Lovell v. Blazer Boats, Inc.

104 So. 3d 549, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 1666, 2012 WL 5270111, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1326
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 24, 2012
DocketNo. 2011 CA 1666
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 104 So. 3d 549 (Lovell v. Blazer Boats, Inc.) 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
Lovell v. Blazer Boats, Inc., 104 So. 3d 549, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 1666, 2012 WL 5270111, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1326 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

McClendon, j.

12In this redhibition case involving a boat, plaintiff appeals the trial court judgment to the extent that it awarded the defendant manufacturer credit for use and denied plaintiff damages for mental anguish and loss of profits. Plaintiff also seeks an increase in the amounts awarded for preservation of the boat and attorney’s fees. For the following reasons, we amend the judgment to decrease the amount awarded defendant for a use credit, and we affirm the judgment as amended and award additional attorney’s fees.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 1, 2005, Travis Lovell purchased a used 2004 Blazer Bay 2220 Fisherman boat, motor, and trailer from Derek Johnson for $26,500.00. Mr. Lovell subsequently discovered stress cracks along the port side of the boat. In May 2006, the boat was shipped to the manufacturer, Blazer Boats, Inc. (Blazer), for repairs. The manufacturer made said repairs and returned the boat to Mr. Lovell, after which Mr. Lovell went on two fishing trips. However, the stress cracks began to reappear. In October 2006, Blazer, instead of repairing the stress cracks on the vessel for a second time, agreed to manufacture a new hull and cap for the vessel.

When stress cracks began to reappear in the reconditioned vessel in 2008, Mr. Lo-vell again sent the boat to Blazer for repairs. Blazer repaired the stress cracks, but after Mr. Lovell received the boat and began using it, the stress cracks reappeared. Additionally, Mr. Lovell noticed a hole on the starboard side of the stern of the boat, which caused water to leak into the vessel.

On February 12, 2009, Mr. Lovell filed suit against Blazer, alleging damages for breach of warranty, negligence, fraud, and a claim in redhibition.1 Following a bench trial, the trial court rendered judgment rescinding the sale of |sthe boat and trailer and assigning a value of $21,500.00.2 The court also awarded Mr. Lovell $150.00 for costs of preservation of the boat, minus a $19,500.00 credit for use of the boat and trailer. The trial court awarded no damages for mental anguish and loss of income/profit and awarded total damages, after offset, in the amount of $2,150.00. Furthermore, the trial court awarded Mr. Lovell $5,000.00 in attorney’s fees.

Mr. Lovell has appealed, assigning the following as error:

1. The trial court erred in awarding defendant an offset in the amount of $19,500.00.
2. The trial court erred in not awarding plaintiff damages for mental anguish.
3. The trial court erred in not awarding damages for loss of income/profit.
4. The trial court erred in awarding damages to plaintiff for costs of preservation of the boat in the amount of only $150.00, as that damage award should have been higher.
[553]*5535. The trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees to plaintiff in only the amount of $5,000.00, as the only evidence introduced at trial was that the attorney’s fees at the time of trial were between $8,000.00 and $9,000.00.
6. The trial court erred in failing to award any damages because of the fraud of Blazer Boats, and specifically, the trial court did not even address the issue of fraud.
7. The trial court erred in failing to address the breach of warranty claim by plaintiff.

Mr. Lovell also requests an award of additional attorney’s fees for prosecution of this appeal.

DISCUSSION

REDHIBITION

Louisiana Civil Code article 2520, regarding warranty against redhibitory defects, provides as follows:

The seller warrants the buyer against redhibitory defects, or vices, in the thing sold.
|4A defect is redhibitory when it renders the thing useless, or its use so inconvenient that it must be presumed that a buyer would not have bought the thing had he known of the defect. The existence of such a defect gives a buyer the right to obtain rescission of the sale.
A defect is redhibitory also when, without rendering the thing totally useless, it diminishes its usefulness or its value so that it must be presumed that a buyer would still have bought it but for a lesser price. The existence of such a defect limits the right of a buyer to a reduction of the price.

The extent of a seller’s liability to a buyer for breaching this warranty depends on whether the seller knew, or did not know, of the defect. See LSA-C.C. art. 2531 and 2545. With regard to a seller who knew of the defect, LSA-C.C. art. 2545 provides as follows:

A seller who knows that the thing he sells has a defect but omits to declare it, or a seller who declares that the thing has a quality that he knows it does not have, is liable to the buyer for the return of the price with interest from the time it was paid, for the reimbursement of the reasonable expenses occasioned by the sale and those incurred for the preservation of the thing, and also for damages and reasonable attorney fees. If the use made of the thing, or the fruits it might have yielded, were of some value to the buyer, such a seller may be allowed credit for such use or fruits.
A seller is deemed to know that the thing he sells has a redhibitory defect when he is a manufacturer of that thing.

Although the code articles on redhibition appear to allow a suit by a buyer only against a “seller” for redhibitory defects, the Louisiana Supreme Court has recognized that a buyer can recover directly from the manufacturer for breach of warranty, despite the fact that there is no privity of contract between them. See Aucoin v. Southern Quality Homes, LLC, 07-1014, p. 9 (La.2/26/08), 984 So.2d 685, 692 (iciting Media Production Consultants, Inc. v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc., 262 La. 80, 262 So.2d 377, 380-81 (La.1972)).3

[554]*554A manufacturer is conclusively presumed to have knowledge of defects in the object it manufactures. Young v. Ford Motor Co., Inc., 595 So.2d 1123, 1126 (La.1992). Thus, because of this presumption of knowledge, the manufacturer “is deemed to be in bad faith in selling a defective product” and is pliable to the buyer for all damages recoverable under LSA-C.C. art. 2545. Pratt v. Himel Marine, Inc., 01-1832, p. 14 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/21/02), 823 So.2d 394, 404, writs denied, 02-2128, 02-2025 (La.11/1/02), 828 So.2d 571, 572.

A. Nonpeeuniary Damages

Mr. Lovell contends that the trial court, in rescinding the sale through redhibition, erred in failing to award nonpeeuniary damages for mental anguish. Mr. Lovell notes that Article 2545 allows recovery of nonpeeuniary damages when the requirements set forth in Article 1998 are met. See Comment (j) to LSA-C.C. art. 2545. Louisiana Civil Code article 1998 provides:

Damages for nonpeeuniary loss may be recovered when the contract, because of its nature, is intended to gratify a nonpeeuniary interest and, because of the circumstances surrounding the formation or the nonperformance of the contract, the obligor knew, or should have known, that his failure to perform would cause that kind of loss.

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104 So. 3d 549, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 1666, 2012 WL 5270111, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lovell-v-blazer-boats-inc-lactapp-2012.