MEDDERS v. YOUNG

2016 OK CIV APP 36, 370 P.3d 1214, 2016 WL 3068426, 2016 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 12
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 26, 2016
DocketCase Number: 114374
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2016 OK CIV APP 36 (MEDDERS v. YOUNG) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MEDDERS v. YOUNG, 2016 OK CIV APP 36, 370 P.3d 1214, 2016 WL 3068426, 2016 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 12 (Okla. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

P. THOMAS THORNBRUGH, PRESIDING JUDGE:

T1 Plaintiffs, Joe Medders and Joe Miller, appeal the summary judgment of the district court holding that the debt for roofing services that plaintiffs attempted to collect was unenforceable. On review, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2 This matter begins in June 2018, when defendant Young and plaintiff Medders discussed the replacement of a roof on a house owned by Young, From this point, the parties' accounts diverge. Young states that he believed he had contracted with plaintiffs to replace the roof, Plaintiffs state that they acted to facilitate a repair by a third party, but did not contract to replace the roof themselves, The contract was apparently oral, and no contract documents were exchanged, The roofing work evidently was done by a third party, Carlos Gonzalez, Young claims the work was substandard, that the roof leaked, and that he was billed considerably more than the quoted price. Young refused to pay.

13 Plaintiffs sued to recover the debt, alleging that the roofing contract had actually been carried out by a firm named T. Cole Construction (Cole), and that Cole had assigned the resulting debt to the plaintiffs. Young moved for summary judgment, alleging that the debt was unenforceable pursuant to the Roofing Contractor Registration Act, 59 0.8.2011 & Supp. 2015 §§ 1151.1 through *1215 1151.29 (the Act), because neither of the plaintiffs nor Gonzales was a registered roofing contractor. In response, plaintiffs argued that Cole was a registered contractor and Gonzales was working "under Cole's registration." Plaintiffs argued, alternatively, that Young, who is an insurance adjuster, had indulged in a "seam" by knowingly allowing an unlicensed contractor to do the work and then refusing to pay. After the parties exchanged briefs and other authorities, the court granted summary judgment to Young. Plaintiffs now appeal,. The matter is decided without briefing pursuant to the accelerated procedure of Supreme Court Rule 1.86.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

T4 "Summary judgment will be- affirmed only if the appellate court determines that there is no dispute as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." City of Jenks v. Stone, 2014 OK 11, ¶ 6, 321 P.3d 179. "Summary judgment will be reversed if the appellate court determines that reasonable men might reach different conclusions from the undisputed material facts." Id.

ANALYSIS

15 The district court stated no rationale for its judgment. The record reveals allegations of numerous violations of the Act. Those violations are punishable as misdemeanors pursuant to 1151.8 of the Act, but we find no indication that these violations {except one) render a roofing debt uncollecta-ble. The allegation that could render the debt uncollectable was that neither of the plaintiffs nor Gonzales had a valid registration as provided in the Act.

¶ 6 The version of the Act in force at the time of the roofing work 1 states, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. A person may not engage in the business nor act in the capacity of a roofing contractor within this state nor may that person bring or maintain any claim, action, suit, or proceeding in any court of this state related to the person's business 'or capacity as a roofing contractor without a valid registration as provided in the Roofing Contractor Registration Act.

59 O.S.2011 $ 1151.3 (emphasis added).

17 The Act does, therefore, render a roofing debt uncollectable in court under certain circumstances. Further, if the debt is not originally enforceable, it cannot be made en-foreeable by assignment. An assignor cannot transfer any rights beyond those that he/she possesses. The 2011 version of § 1151.7 also provides, in relevant part:

1, A roofing contractor's registration certificate number shall be valid and in good standing at the time of soliciting a project 2 and during subsequent job performance;
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3. A roofing contractor's registration certificate cannot be shared or used by any other individual or business entity; provided, however, a business firm, partnership, association, corporation, limited 1i-ability company, or other group or combination thereof acting as a unit may be granted a single roofing registration certificate number for use by designated roofing contractors acting as agents for the business entity when the application for registration contained sufficient information on each member, partner, officer .and agent and the registrar issued a single certificate number to such persons as a business unit;
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(Emphasis added).

T8 These provisions call into question the validity of the process by which this roofing debt arose. The. record establishes that neither of the plaintiffs nor Gonzalez was a registered roofing contractor between June 26 and 29, 20183, when the work was performed. Cole does appear to have been a *1216 registered contractor at that times. 3 The parties appear to agree that the person who actually preformed the roofing work was Gonzalez. Plaintiffs state, however, that Gonzalez was "working under the [Construction Industries Board] number and supervision of T. Cole Construction," and hence the roofing was performed by a registered contractor.

T9 The statement that Gonzalez was "working under the CIB number" of Cole is curious. Section 1151.7 of the Act is clear that a roofing contractor's registration certificate cannot be shared or used by any other individual or business entity. It does not appear that § 1151.7 contemplates unregistered independent contractors "operating under the CIB number" of a registered roofer except under the strictly limited circumstances noted in § 1151.7(8). The record contains no evidence that Gonzalez was listed on any application by Cole as a "designated roofing contractor acting as agent" or as a "member, partner, officer and agent" of Cole. The Act would be ineffective to protect the public from unlicensed roofing contractors if an unlicensed roofer could simply arrange to "use" the registration of a licensed roofer. The involved registration and certification is clearly individual to the contractor involved, and does not appear to contemplate an entire job being performed by unregistered independent roofers using another company's CIB number.

{ 10 We find no record that Gonzalez is an employee or partner of Cole. Gonzalez was not a registered roofing contractor at the time the work was performed, If he was either of these things, plaintiffs could simply have provided evidence to that effect, and ended the summary judgment inquiry. The record is, however, strikingly devoid of any statement by Cole that it actually performed this work. We further find no statement by Gonzales indicating that he was an employee of Cole or that he was legally authorized to use Cole's registration; nor do we find any official document indicating that Carlos Gonzalez was entitled to use Cole's registration.

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MEDDERS v. YOUNG
2016 OK CIV APP 36 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 OK CIV APP 36, 370 P.3d 1214, 2016 WL 3068426, 2016 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medders-v-young-oklacivapp-2016.