Court Reviews Whether A Builder Constructed a House in Accordance with "Good Building Practices"

ROGER WILKES, ET AL. v. SHAW ENTERPRISES, LLC (Tenn. Ct. App. May 5, 2011)

This is an appeal of the trial court's determination on remand that the Appellee did not breach the parties' contract when it constructed the Appellant's house without through-wall flashing and weep holes, as required by the applicable building code. The parties' contract provided that the builder would construct the house in accordance with "good building practices." The trial court concluded the builder constructed the house in accordance with good building practices even though it was not in strict conformance with the building code. We affirm this holding. The Appellants also appeal the trial court's failure to award them their attorneys' fees and costs incurred in their first appeal. We remand this matter to the trial court with directions that it award to Appellants reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in their first appeal, as determined by the trial court.

Opinion available here:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/wilkesr_050511.pdf

TCA upholds judgment for homebuyer

TIMOTHY BOWEN, ET AL. v. SAMUEL E. RASNAKE (Tenn. Ct. App. December 28, 2009)

Timothy Bowen and his wife Leanne Bowen ("the Buyers") contracted to purchase a house from Samuel E. Rasnake ("the Seller") that was still under construction. The Buyers experienced numerous problems with the house and filed their complaint against the Seller for defective construction, breach of warranty and misrepresentation. After a bench trial, the court awarded the Buyers judgment against the Seller in the amount of $42,300. The Seller appeals. We affirm.

The full text of this opinion may be found on the TBA website at:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2009/bowent_122809.pdf