Tallulah Const. v. Ne La Delta Development

982 So. 2d 225, 2008 WL 1886063
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 23, 2008
Docket2007-CA-1029
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 982 So. 2d 225 (Tallulah Const. v. Ne La Delta Development) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tallulah Const. v. Ne La Delta Development, 982 So. 2d 225, 2008 WL 1886063 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

982 So.2d 225 (2008)

TALLULAH CONSTRUCTION, INC. and Billy Ray Dew
v.
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA DELTA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP., Jamie Lee Strange, Sr., Lashonda Robinson Strange, and Ardell Williams Washington.

No. 2007-CA-1029.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

April 23, 2008.
Rehearing Denied June 4, 2008.

*226 James A. Rountree, Rountree Law Offices, Monroe, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, Tallulah Construction, Inc.

Raymond Lee Cannon, Law Offices of Raymond Lee Cannon, L.L.C., Tallulah, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Northeast *227 Louisiana Delta Community Development Corporation.

(Court composed of Judge DAVID S. GORBATY, Judge LEON A. CANNIZZARO, JR., Judge ROLAND L. BELSOME).

ROLAND L. BELSOME, Judge.

Defendant-Appellant appeals the trial court's award of damages to the Plaintiff-Appellee. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case concerns a dispute arising out of an alleged oral contract between Plaintiffs-Appellees Tallulah Construction Company and its president, Billy Ray Dew, Sr. (hereinafter collectively "Tallulah"), and Defendant-Appellant Northeast Louisiana Delta Community Development Corporation (hereinafter "Northeast" or "Appellant"). Tallulah asserts that it made an agreement with Northeast, through Mr. Dew and Northeast's chief executive officer, Moses J. Williams ("Mr. Williams"), to build two houses in Tallulah, Louisiana for compensation. Specifically, Tallulah submits that Mr. Dew and Mr. Williams verbally set the contract price for building the two houses at 606 and 608 E. Darrow Street for $66,500.00 and $66,700.00, respectively, and that this price was calculated based upon a value per square foot of construction.

Upon completion of construction, Northeast sold the residence at 606 E. Darrow Street on March 14, 2005 for $92,500.00 and the residence at 608 E. Darrow Street for $86,000.00 on April 6, 2005.[1] Tallulah asserts that because it never received the agreed compensation from Appellant, Tallulah filed liens in the amount of $66,500.00 and $66,700.00 on April 11, 2005. Tallulah acknowledges that it received a partial payment from Northeast in the amount of $25,000.00 prior to the filing of the liens.[2]

On June 20, 2005, Tallulah filed a petition for damages, asserting that Northeast contracted with Tallulah to provide labor and materials used in the construction of two houses at 606 and 608 East Darrow Street, and that as a result of its failure to honor its commitment for the value provided by Tallulah, Northeast was indebted to Tallulah in the amount of $107,100.00. The petition for damages also referenced the liens filed with respect to the two properties under the Private Works Act. A Judgment on a Rule to Cancel and Erase Lien Affidavits, dated July 15, 2005, declared that the lien affidavits filed by Tallulah had been filed illegally.

On July 21, 2005, Northeast filed dilatory exceptions of vagueness and ambiguity in the petition, improper joinder of parties and peremptory exception of no right of action; Tallulah filed a memorandum in opposition. The trial court issued a judgment dated December 9, 2005, overruling the exceptions.[3] After several months of discovery, on October 30, 2006, Northeast filed a peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action, No Right of Action, Res Judicata, Extinguishment of Rights and Claim Preclusion. On that date, the trial court *228 denied Appellant's exceptions and proceeded to trial, at which time it received evidence and heard testimony from both Mr. Williams and Mr. Dew. On November 3, 2006, the court found in favor of Tallulah Construction, Inc. and against Northeast in the amount of $88,200.00.

In its Reasons for Judgment, the trial court discussed the evidence of an agreement between Tallulah and Northeast to construct the two homes for compensation through the testimony of Mr. Williams. First, the court noted that Mr. Williams did not dispute that he made an agreement with Mr. Dew to build two houses on Darrow Street; rather, Mr. Williams testified that they did not agree to a specific price for the projects. The court further noted Mr. Williams' testimony that Northeast merely agreed to reimburse Mr. Dew for material and labor costs that Tallulah provided,[4] which Mr. Williams estimated were approximately $60,000 to $70,000 for both houses. The court concluded that Tallulah and Northeast, through Mr. Dew and Mr. Williams, agreed that Tallulah would build the houses on Darrow Street for compensation, but that the evidence was ambiguous as to price.[5]

Next, relying on Dubois Construction Co. v. Moncla Construction Co., Inc., 39,794 (La.App. 2 Cir. 6/29/05), 907 So.2d 855[6] and Morphy, Makofsky & Masson v. Canal Place 2000, 538 So.2d 569 (La.1989), the court found that although no definitive agreement had been reached with regard to price, this was not fatal to the agreement, and that the parties also had a recent history of contracting for the construction of homes in Tallulah, Louisiana.[7] The court held that the rule in Morphy and Dubois, requiring a court to supply a missing price in an otherwise valid agreement, applied to the facts of the instant case. Thus, the court found that, under Morphy, a reasonable sum for Tallulah's services must be calculated. The court noted that although the parties had recently contracted for $48.00 per square foot, both parties were cognizant that the construction projects in the instant case differed because Tallulah was not supplying all the materials, fixtures, and labor.

The court determined that, considering the totality of the circumstances, the compensation Tallulah sought to recover for the construction of 606 E. Darrow Street, $66,500.00 ($38.83 per square foot), and *229 $66,700.00 for 608 E. Darrow Street ($42.03 per square foot),[8] was fair and reasonable, but that it had to be offset by the value of the materials provided by Northeast. Because the court found that neither party presented any documentary or other evidence specifically as to the value of the stud walls, it declined to adopt the estimated value by either party, and set the value at $7,500.00,[9] in addition to a credit of $2,500.00 per house (for a total of $10,000.00 per house) for all other labor, materials, appliances and fixtures supplied by Northeast. Accordingly, the court rendered judgment in favor of Tallulah, finding that the total principal amount due was $88,200.00, with judicial interest and costs, from the date of the judgment[10] as follows:

606 East Darrow Street

The court subtracted the amount already paid by Northeast ($20,000.00) and the amount of the materials and labor supplied by Northeast ($10,000.00) from $66,500.00 (the contract amount) to arrive at a total of $36,500.00.

608 East Darrow Street

The court subtracted the amount already paid by Northeast ($5,000.00) and the amount of the materials and labor supplied by Northeast ($10,000.00) from $66,700.00 (the contract amount) to arrive at a total of $51,700.00.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"[A trial court's] determination of the existence of a contract is a finding of fact, not to be disturbed unless clearly wrong." Dubois, 907 So.2d at 857 (citing Crowe v. Homesplus Manufactured Housing, Inc., 38,382 (La.App.2d Cir.6/21/04, 877 So.2d 156)). Likewise, "the standard for reviewing the award of damages for breach of contract is whether the trial court abused its discretion."

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
982 So. 2d 225, 2008 WL 1886063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tallulah-const-v-ne-la-delta-development-lactapp-2008.