Morgan Buildings & Spas, Inc. v. Humane Society of Southeast Texas

249 S.W.3d 480, 65 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 308, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 1794, 2007 WL 4991345
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 13, 2008
Docket09-06-439 CV
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 249 S.W.3d 480 (Morgan Buildings & Spas, Inc. v. Humane Society of Southeast Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morgan Buildings & Spas, Inc. v. Humane Society of Southeast Texas, 249 S.W.3d 480, 65 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 308, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 1794, 2007 WL 4991345 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVID GAULTNEY, Justice.

Morgan Buildings and Spas, Inc. appeals a judgment in favor of the Humane Society of Southeast Texas based on breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraud, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). We conclude Morgan breached the contract, but there is insufficient evidence of the amount of damages, and the recoverable attorney fees were not segregated from non-recoverable fees. We conclude the DTPA, fraud, and warranty claims have no merit. The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded for a new trial on the contract claim.

The Sale

The dispute arose from the purchase of a Morgan steel frame building. Cynthia Meyers, the former board president of the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, went to Morgan and identified a carport. Carey Sonnier, a Morgan assistant branch manager, approached Meyers and offered assistance. Meyers told Sonnier the Humane Society wanted to buy a building in which to store animal food and lawn equipment, and she told him the carport would be ideal if Morgan could add sides, a front and back, and double doors on both ends. She also told Sonnier that the Humane Society planned to install its pre-existing shelves inside against the walls.

Meyers told Sonnier the building needed to be secure. She wanted to prevent rodents from entering the building. Sonnier told her Morgan could add sides and doors, making the building secure. Morgan had a special insulation “to make sure that nothing could get into the building. [H]e said there was a certain way that the slab would be built to secure it so that rodents couldn’t enter the building under the metal.” Sonnier told her the slab should be built with a “rat lip.”

After obtaining funding, Meyers returned to Morgan and told Sonnier the Humane Society was ready to buy the building. The building would have almond-colored sides with a green top and green trim. Meyers reiterated the Humane Society’s other requests from the first meeting. Meyers testified that, by writing the check for the down payment, [484]*484she “was relying on Morgan Buildings and their sales person to satisfy the needs that we had stated, and he said he could satisfy.” 1 The price of the building was $4,495.

The WRITTEN Purchase Agreement

The purchase agreement provided that the Humane Society agreed to purchase, and Morgan agreed to “manufacture, deliver and erect,” a steel frame building. The nominal “eave height” was listed as “6.” In Sonnier’s handwriting, the “comments and specifications” section of the purchase agreement described the structure as: “14 x 32 x 6' SFB (4-WALL) W/DBL SWING OPEN CUSTOM DOORS ON BOTH 14' ENDS. ALMOND W/GREEN TRIM AND GREEN ROOF. ♦CUST.SLAB NEEDS TO BE 13' 9" x 31,⅞.”2 A sketch below this description depicted the width and length of the building. The actual width was to be 13' 9", and the actual length was to be 31'.

Above the signature line, the contract stated in larger uppercase letters: “read both sides before signing[.]” Below that statement, the agreement provided:

I acknowledge that the additional terms and conditions printed below and on the back of this agreement are agreed to as part of this agreement the same as if printed above my signature. By signing below, I am agreeing to purchase the described product, together with the optional equipment and accessories described hereon. This agreement contains the entire understanding between you and Morgan and no other representation or inducement, verbal or written, has been made which is not written hereon.

At the bottom of the first page of the contract was a second statement that the reverse side of the contract was part of the agreement. The contract contained a provision in larger bold uppercase letters, disclaiming express or implied warranties, and any incidental or consequential damages.

The purchase agreement disclaimed the authority of any agent, employee, or representative to bind Morgan to any affirmations, representations, or warranties not contained in the agreement. A merger and integration clause stated that the contract contained the entire agreement of the parties, there were no other promises, agreements, or warranties, and all previous contracts, offers, solicitations, bids, proposals, or communications were superseded unless expressly incorporated in the contract.3 Any modifications had to be in .writing and were only binding if signed by all the parties to the contract.

[485]*485On the date Meyers signed the purchase agreement, Meyers and Sonnier both signed a document entitled “Clear Span Steel Buildings Specifications and Drawing” that referenced the purchase agreement. The specifications indicated that the Humane Society was to provide the slab, and Morgan was to supply a base rail and install a 13' 9" x 31' building with almond-colored siding and green roof and trim. The wall height was described as “6 foot.”

The DeliveRY

Morgan delivered a steel frame structure and completed its construction. Meyers explained that when she saw the building, “the sides were the wrong color, the roof was brought down all the way on the sides. There was no sides. It was roof all the way from the tiptop to the ground.” Meyers testified the metal on the north and south sides of the building was very rusted, the doors fit poorly, the locks did not work, the door on the south side of the building did not have a heavy-duty steel frame around it, the insulation was not present, there were gaps under the door and between the wall and the ceiling, there were holes in the roof where the builders had “missed” the rafter and had instead drilled into the roof, portions of the metal did not meet properly, and the building was the wrong color.

Meyers explained that the building was too short, and it contained internal bracing, which made it impossible to store anything over four-and-a-half feet tall against the walls on either side. The building she selected during her visit to Morgan did not contain this bracing. Meyers testified the Humane Society’s shelving would not “even come close to fitting” inside the building Morgan provided because there are only about four-and-a-half feet on the side of the building before the internal bracing begins, and the building contains “bracing every 4 feet ... that was not on the original carport that we looked at there at Morgan Buildings.”

Because the building Morgan provided was not secure, the Humane Society could not store its lawn mower and lawn equipment in the building. The Humane Society ultimately purchased another building for $4,300, and eventually paid $5,500 to convert its cat patio into a food storage room. It attempted to store animal food in the Morgan building, but had to discard approximately one hundred bags of food due to rodent infestation. According to Meyers, the Morgan building has zero market value for storing animal food and the Humane Society could not store lawn equipment in the building.

Meyers immediately called Sonnier and told him the building Morgan installed was not the building the Humane Society ordered. Sonnier came to the Humane Society and assured Meyers “that everything would be fixed and would be made right, that they would come back and fix it.”

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Morgan Buildings & Spas, Inc. v. Humane Society of Southeast Texas
249 S.W.3d 480 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
249 S.W.3d 480, 65 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 308, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 1794, 2007 WL 4991345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morgan-buildings-spas-inc-v-humane-society-of-southeast-texas-texapp-2008.