MJH Operations, Inc. v. Manning

63 So. 3d 296, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 434, 2011 WL 1380057
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 13, 2011
DocketNo. 46,187-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 63 So. 3d 296 (MJH Operations, Inc. v. Manning) 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
MJH Operations, Inc. v. Manning, 63 So. 3d 296, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 434, 2011 WL 1380057 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

PEATROSS, J.

11 Plaintiff, MJH Operations, Inc., d/b/a Mike’s Automotive (“Mike’s”), brought suit in Shreveport City Court against Defendant, Alexis LaJune Manning (“Ms. Manning”), to sequester and be recognized as the owner of a 1999 Lexus GS300 vehicle under a rental/purchase agreement between the parties. Intervenor/appellant, H & M Paint and Body, Inc. (“H & M”), [298]*298intervened in the suit seeking to recover costs incurred for parts and labor to repair the vehicle after it had been wrecked in January 2010. Mike’s then filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to have the claims of H & M against Mike’s dismissed. Reserving H & M’s claims against Ms. Manning, the trial judge granted summary judgment, thereby dismissing H <& M’s claims against Mike’s. H & M appeals from this summary judgment. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.

FACTS

On October 1, 2009, Mike’s and Ms. Manning entered into a rental/purchase agreement pertaining to a 1999 Lexus GS300 vehicle. In January 2010, Ms. Manning was involved in a wreck and took the vehicle to H & M to have the damage repaired. There is no dispute that Ms. Manning presented a copy of the rental/purchase agreement to H & M before H & M began repairs on the vehicle.

The rental/purchase agreement between Mike’s and Ms. Manning states that, if Ms. Manning made all of the rental payments owed under the 32-month term of the agreement, she would be permitted to exercise an option to purchase the vehicle after the expiration of the term by paying the title, transfer and licensing fees required to do so. The rental/purchase | ¡.agreement also provided that Mike’s had the option to terminate the agreement if Ms. Manning failed to make monthly payments during the rental term. The agreement further stipulated that Ms. Manning would be required to keep the vehicle free of any liens or encumbrances.

With regard to repairs, the rental/purchase agreement contains a “Maintenance” clause, which states in part:

The Renter at Renter’s sole expense must perform any and all maintenance or repairs to the rented Property. The Dealer cannot add repair costs to the rental purchase agreement. The Owner will not be responsible for any costs of repairs performed by Renter or at its request even though Owner retains title to the Property. (Emphasis added.)

After being presented with a copy of the rental/purchase agreement, H & M repaired the vehicle and issued to Ms. Manning an invoice for repairs, parts and labor in the amount of $3,892.36.

When she received the invoice, Ms. Manning told H & M that she did not have the money to pay for the repairs. Ms. Manning then stopped making monthly rental payments on the vehicle to Mike’s under the rental/purchase agreement. H & M retained physical possession of the vehicle for several weeks and added a storage fee in the amount of $224.00 to the original invoice for repairs, parts and labor.

After learning that Ms. Manning could not pay for the repairs, H & M began the process of acquiring a Permit to Sell the vehicle by filing an official report of storage of the vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) of the State of Louisiana. On receiving information from the DMV that Mike’s was the owner of the vehicle, H & M issued to Mike’s a notice of intent to acquire ownership of the vehicle. Mike’s ^contacted H & M and was informed of the invoice for repairs, parts, labor and storage which had not been paid by Ms. Manning. Mike’s paid the storage fee of $224.00 to H & M and then filed suit against Ms. Manning to sequester and be recognized as the owner of the vehicle under the rental/purchase agreement, which ultimately led to the seizure of the vehicle.

On May 4, 2010, H & M filed a petition for intervention in the suit between Mike’s [299]*299and Ms. Manning seeking to recover its costs incurred to repair the vehicle. Mike’s filed a motion for summary judgment requesting that H & M’s claims against Mike’s be dismissed. Ms. Manning has not answered or otherwise made an appearance in any part of the suit. On May 19, 2010, the trial judge issued a ruling recognizing Mike’s as the owner of the vehicle and entitling Mike’s to possession in rent of the vehicle until the hearing on the motion for summary judgment could be held. H & M did not appeal that judgment.

The summary judgment hearing was held two months later on July 14, 2010; and, as previously stated, the trial judge granted summary judgment in favor of Mike’s, dismissing H & M’s claims against Mike’s, but reserving H & M’s claims against Ms. Manning. In her oral reasons for judgment, the trial judge stated that H & M did not have a claim against Mike’s for the cost of the repairs to the vehicle because H & M was never authorized by Mike’s to make the repairs at Mike’s expense. Further, since Ms. Manning requested that H & M repair the vehicle and the rental/purchase agreement specified that Ms. Manning was responsible for payment of those [ ¿repairs, H & M’s proper right of action was against Ms. Manning.

This appeal ensued.

DISCUSSION

Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo under the same criteria that govern the district court’s consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Roach Plumbing & Heating, Inc. v. Fairfield Towers, L.L.C., 44,551 (La.App.2d Cir.8/19/09), 17 So.3d 493; NAB Natural Resources, L.L.C. v. Willamette Industries, Inc., 28,555 (La.App.2d Cir.8/21/96), 679 So.2d 477. A motion for summary judgment should be granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file together with affidavits show that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966. Supporting and opposing affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge, shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence and shall show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matter stated therein. Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Richardson, 32,951 (La.App.2d Cir.4/5/00), 759 So.2d 190.

Once the mover has made a prima facie showing that the motion should be granted, the burden shifts to the adverse party to present evidence demonstrating that material factual issues remain. Hardy v. Bowie, 98-2821 (La.9/8/99), 744 So.2d 606. To satisfy his burden of proof, the nonmov-ing party must not rely on the mere allegations or denials of his pleadings, but his response must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. La. C.C.P. art. 967; Hardy, supra. Once the motion for | ^summary judgment has been properly supported by the moving party, the failure of the adverse party to produce evidence of a material factual dispute mandates the granting of the motion. Sears, Roebuck and Co., supra.

In its first assignment of error, H & M asserts that the trial judge erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Mike’s because there was a genuine issue of material fact in dispute as to whether or not Ms. Manning was authorized to act on behalf of Mike’s under the rental/purchase agreement. H & M urges that Ms. Manning was acting as an agent on behalf of Mike’s when she brought the vehicle to H & M to be repaired. We disagree.

It is undisputed that Mike’s, not Ms.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Carriere v. Bank of Louisiana
702 So. 2d 648 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1997)
Roach Plumbing & Heating, Inc. v. Fairfield Towers, LLC
17 So. 3d 493 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
Walters v. MEDSOUTH RECORD MANAGEMENT, LLC
38 So. 3d 245 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2010)
NAB Nat. Resources v. Willamette Industries, Inc.
679 So. 2d 477 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
Mouton v. State
525 So. 2d 1136 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
Hardy v. Bowie
744 So. 2d 606 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1999)
Jones v. City of Lake Charles
295 So. 2d 914 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1974)
Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Richardson
759 So. 2d 190 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
McDonald v. Barker Auto Sales, Inc.
810 So. 2d 1242 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 So. 3d 296, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 434, 2011 WL 1380057, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mjh-operations-inc-v-manning-lactapp-2011.