jinright v. Paulk, 758 So.2d at 559 (citing In re Griner, 240 B.R. 432 (Bankr.S.D.Ala. 1999)).

Kendrick testified that he did not become aware of his claims against JWH until after the bankruptcy proceeding had begun. Kendrick's testimony is supported by the fact that at the time he filed his Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, JWH was attempting to repair Kendrick's house. Nothing in the record indicates that Kendrick deliberately manipulated the courts when he did not amend his bankruptcy schedule after he filed his complaint.

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Bluebook (online)
810 So. 2d 645, 2001 Ala. LEXIS 482, 2001 WL 792790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jim-walter-homes-inc-v-kendrick-ala-2001.