Moore v. Bailey

46 So. 3d 375, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 169, 2010 WL 1292732
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 6, 2010
Docket2008-CA-01853-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 46 So. 3d 375 (Moore v. Bailey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Bailey, 46 So. 3d 375, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 169, 2010 WL 1292732 (Mich. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

ROBERTS, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Norma Slater Moore sued Annice Kyle, Robert M. Bailey, and the DeSoto Land Corporation (DLC) and raised numerous causes of action based on the underlying concept of misrepresentation incident to Moore’s purchase of a home. Kyle, Bailey, and DLC all successfully moved for summary judgment. Aggrieved, Kyle appeals and raises seven issues. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. This appeal evolves from the construction and subsequent sale of a home in DeSoto County, Mississippi. In January 2004, licensed builder Steve Hooker began construction of the home at issue as part of his larger speculative housing subdivision venture. As construction progressed, the home passed the first two inspections required by the DeSoto County Planning Commission (DCPC). However, later that year, Hooker filed for bankruptcy and surrendered the partially-completed home and the underlying property to the mortgage holder. At the time, there was no further progress on construction of the home. It remained partially finished for the remainder of 2004.

¶ 3. In February 2005, DLC purchased the still partially-finished home. Bailey, acting for DLC in his capacity as president of the company, retained real estate broker Kyle to act as the listing agent for the home. DLC hired Richard Brewer to complete the construction of the home, although Brewer was not a licensed builder at that time. 1

¶4. The next month, DLC discovered that it was necessary to secure further building permits to complete construction of the home. However, because Brewer was not a licensed builder at that time, he could not obtain the necessary permit. Bailey, acting for DLC, asked licensed builder Witt Long to acquire the permit. As requested, Long obtained the permit despite his never having actively participated in the construction. Brewer, still unlicensed, completed the construction. Similarly, at Bailey’s request, Hale Electric acquired the necessary electrical permits. No one on Brewer’s construction crew was a licensed electrician. As with *378 Long, Hale Electric acquired the permits, although no one from Hale Electric participated in the installation of the home’s electrical services.

¶5. On May 4, 2006, the home passed the DCPC’s final inspection. Later that month, Moore first expressed an interest in the home. Kyle drafted an initial disclosure statement on behalf of DLC and presented it to Moore. Kyle’s initial disclosure statement indicated that: (1) the home was a new construction; (2) the roof was new; (8) the home contained new appliances; (4) a one-year builder’s warranty accompanied the purchase of the home; (5) the home had been built in compliance with relevant building codes; (6) there was no evidence of rot, mildew, vermin infestation, or rodent infestation; (7) the home had never been treated for infestation; and (8) no additions, remodeling, structural changes, or other alterations had occurred during DLC’s ownership of the home.

¶ 6. On the recommendation of her real estate agent, Joel “Duck” Hawkins, on June 8, 2006, Moore had the home inspected by Randy Brassfield of Brassfield Appraisal and Inspection Services. Hawkins also recommended that Brassfield inspect Moore’s home. Brassfield’s inspection report indicated that the property was one year old. Hawkins reported that he had the same impression regarding the age of the home. 2

¶ 7. Brassfield found no structural problems or concerns. He listed numerous “areas of concern” and suggested the following remedial measures: (1) removal of trees with exposed root balls; (2) “re-mortar[ing]” of a small hole and two cracks in the external mortar of the home; (3) removal of a fire ant mound near the gas meter; (4) tightening of two light fixtures; (5) straightening of the mailbox; (6) clearing the back lot of debris and logs; (7) touch-up paint in certain specified areas; (8) replacement of some weatherstripping; (9) adjustment of a dead bolt; (10) placement of splash blocks under downspouts; (11) adjustment of an electrical-switch plate to make it flush with an internal wall; (12) covering of an exposed thermostat wire; (18) having an air-conditioning technician review a small, vibrating air-conditioning unit; (14) sealing the attic furnaces with tape; (15) caulking and painting of specified crown moulding and caulking of the fireplace mantle; (16) removal of dead bugs from a light fixture; and (17) treatment for insects. Additionally, Brassfield included a statement that “[t]he buyer requests professional cleaning due to pets and insects.” 3 Although she expressed no dissatisfaction at the time, Moore later complained that Brassfield failed to properly inspect the home. 4 She did not include him as a defendant to this litigation.

¶ 8. On June 20, 2006, at Moore’s request, Hawkins informed Kyle that Moore was no longer interested in purchasing the *379 home. However, a few days later, Hawkins contacted Kyle again and stated that Moore “has decided to take the last offer your seller made. She has had a change of heart[,] and the decision to reject the last offer was done [sic] in hast[e].”

¶ 9. Kyle amended the disclosure statement. The amended disclosure statement no longer listed the home as “new.” Instead, the amended disclosure statement indicated that the home was nine to twelve months old. Kyle made a similar amendment to the disclosed age of the appliances, but she did not amend the age of the roof. Furthermore, the amended disclosure statement omitted any reference to the one-year builder’s warranty, which DLC reportedly could not provide because it was not a builder.

¶ 10. On June 26, 2006, Moore executed a purchase agreement. Acting in his capacity for DLC, Bailey reviewed, initialed, and signed the purchase agreement. Bailey also executed addendums to the purchase agreement and the buyer/seller certification agreement. Four days later, Moore closed on the home and purchased it for $258,000.

¶ 11. The record contains a letter that Moore wrote to the Mississippi Real Estate Commission (MREC) on February 24, 2007. Within that letter, Moore stated that, on July 1, 2006, just days after closing, she told Kyle that she would be pursuing fraud charges against her. Moore also indicated that the home was infested with fleas. According to Moore, on July 4, 2006, a “cleaning crew” treated the home for fleas. Moore claimed that the cleaning crew professed to have used a poison that had been banned by the Environmental Protection Agency. Moore did not move into the home until July 8, 2006.

¶ 12. According to Moore, she “began to immediately notice major flaws.” She claimed that Kyle and DLC refused to make any repairs. In October 2006, she discovered that Long and Hale Electric had obtained permits for Brewer, who had actually performed the work. Tom Hud-gens, an estimator with Armil Construction Company, Inc., concluded that Moore would need to spend approximately $78,000 to address Hudgens’s findings and recommendations. On July 2, 2008, which was after Moore initiated this litigation, engineer Robert B. Aymett inspected the home.

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Bluebook (online)
46 So. 3d 375, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 169, 2010 WL 1292732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-bailey-missctapp-2010.