LAW.coLAW.co

CALLAHAN et al. v. HALL

Court of Appeals of Georgia2010-03-17No. A09A2358
302 Ga. App. 886691 S.E.2d 918

Summary

Holding. The trial court erred in awarding quantum meruit damages to Hall against the Callahans because, as a subcontractor with no direct contractual relationship to the property owners, Hall is precluded by Georgia law from pursuing such a claim and must rely exclusively on statutory lien remedies. The judgment was affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Clarence Hall, a subcontractor operating as Sonny Hall Construction, performed grading and related work on property owned by Larry and Deborah Callahan. Hall filed construction liens and sued the Callahans and the general contractor Sean Duncan for payment, seeking both enforcement of the liens and damages under a quantum meruit theory. The trial court rejected the lien claims as deficient under Georgia's notice requirements but awarded Hall $41,469 based on quantum meruit, holding the Callahans jointly and severally liable.

On appeal, the Callahans challenged the quantum meruit award. Georgia law prohibits subcontractors without a direct contractual relationship to an owner from pursuing unjust enrichment or implied contract claims; such parties are limited to statutory lien remedies. Because Hall contracted only with Duncan (the general contractor) and not with the Callahans (the owners), he lacked standing to assert a quantum meruit claim against them. The appellate court therefore reversed the quantum meruit judgment while affirming the rejection of the lien claims, which Hall did not challenge on appeal by failing to file a cross-appeal.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether a subcontractor may pursue quantum meruit damages against a property owner with whom it has no direct contractual relationship
  • Application of Georgia's statutory lien requirements and notice provisions
  • Scope of remedies available to subcontractors under Georgia law

Procedural posture

The Callahans appealed a bench trial judgment that rejected their contractor's lien claims but awarded quantum meruit damages in their favor.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Phipps, Judge.

Clarence Hall d/b/a Sonny Hall Construction (Hall) performed grading work and other services for the improvement of property owned by Larry and Deborah Callahan. Hall filed claims of lien in the Henxy County property records for labor and materials furnished to the property for which he claimed he had not been paid. He then filed suit against the Callahans and Sean Duncan d/b/a Design Renovations (Duncan), the general contractor on the project, to recover the amount of the claims of lien and to assert a quantum meruit claim. Following a bench trial, the trial court ruled that the liens did not adequately comply with the notice requirements of OCGA § 44-14-361.1 and rendered judgment in favor of the defendants on that claim. That portion of the judgment has not been appealed, and is therefore affirmed. The trial court awarded Hall $41,469 on his quantum meruit claim and held the Callahans jointly and severally liable for that amount. The Callahans appeal the quantum meruit award. Because the facts of this case do not support that award, we reverse that portion of the judgment.

In reviewing a judgment entered in a bench trial, we construe the evidence in favor of the judgment and the court’s factual findings will not be disturbed when supported by any evidence. We owe no deference, however, to the court’s legal analysis which is subject to de novo review.

The Callahans correctly contend that Georgia law precludes Hall from asserting a quantum meruit claim in this case. As this court consistently has held:

A material-man or subcontractor may not recover against an owner or general contractor with whom it has no contractual relationship, based on the theory of unjust enrichment or implied contract; rather, it is limited to the statutory remedies provided by Georgia’s lien statute, OCGA § 44-14-360 et seq.

Here, Duncan was the general contractor for the work done on the Callahans’ property, and Hall was the subcontractor. When Duncan asked Hall if he wanted to bid on the project, Hall submitted a written proposal to him, and was awarded the job. Hall had an oral contract with Duncan, and Duncan had an oral contract with Larry Callahan. Hall had no direct contractual relationship with Larry Callahan and is therefore precluded from asserting a quantum meruit claim as a remedy for nonpayment. Thus, the trial court erred in awarding damages on this basis. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s judgment on the quantum meruit claim.

Decided March 17, 2010.

Crumbley & Crumbley, R. Alex Crumbley, for appellants.

Power, Cooper, Jaugstetter & Futch, Gregory A. Futch, for appellee.

Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Smith, P. J., and Bernes, J., concur.

That statute, which sets out the requirements for declaring and creating liens in favor of subcontractors and others against real estate for which they have furnished work or materials, provides that “[n]o later than two business days after the date the claim of lien is filed of record, the lien claimant shall send a true and accurate copy of the claim of lien by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the owner of the property or, if the owner’s address cannot be found, the contractor, as the agent of the owner.” OCGA § 44-14-361.1 (a) (2).

In his appellate brief, Hall challenges the trial court’s ruling on his lien claims. But by failing to file a cross-appeal, he waived his right to assert any such challenge. See Ga. Society of Plastic Surgeons v. Anderson, 257 Ga. 710, 711 (1) (363 SE2d 140) (1987) (as a general rule, appellee must file cross-appeal to preserve enumerations of error concerning adverse rulings); see also OCGA § 5-6-38.

Wright v. Piedmont Property Owners Assn., 288 Ga. App. 261,262 (653 SE2d 846) (2007) (citations omitted).

Kennesaw Flooring v. Rector, 291 Ga. App. 704 (662 SE2d 808) (2008) (citations and punctuation omitted); see also J. Kinson Cook, Inc. v. Weaver, 252 Ga. App. 868, 871 (2) (556 SE2d 831) (2001) (trial court erred in allowing sub-subcontractor’s quantum meruit claim to go to the jury).

See Kennesaw Flooring, supra at 705.

See J. Kinson Cook, Inc., supra.