W. E. Owens Lumber Company v. Holmes

173 So. 2d 99, 277 Ala. 557, 1965 Ala. LEXIS 564
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 18, 1965
Docket7 Div. 647
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 173 So. 2d 99 (W. E. Owens Lumber Company v. Holmes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
W. E. Owens Lumber Company v. Holmes, 173 So. 2d 99, 277 Ala. 557, 1965 Ala. LEXIS 564 (Ala. 1965).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Appellant filed its bill of complaint in the Circuit Court of Etowah County, in Equity, to enforce a materialman’s lien acquired pursuant to § 37, Title 33, Code 1940, on Lot 5, Block 6, in Wildwood Hills, within the City of Gadsden, and the improvements thereon. H. W. Holmes, who owned or acquired title to the lot and built a home or residence thereon, having purchased materials from appellant for the erection of the residence, was made party respondent along with Harry William Major and his wife, who purchased the property from Mr. Holmes. Also Prudential Insurance Company, which financed in part the purchase of Mr. Major and his wife, was made party respondent.

The trial court, after submission of the cause for final decree, rendered a judgment in favor of appellant against Mr. Holmes for the sum of $6,144.15, plus interest, for materials furnished him and used in the erection of the improvements on the lot, but held that the complainant was not entitled [559]*559to' have its indebtedness adjudged a lien' against the lot or the improvements thereon, and denied all other relief prayed for in the complaint. Complainant appeals from this decree.

Before resolving the appeal on its merits, we will first consider appellees’ motion to dismiss the appeal on the ground that this court is without jurisdiction of this appeal for that the final decree here on appeal was rendered and filed on January 17, 1963; that a motion for rehearing was filed on February 8, 1963; a ruling denying said motion was rendered on September 12, 1963; and that this appeal was taken on March 6, 1964, which was more than six months after the final decree was rendered and filed.

Movants contend that in calculating the time elapsing before the appeal was taken on March 6, 1964, we should exclude only the days between the filing of the motion for a rehearing and its denial; that we should include the number of days between January 17, 1963, the date the final decree was rendered and filed, and February 8, 1963, the date the motion was filed, plus the number of days between September 12, 1963, when the motion was denied, and March 6, 1964, the date of the appeal from the final decree. — § 788, Title 7, Code 1940. Such calculations would extend the time of appeal beyond the limitation fixed by § 788, Title 7, Code 1940. No appeal was taken from the order denying the motion for rehearing. Such an appeal is not permissible unless the order modifies the decree.— Equity Rule 62, Title 7, Code 1940. There was no order of modification.

It is our opinion that the motion here to dismiss this .appeal should be overruled. The time limit for taking the appeal began to run from the date of the order (September 12, 1963) denying the motion. See Gavin v. Hughes, 249 Ala. 126, 30 So.2d 245, from which we quote:

“The motion to dismiss the appeal is not well taken. The appeal is from the decree of August 8, 1945, and not from the decree overruling appellant’s motion for a rehearing. The time in which an appeal must be táken, as provided for in section 216, title 61, Code of 1940, was suspended pending the ruling on the application for a rehearing. Equity Rule 62, Appendix title 7, Code of 1940, pages 1097, 1098. The statute and rule must be read in pari materia. See, also, Money v. Galloway, et al., 236 Ala. 55, 181 So. 252.” (249 Ala. 127, 30 So.2d 246)

The appeal was duly perfected within the time prescribed by law; hence the motion for its dismissal is denied.

We will now consider the merits of the case. We will briefly review some of the salient evidence.

Respondent H. W. Holmes entered into a business relationship with Wildwood Development Company whereby he secured permission to build some residential houses on its subdivision. He contacted W. E. Owens, an officer and agent of appellant, with whom he had a conversation about buying building materials from complainant for use in erecting homes on the subdivision. Mr. Owens testified:

“Mr. Holmes told me at the time that he had an agreement with Wildwood Development Company to develop this particular area and asked me if we would be interested in furnishing materials. So, naturally, we would have been, and we were interested in furnishing materials and we agreed to do so. He agreed — he told me that he was going to build a number of houses in this area and wqndered if I would furnish materials that we did.”

There was no agreement as to- the specific time the materials would be furnished, or as to the number of houses that Mr. Holmes was to build. Witness testified that he furnished everything that his company normally kept for building houses. There were several items used in the project that complainant did not furnish Mr. Holmes. [560]*560Appellant began delivering the materials to the suit property, Lot 5, Block 6, supra, upon which a lien is here sought to be enforced, in the Fall of 1959. Deliveries of materials to this project were regularly made during the progress of the building operations on this lot until February 12, 1960, at which time deliveries and construction ceased, there being no further need therefor.

The evidence is without dispute that Holmes entered into an agreement with one Caruso in February, 1960, to sell him the lot and improvements. Caruso went into possession and occupied the house for a few weeks, when he moved and never consummated the agreement to buy.

Mr. Flolmes and respondent Major entered into a written agreement, dated April 27, 1960, whereby Holmes agreed to sell and Major agreed to buy the suit property at a consideration expressed in the agreement. Major testified that soon after the agreement was executed he moved a roll-away bed into the house and slept there several nights; that he moved his family into the house on the last day of May, 1960. On June 2, 1960, Holmes and his wife executed and delivered a deed to Major and his wife to the premises.

Prior to June 1, 1960, and after the written agreement to buy the home and possession delivered to Major, in fact from February 12, 1960, to June 1, 1960, no additions or repairs were made to the house which, according to the contention of ap-pellees, was completed and sold to Major in a completed state.

On June 1, 1960, after Major moved his family into the house, appellant, at the instance of Holmes or his agent, delivered to the residence (the suit property) an aluminum screen, amounting to $5.10, to be attached to a louvered outside door. Mr. Major attached the screen. Appellant’s witnesses testified that- on June 11, 1960, appellant furnished Holmes some plywood, amounting to $66.83; for replacing some damaged material on a cornice that had become warped. There was no dispute that the screen was delivered, but there was dispute as to whether new plywood was delivered, or the old plywood was again used after corrections made.

Thereafter, on November 30, 1960, complainant executed a verified statement in writing, claiming a lien upon the suit property for the amount of materials furnished for the suit property. It is averred in the complaint:

“ * * * that within six (6) months after the last item of building materials and supplies had been furnished for the construction of a building or improvement of a building on the above described property, it filed a verified statement in writing in the office of the Judge of Probate of Etowah County, Alabama, showing the amount of the demands secured by the lien, * *

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Bluebook (online)
173 So. 2d 99, 277 Ala. 557, 1965 Ala. LEXIS 564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/w-e-owens-lumber-company-v-holmes-ala-1965.