Evelyn Cabell v. CMH Homes, Inc. ( 2023 )


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  • USCA4 Appeal: 22-1018     Doc: 33         Filed: 08/17/2023   Pg: 1 of 5
    UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 21-2360
    EVELYN CABELL; BILLY CABELL, her son,
    Plaintiffs – Appellants,
    v.
    CMH HOMES, INC., a Tennessee corporation; CMH MANUFACTURING, INC.,
    a Tennessee Corporation; SOUTHERN OHIO CONSTRUCTION, LLC, an Ohio
    limited liability company; JOHN DOE, an unknown person or entity,
    Defendants - Appellees.
    No. 22-1018
    EVELYN CABELL; BILLY CABELL, her son,
    Plaintiffs – Appellees,
    v.
    CMH HOMES, INC., a Tennessee corporation; CMH MANUFACTURING, INC.,
    Defendants – Appellants,
    and
    SOUTHERN OHIO CONSTRUCTION, LLC, an Ohio limited liability company;
    JOHN DOE, an unknown person or entity,
    Defendants.
    USCA4 Appeal: 22-1018      Doc: 33         Filed: 08/17/2023    Pg: 2 of 5
    Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia,
    at Charleston. Joseph R. Goodwin, District Judge. (2:20-cv-00507)
    Submitted: January 13, 2023                                       Decided: August 17, 2023
    Before KING, RICHARDSON, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    ON BRIEF: Michael J. Del Giudice, CICCARELLO, DEL GIUDICE & LAFON,
    Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellants/Cross-Appellees. Jason J. Stemple, OXLEY
    RICH SAMMONS, Huntington, West Virginia; W. Scott Simpson, Spenser Templeton,
    SIMPSON, MCMAHAN, GLICK & BURFORD, PLLC, Hoover, Alabama, for
    Appellees/Cross-Appellants CMH Homes & CMH Manufacturing. Sarah A. Walling,
    Robert H. Sweeney, Jr., Alexis A. Wright, JENKINS FENSTERMAKER, PLLC,
    Huntington, West Virginia, for Appellee Southern Ohio Construction, LLC.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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    USCA4 Appeal: 22-1018       Doc: 33        Filed: 08/17/2023     Pg: 3 of 5
    PER CURIAM:
    This case centers on a home sale that went bad. Evelyn and Billy Cabell bought a
    modular home from CMH Homes, Inc. 1 That home was then manufactured by CMH
    Manufacturing, Inc. and built on the Cabells’ property by Southern Ohio Construction,
    LLC. The Cabells now allege that their home was constructed badly and they sued CMH
    Homes, CMH Manufacturing, and Southern Ohio alleging various state contract and tort
    claims. The district court awarded summary judgment to the defendants on all counts. We
    agree and so affirm. 2
    The Cabells first contend that CMH Homes breached their sales contract “by failing
    to construct the Modular Home on the Property in a reasonably prudent manner.” J.A. 123.
    The problem with this argument is that, as the district court correctly found, CMH Homes
    never agreed to construct the Cabells’ home. 3 While the contract itself is ambiguous as to
    who bears the responsibility for constructing the house, emails between Billy Cabell and
    CMH Homes definitively show that the Cabells agreed to take it on, as does the form they
    filed with the state laying out the parties’ home-installation responsibilities. See Stewart
    1
    Billy purchased the home with Evelyn’s money. She authorized him to complete
    the transaction. Billy planned to live in the home.
    Since we affirm the district court, we do not address any of the issues raised by the
    2
    defendants’ contingent cross-appeal.
    3
    On appeal, the Cabells argue that their breach-of-contract claim alleged a failure
    to properly construct the home, a failure to properly manufacture the home, and a breach
    of the implied warranty of merchantability. But the Complaint alleges only one of these
    things: a failure to properly construct the home on the Cabells’ property. So, like the
    district court, we address only the merits of that claim.
    3
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    v. Blackwood Elec. Steel Corp., 
    130 S.E. 447
    , 449 (W. Va. 1925) (“[W]here the written
    contract is ambiguous and uncertain, parol evidence is admissible to show . . . the practical
    construction given by the parties.”). So the Cabells’ breach-of-contract claim against CMH
    Homes fails. John D. Stemp & Assoc. v. Cunningham Mem’l Park, 
    419 S.E.2d 699
    , 707
    (W. Va. 1992) (explaining that courts “must construe the writing” if the contract is
    ambiguous but parol evidence resolves the ambiguity); Goodman v. Resolution Tr. Corp.,
    
    7 F.3d 1123
    , 1126 (4th Cir. 1993).
    The Cabells next allege that CMH Homes, CMH Manufacturing, and Southern Ohio
    negligently constructed their house. But succeeding on a negligence claim requires
    showing that the defendants breached a duty they owed the plaintiffs. Lockhart v. Airco
    Heating & Cooling, Inc., 
    567 S.E.2d 619
    , 623 (W. Va. 2002). And, under West Virginia
    law, that duty cannot depend solely on a contract. 
    Id. at 624
    . Since the Cabells do not
    point to any duty that the defendants owed them other than alleged contractual duties, the
    district court properly awarded summary judgment to the defendants on this claim.
    The Cabells also assert that CMH Homes and CMH Manufacturing negligently
    hired Southern Ohio to construct their house, or in the alternative, negligently
    recommended that they hire Southern Ohio to construct their house. But nothing in the
    record suggests that either CMH entity hired Southern Ohio. And West Virginia does
    not—and likely would not—recognize a negligent referral claim in this context. See Pied
    Piper, Inc. v. Datanational Corp., 
    901 F. Supp. 212
    , 214–15 (S.D. W. Va. 1995). So the
    district court rightly rejected this claim.
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    Lastly, the Cabells argue that they were the third-party beneficiaries of a contract
    between CMH Homes or CMH Manufacturing and Southern Ohio, and that Southern Ohio
    breached that contract by constructing their home badly. But, to sue for breach of contract
    as a third-party beneficiary, the Cabells needed to show that Southern Ohio contracted with
    a CMH entity “for [the Cabells’] sole benefit.” See 
    W. Va. Code § 55-8-12
    . As the record
    contains no evidence that this happened, the Cabells’ third-party-beneficiary claim also
    fails.
    We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
    adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
    decisional process. The district court’s order is
    AFFIRMED.
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