Tidwell v. Morgan Building System, Inc.

840 S.W.2d 373, 1992 Tenn. App. LEXIS 407
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 11, 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 840 S.W.2d 373 (Tidwell v. Morgan Building System, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tidwell v. Morgan Building System, Inc., 840 S.W.2d 373, 1992 Tenn. App. LEXIS 407 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

FARMER, Judge.

Defendant, Morgan Building Systems, Inc., appeals from the order of the trial court awarding a judgment in the amount of $1,460.25 in favor of Plaintiff, Kenneth Tidwell, on his breach of contract claim. The trial court also dismissed Defendant’s counterclaim for breach of contract.

The facts in this case are largely undisputed. On May 18, 1990, Plaintiff's wife, Suzanne Tidwell, entered into a written contract with Defendant on behalf of Plaintiff for the purchase of an 8' x 8' portable building. It is alleged and admitted that she was acting as her husband’s agent. The contract provided for a purchase price of $805.97, which Mrs. Tidwell paid in full by check that day. The agreement also provided for a requested delivery date of May 22 or 23,1990. The contract provided, inter alia, that the requested delivery date was an estimate only and that subsequent modifications to the contract were to be in writing.

A few days later, Mrs. Tidwell returned to Defendant’s place of business and ap[374]*374proached the salesman she had dealt with previously, David Gibson, about changing the contract to order a larger building. Mr. Gibson completed a new purchase agreement for a 10' x 12' building with a skylight but did not require Mrs. Tidwell to sign the new agreement. Mrs. Tidwell again paid by check the full amount due, an additional $654.28. Mrs. Tidwell requested a new delivery date of June 2, 1990. Mr. Gibson and the store manager, Mike Middleton, stated that they could “more than likely” have the building ready by the requested delivery date.

On June 2, 1990, the expected delivery date, Mrs. Tidwell stayed home awaiting delivery of the building. In the morning she called Mr. Middleton, who stated that the building would be delivered as soon as the delivery man could get his truck fixed. Later in the morning, Plaintiff called the store and was told by an employee that the delivery man was there, that his truck was fixed, and that the building would be delivered as soon as the delivery man could get some help. Later that day, the Tidwells learned that the building would not be delivered that day and, in fact, had not arrived on Defendant’s lot.

The following Monday, Mrs. Tidwell called Mr. Middleton at Defendant’s store and informed him that she wanted her money back because Defendant had not lived up to its end of the bargain. Mr. Middleton offered to reduce the price of the building if Mrs. Tidwell would not cancel her order, but Mrs. Tidwell rejected this offer. Mr. Middleton then stated that it would take three weeks for Mrs. Tidwell to get her money back. Mr. Middleton completed an order cancellation request which indicated that the order was being cancelled because the building was delayed longer than Defendant had informed Mrs. Tidwell and she had bought another building elsewhere.

Three weeks later, Mrs. Tidwell again called Mr. Middleton and was again informed that it would take three weeks to refund her money. When Mrs. Tidwell reminded him that he had said this three weeks earlier, Mr. Middleton stated that he guessed the refund request “fell through the crack.” Mr. Middleton then told Mrs. Tidwell that she should call Scott Watson in Dallas if she did not receive her money within the following three-week period. After three weeks, Mrs. Tidwell did call Mr. Watson, who confirmed that he had received the paperwork and that Defendant owed Mrs. Tidwell a refund of $1,460.25. Mr. Watson told her he would call back in ten minutes but did not call back. Later Mrs. Tidwell called the Dallas office again and was told that Mr. Watson no longer worked for Defendant. Another employee, Melinda White, then informed Mrs. Tidwell that she would not be receiving a refund.

The building arrived at Defendant’s store about June 15, 1990. Defendant, however, neither informed Plaintiff that the building had arrived nor attempted to deliver the building since Plaintiff had cancelled the order. The building was eventually sold to another party for an undetermined price.

Plaintiff sued Defendant for breach of contract and Defendant counterclaimed. The issues on appeal as presented by Defendant are:

(a) The trial court erred in finding and enforcing oral modifications to the agreement between Appellant [Defendant] and Appellee [Plaintiff].
(b) The trial court erred in allowing [Plaintiff] to recover under contract theory when [Plaintiff] was the first breaching party.
(c) The trial court erred in awarding judgment in favor of [Plaintiff] and requiring [Defendant] to refund the deposit paid by [Plaintiff].
(d) The trial court erred in holding that [Defendant] was under an affirmative obligation to inform [Plaintiff] of the contents of the Purchase Agreement after execution of the Purchase Agreement and of [Defendant’s] intention to elect a remedy upon default by [Plaintiff].
(e) The trial court erred in failing to award [Defendant] damages sustained to enforce the Purchase Agreement.

The original purchase agreement executed by the parties on May 18, 1990, contained the following provisions:

[375]*37524. TIME FOR SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION. MORGAN’S estimated time for substantial completion of the work is indicated on the front of this Agreement in the block labelled “Delivery Requested On or Before”. Commencement of the work will not be required until the signing and approval of all of the Contract Documents by PURCHASER. This REQUESTED DELIVERY DATE IS AN ESTIMATE ONLY, AND MORGAN MAKES NO ASSURANCES AS TO THE SPECIFIC NUMBER OF DAYS REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE WORK. IN ADDITION, MORGAN IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYS CAUSED BY ACTS OF GOD, WAR, FLOOD, EARTHQUAKE, STRIKES OR OTHER SUCH EVENTS.
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44. SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATIONS. This Agreement, and all of the Contract Documents, may not be modified other than in writing. Any such modification(s) will be binding on the parties only if signed by all the parties to the Agreement and executed in the same manner as this Agreement. In the case of corporate entities party to this Agreement, such subsequent modifications provided for in this paragraph may be executed only by the duly authorized officers of said corporate entities.

Defendant argues that provision 44 above prevented the trial court from admitting parol evidence concerning the revised delivery date of June 2, 1990. Specifically, Defendant argues that the trial judge erred in finding that the parties orally modified provision 24 of the contract by agreeing that June 2, 1990, was a firm delivery date and not merely an estimate. In support of this contention, Defendant cites T.C.A. § 47-50-112 and an unpublished opinion of this Court, Barnett v. Willis, 15 T.A.M. 29-1, 1990 WL 186697 (Tenn.App., M.S., June 13, 1990), appeal denied, 15 T.A.M. 46 (Nov. 5, 1990), designated not for publication.

T.C.A. § 47-50-112 provides that:

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Bluebook (online)
840 S.W.2d 373, 1992 Tenn. App. LEXIS 407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tidwell-v-morgan-building-system-inc-tennctapp-1992.