North River Homes, Inc. v. Bosarge

594 So. 2d 1153, 1992 WL 30119
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 12, 1992
Docket89-CA-0255
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 594 So. 2d 1153 (North River Homes, Inc. v. Bosarge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
North River Homes, Inc. v. Bosarge, 594 So. 2d 1153, 1992 WL 30119 (Mich. 1992).

Opinion

594 So.2d 1153 (1992)

NORTH RIVER HOMES, INC.
v.
Elmer L. BOSARGE and Martha C. Bosarge.

No. 89-CA-0255.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 12, 1992.

*1154 David R. Sparks, Sparks Wicker & Colburn, Tupelo, for appellant.

*1155 D. Neil Harris, Sr., Pascagoula, Brent M. Bickham, Bickham & Magee, Biloxi, for appellee.

Before HAWKINS, P.J., and PRATHER and ROBERTSON, JJ.

PRATHER, Justice, for the Court:

I. INTRODUCTION[1]

On August 20, 1983, Elmer and Martha Bosarge purchased from J & J Mobile Home Sales in Pascagoula a furnished mobile home manufactured by North River Homes, an Alabama corporation. The Bosarges were extremely proud of their new home — described by a J & J salesman as the "Cadillac of mobile homes." This "Cadillac," which cost the Bosarges a whopping $23,900,[2] turned out to be a jalopy. That is, upon moving into their new home, the Bosarges immediately discovered defect after defect after defect.

A. The Defects

The first defect which the Bosarges noticed was "the molding in the trailer popping loose." The second defect they noticed involved a bad water leak; "the water was running all over the trailer and ran into the insulation." This leak caused the trailer's underside to "balloon downward." Elmer Bosarge described other defects:

The [kitchen] counter ... was defective. The dishwasher door was warped in it. There was a big bow over the door, and this was after the setup. We didn't know this until after the trailer was on our property and setup that these defects showed up. We couldn't see them on the lot J & J because there was no light on in the trailer... . And there was a leak come under the trailer and it was a stench.
... .
... There was numerous things that I — oh, in the bathroom the — the little thing that goes around the sink, little edging, I guess you call it, fell off. A gentleman came out and repaired that. And it fell off a week later.
... .
[The bathroom door was] warped [and] couldn't [be] straighten[ed] ... . because the structure wasn't straight... . And the water would leak out when you would take a shower. This was in the shower... . And the shower door was warped. It wasn't sealed properly. The water would run out into the — into the bathroom floor.
... .
[The heating and cooling system in the trailer did not work properly. That is, t]he heating proposition was, it was cold. I mean it — it just got freezing cold. And my son came in there and said, Daddy, said, there's ice on my floor. I said, what did you do, spill water? He said, no sir. It's all around the base of the wall. And I went in there and looked and the [ice at the] base of the wall was at least an inch and a half thick around the base of that wall where the wind had come in through the trailer and sheeting on the windows. You could put your hand at the sockets and wind would come through the sockets [throughout the house].
... .
The trailer was not easy to cool. The air conditioner worked fine, but as far as keeping it cool, the ventilation in it, it took all the coolness out because if the cold can come in, the cold can come out... .
... .
*1156 The hot water backed up into the cold water. You would take and turn the cold water on and you would get hot water. Turn the hot water on [and] you would get hot water.
... .
[T]he sink from the stove to the wall longways to where the sink is, double sink that is, it bubbled up. I don't know what they call it, but the stuff on top of your sink, it had bubbles in it where it was just put together, just pieced together this way and water would run down in it. And then when you were washing dishes ... you are going to get water on it, and eventually that started popping up. It wasn't sealed properly. And that was from one end of it to the other... .
... .
[W]hen the wind would blow it would sound like a freight train running... . That top would just rumble. Instead, of being stationary it would, the roof would rumble.
... .
The doors were not fitted properly [with the stripping and you could] see[] daylight [when the doors were closed].

Rec. Vol. IV, at 107-13. Martha Bosarge's testimony picked up where Elmer's left off. She described walls which "buckled," cabinets with "chips and holes" in them, furniture "falling apart," a bedroom closet which leaked rainwater, and rooms which "stayed molded and mildewed."

B. The Repairs

The Bosarges immediately and repeatedly notified the manufacturer, North River Homes, of the defects. North River failed to repair the defects. In November 1983, the Bosarges informed North River of its decision to revoke their acceptance of the defective home. North River, however, assured the Bosarges that the defects would be repaired. The patient Bosarges relied — to their detriment — on North River's assurances. On numerous occasions, North River sent its repairmen to the Bosarges' home.[3] But on each occasion, the repairmen did not attempt to repair or failed to adequately repair or simply were unable to repair the defects.

For example, on several occasions, North River repairmen visited the Bosarges' home and failed to even attempt a repair of the cited defect. Elmer described one such occasion concerning a defective kitchen sink:

QUESTION: Was that problem ever discussed with North River?
ELMER: Yes.
QUESTION: And what was done about it?
ELMER: They sent a man out?
QUESTION: Who sent a man out?
ELMER: North River.
QUESTION: Okay.
ELMER: North River sent a man out. And he expected me to help him, but I had been sick. I had a heart attack — open surgery ... [a]nd I couldn't do any lifting... . And there was no way he could put that sink in himself.
QUESTION: Did he put it in?
ELMER: No.
QUESTION: Did he attempt to put it in?
ELMER: No.
QUESTION: Did he come back?
ELMER: No.

Id. at 110; see also id. at 108 (where Elmer testified that the repairmen who visited on another occasion did "nothing, not a thing" to repair the "air coming in around the [wall] sockets"); id. at 109 (where Elmer testified that repairmen visited but did not repair the hot-water problem); id. at 123 (where Elmer testified that "each and every time" repairmen would visit, they would tell him that they would be back to finish the repair work; but they never would return — not until the Bosarges telephoned North River to inquire of the repairmen's whereabouts).

On other occasions, repairmen's attempts to repair defects were made halfheartedly. For example, during one visit, a repairman visited the Bosarges in response to their complaint that the dishwasher door was *1157 warped. The repairman had taken with him a replacement door, but he did not install it.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
594 So. 2d 1153, 1992 WL 30119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/north-river-homes-inc-v-bosarge-miss-1992.