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Case No. 19-0594

Nesset, Inc. d/b/a Weber Paint and Glass
v.
Charles Jones and Green Development Sokol, LLC

Appellee

Nesset, Inc. d/b/a Weber Paint and Glass

Appellant

Charles Jones and Green Development Sokol, LLC

Attorney for the Appellee

Kevin J. Caster and Elizabeth J. Craig

Attorney for the Appellant

Peter C. Riley

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
19-0594
Date Published:
Apr 15, 2020
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Mary E. Chicchelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (12 pages)

            Charles Jones and his limited liability company, Green Development Sokol, appeal the district court’s award of $17,708—plus interest and attorney fees—to Nesset, Inc. doing business as Weber Paint and Glass.  Jones and Green Development raise three issues.  First, they complain Weber Paint misjoined its equitable action to foreclose a mechanic’s lien with a breach of contract claim.  Second, Jones alleges the district court mistakenly held him personally liable for the breach.  And third, they claims the court should have reduced Weber Paint’s award based on deficiencies in the work that company performed.  OPINION HOLDS: We grant relief on one of the appellants’ three claims.  They waived their first claim by failing to timely raise the misjoinder issue.  But on Jones’s second claim, we agree the court misapplied the burden of proof in imposing personal liability.  On the third issue, the court properly rejected an offset based on the appellants’ allegations of Weber Paint’s substandard performance.  Finally, we remand for the district court to award reasonable appellate attorney fees to Weber Paint, as the prevailing plaintiff.

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