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Case No. 23-0795

Paul Yakel and Therese Yakel
v.
Randall W. Wheeler

Appellant

Paul Yakel and Therese Yakel

Appellee

Randall W. Wheeler

Attorneys for the Appellant

Olivia R. McDowell and Sean A. Minahan
Theodore T. Appel

Attorney for the Appellee

Brody D. Swanson

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
23-0795
Date Published:
Jul 03, 2024
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, James S. Heckerman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (16 pages)

            Paul and Therese Yakel appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing their breach-of-contract, breach-of-implied-warranty, and negligent-construction claims against Randall Wheeler arising from their home-siding-replacement project.  OPINION HOLDS: The undisputed facts, including the Yakels’ repeated testimony that Wheeler was not their general contractor for the siding replacement project, shows that the Yakels’ did not contract with Wheeler to be their general contractor.  And so their breach-of-contract claim and breach-of-implied warranty claims based on the contrary theory fail as a matter of law.  Because their negligence claim also seeks to remedy their defeated expectations on the construction project, the economic-loss doctrine forecloses it as well.

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