Williams v. KIA of Bedford

104 N.E.3d 924, 2018 Ohio 283
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County
DecidedJanuary 25, 2018
DocketNo. 105616
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 104 N.E.3d 924 (Williams v. KIA of Bedford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. KIA of Bedford, 104 N.E.3d 924, 2018 Ohio 283 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2018).

Opinion

FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J.:

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, Dianna Williams ("appellant"), brings this appeal challenging the Bedford Municipal Court's judgment on her claims for breach of contract, *927Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act ("CSPA") and Ohio Administrative Code ("O.A.C.") violations, defamation, and fraud against defendant-appellee, Kia of Bedford ("KOB"). After a thorough review of the record and law, this court affirms the trial court's judgment, albeit for different reasons than those set forth in the trial court's January 30, 2017 judgment entry.

I. Factual and Procedural History

{¶ 2} In November and December 2014, appellant engaged in negotiations with KOB to trade in her 2012 Kia Sportage and lease a 2015 Sportage. At this time, appellant's husband also negotiated and executed two lease agreements with KOB. Various disputes arose during appellant's negotiations regarding the color of the 2015 Sportage, the installation and costs of side rails, the negative equity on the 2012 Sportage, the duration of the lease, and the monthly payments for the 2015 Sportage. The agreement ultimately fell through on December 18, 2014.

{¶ 3} Appellant returned to KOB the following day to speak with a manager about the various disputes that led to the deal falling through and the terms of the lease agreement. She spoke with various KOB employees, but the issues were not resolved. The disagreement between appellant and the KOB employees escalated, and the police were called to the dealership.

{¶ 4} The parties continued to attempt to reach an agreement on the terms of a lease from December 30, 2014 until April 2, 2015, but were unable to do so. On April 11, 2015, appellant entered into a lease agreement with Taylor Kia of Boardman.

{¶ 5} On April 29, 2015, appellant filed a small claims complaint against KOB. This complaint was dismissed without prejudice in July 2015.

{¶ 6} On January 8, 2016, appellant filed a complaint against KOB in the Bedford Municipal Court alleging breach of contract, CSPA and O.A.C. violations, defamation, and fraud. A bench trial commenced on December 13, 2016. A total of seven witnesses, including appellant, testified at trial.

{¶ 7} On January 30, 2017, the trial court returned its verdict. Regarding appellant's breach of contract claim, the trial court concluded that KOB breached the lease agreement by (1) demanding that appellant pay for the installation of side rails on the 2015 Sportage when it was not a term of the lease agreement, and (2) failing to advise appellant about the negative equity on her 2012 Sportage and having her sign the negative equity disclosure box in the lease agreement. However, the trial court concluded that appellant failed to prove any actual economic damages that resulted from the breach. Regarding the CSPA/O.A.C. claims, the trial court concluded that KOB violated (1) O.A.C. 109:4-3-03 by failing to advise appellant that Kia did not manufacture the 2015 Sportage EX in bright silver, and (2) O.A.C. 109:4-3-16 by failing to have appellant sign the negative equity disclosure box in the lease agreement. The trial court awarded appellant $200 in statutory damages for these violations. Finally, the trial court held that appellant failed to meet her burden of proof on her defamation and fraud claims.

{¶ 8} On March 1, 2017, appellant filed the instant appeal challenging the trial court's judgment. Appellant assigns eight errors for review:

I. The trial court erred in calculating actual damages owed to the Appellant.
II. The trial court erred in calculating the treble damages owed to the Appellant.
III. The trial court erred in the application of the whole weight of the evidence *928to determine that the Appellant was in a better position when she executed the subsequent contract with Kia of Boardman than with [KOB].
IV. The trial court erred in rendering to the Appellant only one statutory award for [KOB's] multiple violations of separate decrees under ORC 1345 et seq[.] and the O.A.C.
V. The trial court erred in determining that the defamatory statements made by [KOB] did not constitute Slander as a matter of law under ORC 2739.01.
VI. The trial court erred in determining that the defamatory statements made by [KOB] were not published to third parties.
VII. The trial court erred by the improper application of the Parol Evidence Rule to determine that the Appellant failed to meet her burden of proof as she failed to show that [KOB's] representations prior to the execution of the contract amounted to fraud.
VIII. The trial court erred in determining whether or not [KOB] acted with malicious intent as claimed in the Appellant's complaint and was argued by the Appellant at trial.

To the extent that appellant's assignments of error and the issues therein are interrelated, they will be addressed together.

{¶ 9} In their appellate brief, KOB raises three cross-assignments of error challenging the trial court's findings that KOB breached the lease agreement, violated the CSPA, and violated O.A.C. 109:4-3-03. KOB did not, however, file a notice of cross-appeal as required by App.R. 3(C)(1), which provides, "[a] person who intends to defend a judgment or order against an appeal taken by an appellant and who also seeks to change the judgment or order * * * shall file a notice of cross appeal within the time allowed by App.R. 4." Accordingly, we decline to address KOB's cross-assignments of error. See Ohio Valley Bus. Advisors, L.L.C. v. AER Invest. Corp. , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 104771, 2017-Ohio-1283, 2017 WL 1283586, ¶ 25.

II. Law and Analysis

{¶ 10} As an initial matter, we note that appellant presents several arguments that relate to the lease agreements that her husband entered into with KOB. Specifically, appellant asserts that her husband made a down payment of $4,000 to pay off the negative equity on appellant's 2012 Sportage. Appellant alleges that KOB failed to apply her husband's $4,000 payment to the negative equity on her 2012 Sportage, incorporated the negative equity into her monthly payments for the 2015 Sportage lease without disclosing this to her, and failed to return the $4,000 "deposit" to her when Kia did not deliver a vehicle to her.

{¶ 11} Appellant's husband is not a party in this case. Appellant's husband entered into agreements with KOB to lease a 2015 Kia Sorento and a 2015 Kia Optima. These lease agreements were signed by appellant's husband, not appellant.

{¶ 12} The lease agreement for the 2015 Kia Sportage was signed by appellant, not her husband. Appellant's lease agreement makes no mention of her husband's lease agreements nor her husband's $4,000 payment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
104 N.E.3d 924, 2018 Ohio 283, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-kia-of-bedford-ohctapp8cuyahog-2018.