Security Development & Investment Co. v. Ben O'Callaghan Co.

188 S.E.2d 238, 125 Ga. App. 526, 1972 Ga. App. LEXIS 1393
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJanuary 24, 1972
Docket46404
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 188 S.E.2d 238 (Security Development & Investment Co. v. Ben O'Callaghan Co.) 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
Security Development & Investment Co. v. Ben O'Callaghan Co., 188 S.E.2d 238, 125 Ga. App. 526, 1972 Ga. App. LEXIS 1393 (Ga. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinions

Clark, Judge.

Ben O’Callaghan sued Security Development & Investment Company on a past due promissory note for principal, interest, and attorney’s fees. The facts in connection with the execution and delivery of this note are detailed hereinafter.

Defendant denied the material allegations.' Answering further, it denied any indebtedness to plaintiff; setting up that there was no consideration given for the note; that the consideration given by plaintiff for the note had failed; that the note was signed under duress and through a false representation by plaintiff that plaintiff had finished its work under a construction contract between the two parties; and that plaintiff had in this contract agreed with defendant to install in a multiapartment project a complete ventilation, heating and [527]*527air-conditioning system for $283,009, for which $245,000 had been paid, although plaintiff has never completed the same and the cost to do so is in excess of the amount sued for.

Defendant also made four counterclaims, each for $50,000. The first counterclaim alleged a breach of contract in that the system contemplated by their contract was never completed by plaintiff.

The second counterclaim alleged that plaintiff was to construct and install the complete system and would guarantee all material and workmanship for a period of one year from date of completion, but that after work began defendant had encountered many defects in workmanship and materials, and since June of 1969 has informed plaintiff of same but plaintiff has refused to put the system in proper condition.

The third counterclaim alleges plaintiff falsely represented it had completed the system, when in fact it was never completed and has never worked properly; that plaintiff has violated an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose under UCC 109A-2 — 315 and has refused despite demand to complete the system properly.

Counterclaim 4 alleges plaintiff on October 14, 1969, misinformed defendant that the system was completed and properly installed in order to induce defendant to execute the note sued on; that defendant relied on the representations and lacked the expertise to determine otherwise.

A trial was had resulting in a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount sued for, less an allowance to defendant for a water treatment system.

Defendant’s appeal is from the denial of its motion for new trial as amended which enumerates such denial as error together with several evidentiary rulings and objections to portions of the charge of the court.

It appears from the evidence plaintiff designated as subcontractor entered into a contract with defendant under which plaintiff was to install the air-conditioning and ventilation system plus several other items in a multi[528]*528apartment project being built by defendant.

In their contract (styled "subcontract”) reference is made to a 240-unit apartment project to be built in strict accordance with plans and specifications prepared by a certain architect. The contract in part recites:

"Subcontractor will furnish all labor and materials, equipment and supervision to install a complete heating, air-conditioning and ventilation system in strict accordance with all requirements of the plans and specifications. Particular mention of this work is made in section 15-B of the specifications and this subcontract includes all work contained therein and as described below . . .”

The contract further stipulates: "All material and workmanship shall be guaranteed for one year from date of completion. Also 24 hour service and maintenance of gas engine units, for one year after completion, is included in this subcontract. All work shall be performed in complete harmony with other trades to. the best interest of the job. In the event of change orders involving more or less work, it is hereby understood that the subcontract will be increased or decreased at the same unit prices used on the original quotation . . . Weekly payments will be made on Friday for requisitions approved Monday of the same week and 10% will be withheld until all work is completed to the satisfaction of the project manager . . .” (Emphasis supplied.)

The above contract was executed on February 22, 1968, and construction began in April. The 240 units were incorporated in some 40 buildings and were intentionally built in staggered groups so that some would be ready for occupancy and income production while others would be in various stages of construction and completion.

Mr. O’Callaghan testified his company had finished its contract work on the project by June or July, 1968, and that its final payment plus the 10% retainage plus payment for certain extras was then due. A bona fide dispute arose as to the amount owed, O’Callaghan claiming $41,636, but an understanding was reached, concerning [529]*529which he testified: "And we shook hands on it at 36,5 (meaning $36,500) with the understanding a note, interest-bearing note, was to be given. The date on the note and the terms on which it was paid was based upon what they saw as their closing date for that project when they would obtain additional funds, which they felt like would be around November 15th or November 20th but might go as long as January 20, 1970, when their commitment ran out on this job. And so that was the basis on which the terms of the note came into being, that’s when they would be able to meet my note, to redeem it.”

There was evidence defendant’s attorney drafted the note and that two or three days later the president of the defendant company executed and delivered it to the plaintiff.

The note is a promise to pay a certain sum ($36,500) on a certain day (November 19, 1969). Except with regard to the due date it provides: "In the event the permanent loan closing in the construction of the . . . apartments has not been closed by November 19, 1969, the undersigned may extend the maturity day of the within note until one (1) day following said closing, but in no event shall said maturity date be extended beyond January 19, 1970.”

1. The note sued on was by its terms an unconditional promise to pay a certain sum on a certain day as defined in the note. The case was tried for 5 days and the contentions of both sides were fully presented to the jury. The jury was authorized from the evidence to find, in answer to the defenses raised, that the defendant maker had given it to the plaintiff in discharge of the final payment (the amount of which had been disputed but was negotiated and agreed upon) owed to plaintiff under an installation contract between the parties which the plaintiff and the defendant had agreed and acted upon as completed. As regards the general grounds of the motion for new trial, "[T]he only query is whether the evidence supported the verdict. Southern R. Co. v. Adams, 14 Ga. [530]*530App. 366 (80 SE 912); Brown v. Bank of Cumming, 144 Ga. 655 (87 SE 887).” Daniels v. Hartley, 120 Ga. App. 294 (170 SE2d 315). A new trial was not authorized on the general grounds.

2. Error is enumerated with regard to the portions of the court’s charge to the jury which quoted Code §§ 20-201, 20-106, 20-703, and 3-107.

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Security Development & Investment Co. v. Ben O'Callaghan Co.
188 S.E.2d 238 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
188 S.E.2d 238, 125 Ga. App. 526, 1972 Ga. App. LEXIS 1393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/security-development-investment-co-v-ben-ocallaghan-co-gactapp-1972.