Love v. Kenneth Hammersley Motors Inc.

556 S.E.2d 764, 263 Va. 45, 46 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1031, 2002 Va. LEXIS 19
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedJanuary 11, 2002
DocketRecord 010351
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 556 S.E.2d 764 (Love v. Kenneth Hammersley Motors Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Love v. Kenneth Hammersley Motors Inc., 556 S.E.2d 764, 263 Va. 45, 46 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1031, 2002 Va. LEXIS 19 (Va. 2002).

Opinion

JUSTICE HASSELL

delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this appeal, we consider whether a purchaser of a car, who revoked her acceptance of the car and sought monetary damages as *47 permitted by Code § 8.2-608, properly filed her claim as an action at law.

Bonita M. Love filed her motion for judgment against Kenneth Hammersley Motors, Inc. (Hammersley Motors). She alleged that she purchased a 1994 Lexus ES300 car from Hammersley Motors, which was unable to cure certain defects in the car. She sought damages and attorney’s fees.

Hammersley Motors filed responsive pleadings and a motion requesting that the circuit court require that the plaintiff elect between her claim for “all monies paid for the vehicle, in effect, a [rescission] of contract, and ... for an award of damages proximately incurred by plaintiff as a result of defendant’s breach of [contract].” The court required the plaintiff to make an election, and she chose to pursue her claim for monetary damages. At the conclusion of a trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her monetary damages in the amount of $21,174.89.

Hammersley Motors filed a post-verdict motion and requested, among other things, that the circuit court set the jury verdict aside because the plaintiff’s claim was in the nature of “rescission” and, therefore, should have been prosecuted in equity as opposed to at law. The circuit court granted Hammersley Motors’ motion and ordered a new trial in equity. At the conclusion of the proceeding in equity, the chancellor entered a decree in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her damages in the amount of $8,780.61. The chancellor also awarded her a portion of her requested attorney’s fees and entered a final decree. The plaintiff appeals.

Hammersley Motors does not challenge on appeal the following facts that were considered by the jury in the law proceeding. The plaintiff purchased a 1994 Lexus car from Hammersley Motors on August 17, 1998. The purchase price of the car was $19,508.90. When the plaintiff purchased the car, she received a three-month or 3,000-mile power train warranty at no additional cost, and she purchased an extended service contract. Pursuant to the terms of the extended service contract, Hammersley Motors agreed to “make repairs or replacement as a result of failure ... to any part” of the car covered by the warranty, including the engine and all internally lubricated engine parts.

The day after the plaintiff purchased the car, it began to malfunction. The car emitted large quantities of “white smoke” from the exhaust pipe. The car consumed “a quart to two quarts of oil every week.” The plaintiff returned the car to Hammersley Motors at least *48 five or six times for repair of the defects, but Hammersley Motors was unable to correct them. Even though Hammersley Motors eventually installed a new engine in the car, the car continued to malfunction. The car continued to emit white smoke and would not accelerate properly. Ultimately, the plaintiff returned the car and keys to Dirk W. Beasley, Hammersley Motors’ general manager, and requested that she receive a refund of the purchase price. Beasley refused to refund the purchase price to her.

The plaintiff argues that she was entitled to file her motion for judgment on the law side of the circuit court because she only sought a recovery of monetary damages. Responding, Hammersley Motors contends that the plaintiff sought the equitable remedy of rescission and, therefore, she was required to file her claim in chancery. Hammersley Motors relies upon our decision in Gasque v. Mooers Motor Car Co., 227 Va. 154, 313 S.E.2d 384 (1984), in support of its position. We disagree with Hammersley Motors.

As the litigants correctly recognize, Virginia has maintained a longstanding distinction between law and chancery. And, “[t]he marked distinction between law and chancery, a product of the English legal system, continues to exist in the Commonwealth.” Wright v. Castles, 232 Va. 218, 222, 349 S.E.2d 125, 128 (1986). When a party seeks solely monetary damages “caused by another’s tortious conduct, he must bring his action on the law side of the court, and either party has a right to a jury trial.” Id.; see Stanardsville Vol. Fire Co. v. Berry, 229 Va. 578, 583, 331 S.E.2d 466, 469-70 (1985); O’Brien v. Snow, 215 Va. 403, 405, 210 S.E.2d 165, 167 (1974).

The plaintiff based her cause of action on Code § 8.2-608, a part of Virginia’s Uniform Commercial Code, which permitted her to revoke her acceptance of the car at issue in this appeal. This statute states:

“(1) The buyer may revoke his acceptance of a lot or commercial unit whose non-conformity substantially impairs its value to him if he has accepted it
“(a) on the reasonable assumption that its nonconformity would be cured and it has not been seasonably cured; or
“(b) without discovery of such nonconformity if his acceptance was reasonably induced either by the difficulty of discovery before acceptance or by the seller’s assurances.
*49 “(2) Revocation of acceptance must occur within a reasonable time after the buyer discovers or should have discovered the ground for it and before any substantial change in condition of the goods which is not caused by their own defects. It is not effective until the buyer notifies the seller of it.
“(3) A buyer who so revokes has the same rights and duties with regard to the goods involved as if he had rejected them.”

Code § 8.2-711, which is also a part of Virginia’s Uniform Commercial Code, enumerates a buyer’s remedies upon revocation of acceptance:

“(1) Where the seller fails to make delivery or repudiates or the buyer rightfully rejects or justifiably revokes acceptance then with respect to any goods involved, and with respect to the whole if the breach goes to the whole contract (§ 8.2-612), the buyer may cancel and whether or not he has done so may in addition to recovering so much of the price as has been paid
“(a) ‘cover’ and have damages under the next section [§ 8.2-712] as to all the goods affected whether or not they have been identified to the contract; or
“(b) recover damages for nondelivery as provided in this title (§ 8.2-713).
“(2) Where the seller fails to deliver or repudiates the buyer may also
“(a) if the goods have been identified recover them as provided in this title (§ 8.2-502); or
“(b) in a proper case obtain specific performance or replevy the goods as provided in this title (§ 8.2-716).

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Bluebook (online)
556 S.E.2d 764, 263 Va. 45, 46 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1031, 2002 Va. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/love-v-kenneth-hammersley-motors-inc-va-2002.