ASUAMAH v. CENDANT MOBILITY FINANCIAL CORP (2010)

In Cendant Mobility Financial Corp. v. Asuamah,¹ the Supreme Court reversed Division 4(b) of our decision in Asuamah v. Haley,² in which we held that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Cendant, the non-builder/seller, on the plaintiff/purchaser's claim of negligent repairs.³ In reversing, the Supreme Court concluded that

the “negligent construction” exception to caveat emptor exempts from the defense of caveat emptor only a negligence claim by a homeowner seeking recovery against the builder/seller of the home for latent building construction defects about which the purchaser/homeowner did not know and in the exercise of ordinary care would not have discovered, which defects either were known to the builder/seller or in the exercise of ordinary care would have been discovered by the builder/seller. Inasmuch as Cendant is not a builder/seller of the dwelling purchased by Asuamah, the trial court did not err when it granted summary judgment to Cendant.⁴

Accordingly, we vacate Division 4(b) of our opinion, adopt the judgment of the Supreme Court as our own, and affirm the judgment of the trial court. Divisions 1 through 4(a) and Division 5 of our opinion were not affected by the Supreme Court's decision and thus remain in effect.⁵

Judgment affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1.  285 Ga. 818 (684 S.E.2d 617) (2009).

2.  293 Ga.App. 112 (666 S.E.2d 426) (2008).

3.  Id. at 124-126(4)(b).

4.  (Citation omitted.) Id. at 822.

5.  See Shadix v. Carroll County, 274 Ga. 560, 563-564(1) (554 S.E.2d 465) (2001).

MIKELL, Judge.

SMITH, P.J., and ADAMS, J., concur.