Fowerbaugh v. Sliman

Excerpt

Summary judgment Civ.R. 56 fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment R.C. 5302.30 residential property disclosure form caveat emptor material defects building and housing code violations patent defects latent defects attorney fees punitive damages R.C. 2315.21(C). Trial court did not err in granting summary judgment as to liability in favor of buyers on their fraud claim based on seller's material misrepresentations in residential property disclosure form. Even assuming that certain of the defects/code violations at issue were patent defects that were observed (or should have been observed) by buyers, that did not preclude seller from liability for, and for buyers from properly recovering damages resulting from, seller's fraudulent concealment of and misrepresentations relating to any material, latent defects/code violations in the residential property disclosure form. Trial court did not err or abuse its discretion in awarding buyers their attorney fees after finding that they were entitled to recover punitive damages. Attorney fees may be awarded to the prevailing party as an element of compensatory damages when the factfinder finds that punitive damages are warranted. Seller did not challenge trial court's punitive damages award or its determination that buyers were entitled to recover punitive damages on appeal and did not otherwise point to anything in the record that showed that trial court's finding that seller exhibited a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of buyers that had a great probability of causing substantial harm was not supported by competent, credible evidence.