O'Dell v. Mahoney

750 S.E.2d 689, 324 Ga. App. 360, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3370, 2013 WL 5779662, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 848
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 28, 2013
DocketA13A0786
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 750 S.E.2d 689 (O'Dell v. Mahoney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Dell v. Mahoney, 750 S.E.2d 689, 324 Ga. App. 360, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3370, 2013 WL 5779662, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 848 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Ray, Judge.

Phillip O’Dell entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement (“Purchase Agreement”) with Roland and Sandra Mahoney for the acquisition of a house in Savannah on January 18, 2005. The Purchase Agreement refers to and incorporates a Sellers’ Property Disclosure which contains representations regarding the condition of the [361]*361property. Soon after closing, O’Dell began to experience problems both with the septic system and with flooding. Due to these problems, O’Dell filed suit against the following parties: the Mahoneys; Heather Ensign, the listing agent; and Ben Farmer Realty, Inc. (“BFR”), the real estate brokerage firm affiliated with Ensign. The trial court granted Ensign’s motion to dismiss on March 5, 2012, and BFR’s motion for summary judgment on April 17,2012. The case against the Mahoneys remained on the trial calendar, and a few days before trial, O’Dell entered into a settlement agreement with the Mahoneys. The trial court entered judgment in favor of O’Dell in accordance with the settlement agreement on October 30, 2012. O’Dell then filed a notice of appeal on November 13,2012, seeking to challenge the trial court’s orders of March 5 and April 17, 2012.

1. We first address the issue of whether we have jurisdiction in this case. It is well settled that this Court has a duty to inquire into its jurisdiction to review the errors enumerated on appeal. See Whiddon v. Stargell, 192 Ga. App. 826, 827 (386 SE2d 884) (1989). At the same time, this Court is also charged with avoiding the dismissal of an appeal and reaching the merits of a case when it is reasonable to do so. OCGA § 5-6-30. This Court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction in an order dated February 7, 2013. O’Dell filed a motion for reconsideration of that order, which we granted on April 4, 2013, while directing the parties to file supplemental briefs addressing whether this Court has jurisdiction. After conducting an inquiry into the matter, we find that we do have jurisdiction over the appeal.

Here, O’Dell is appealing from the trial court’s entry of a final judgment in his favor after he settled with the Mahoneys. However, his notice of appeal states that he is appealing only the trial court’s orders of March 5, 2012, and April 17, 2012, granting Ensign’s motion to dismiss and granting BFR’s motion for summary judgment, respectfully. At the time those orders were entered, neither constituted a final adjudication of the case because the Mahoneys remained as parties in the case. See OCGA § 9-11-54 (b). Accord Cherry v. Hersch, 193 Ga. App. 471 (388 SE2d 64) (1989).1 Accordingly, a direct appeal of these two orders could only be properly filed under two circumstances: either (1) an appeal within 30 days from the order granting [362]*362summary judgment2 or (2) from an appealable decision or final judgment. Adams v. Moffatt, 204 Ga. App. 314, 316 (1) (419 SE2d 318) (1992).

The appellees argue that O’Dell’s conduct of entering into a settlement agreement with the Mahoneys procured or set into motion the judgment from which he now appeals and, thus, that O’Dell is without standing to pursue an appeal from the trial court’s final order entering judgment in his favor. In doing so, the appellees cite to the well-settled proposition that “at the appellate level, one cannot complain of a judgment, order, or ruling that his own procedure or conduct procured or aided in causing.” (Punctuation and footnote omitted.) Torres v. Elkin, 317 Ga. App. 135, 139 (1) (730 SE2d 518) (2012). Accord Waye v. Continental Special Risks, Inc., 289 Ga. App. 82, 84 (656 SE2d 150) (2007).

In Torres, the plaintiff filed a direct appeal after the trial court’s grant of his motions to dismiss the remaining defendants in his lawsuit and for entry of a final judgment. Torres, supra at 137-138. In his appeal from that order, the plaintiff challenged only the trial court’s earlier denial of his motion for partial summary judgment and the granting of a different defendant’s motion to enforce a settlement agreement. This Court held that although the plaintiff’s dismissal of the additional defendants was not a decision or judgment that the plaintiff could appeal, what the plaintiff could do after the entry of the final judgment was to appeal a final, appealable entry of judgment as to the settlement agreement that was necessarily included in the same order that voluntarily dismissed the remaining defendants. Thus, the plaintiff was not appealing that which his own conduct procured. Id. at 139-140 (1).

In the present case, O’Dell did not voluntarily dismiss the remaining defendants in his lawsuit for the sole reason of obtaining a directly appealable final order nor was he seeking to appeal the dismissal of said defendants. Rather, after the trial court entered a final judgment in favor of O’Dell as part of the settlement agreement between O’Dell and the Mahoneys, O’Dell sought to appeal the earlier actions granting a motion to dismiss and summary judgment to other [363]*363defendants. We find that the Court does have jurisdiction to consider said appeal. See Torres, supra. For this Court to hold otherwise would likely discourage litigants to reach settlement agreements with the remaining defendants in an action. If the parties had not reached a settlement agreement and instead had proceeded to trial, O’Dell would have been able to directly appeal the trial court’s judgment resulting from the trial. OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1).

2. We now turn to the merits of the appeal. In a compound enumeration, O’Dell contends that the trial court erred in granting BFR’s motion for summary judgment because issues of fact existed as to O’Dell’s claims against BFR for vicarious liability and direct liability. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

On appeal from the grant of a motion for summary judgment, we conduct a de novo review of the law and evidence, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, to determine whether a genuine issue of material fact exists and whether the moving party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Holbrook v. Stansell, 254 Ga. App. 553, 553-554 (562 SE2d 731) (2002).

So viewed, the record shows that in December 2004, the Mahoneys signed an Exclusive Listing Agreement with Ensign, a real estate agent affiliated with BFR, where Ensign was to act as the sole listing agent for the sale of their home. On January 18, 2005, O’Dell offered to purchase the home, and the offer was accepted on January 20, 2005. Several months after the closing, the home flooded and the septic tank malfunctioned, resulting in property damage to the home. O’Dell alleged that the Mahoneys had prior knowledge of the defects causing the property damage and that the following responses on the Sellers Property Disclosure Statement form (“Disclosure Statement”) were false:

6. DRAINAGE, FLOODING AND MOISTURE:

(a) Are you aware of any water leakage, accumulation, or dampness within the basement, crawl space or other parts of the main dwelling at or below grade? No.

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

Related

MATEO F. MUNOZ v. FULTON COUNTY PATRICK LABAT
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2024
PACES FUNDING, LLC v. JOSEPH DEAN TILMAN, IV
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2024
RODNEY DENNIS v. STEFANIE WOHLGEMUTH
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2022
CALVIN MILLER v. MARCUS POLK
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2022
Ashley Claxton v. Dale Adams
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2020
Spies v. Deloach Brokerage, Inc.
169 F. Supp. 3d 1365 (S.D. Georgia, 2016)
HINES Et Al. v. HOLLAND Et Al.
779 S.E.2d 63 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2015)
MILLER Et Al. v. LOMAX Et Al.
773 S.E.2d 475 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2015)
Boardman v. Brenninkmeijer
763 S.E.2d 267 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
750 S.E.2d 689, 324 Ga. App. 360, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3370, 2013 WL 5779662, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odell-v-mahoney-gactapp-2013.