Snyder v. Watkins, 08ca3006 (9-23-2008)
Snyder v. Watkins, 08ca3006 (9-23-2008)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Appellant assigns the following errors for review:
FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
*Page 2"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF THE APPELLANT BY HOLDING THAT AN UNLAWFUL DETENTION OF PROPERTY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ACTUAL LOSS OR INJURY."
SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF THE APPELLANT BY HOLDING THAT DENIAL OF A PREJUDGMENT WRIT OF REPLEVIN OPERATES TO GIVE LAWFUL POSSESSION TO THE PERSON HOLDING THE PROPERTY."
THIRD ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF THE APPELLANT BY DEDUCTING FROM THE APPELLANT'S DAMAGES, AND FROM THE AWARD OF ATTORNEY FEES, AN AMOUNT TO COMPENSATE THE LOSING PARTY FOR A CLAIM TO WHICH HE WAS NOT ENTITLED."
FOURTH ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF APPELLANT BY ITS FAILURE TO ADMIT COMPETENT AND PROBATIVE EVIDENCE OF DAMAGES."
{¶ 3} Appellant is the owner of a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero. He intended to give the automobile to his granddaughter, Brittany, when she turned sixteen. The vehicle, which had in excess of 92,000 miles at the time he acquired it, was in deteriorated shape and Brittany decided to "upgrade" the vehicle, including the installation of a "body kit." They eventually came into contact with appellee, who is self-employed in the auto-body and painting business.1
{¶ 4} Although the particulars of what exactly occurred are contested, no dispute exists that the vehicle was delivered to appellee's business. Appellee then painted the vehicle and installed the body kit. It is also undisputed that appellee *Page 3 refused to return the vehicle to appellant until he received payment for his work.
{¶ 5} Appellant commenced the instant action on December 6, 2006. Appellant alleged that the vehicle was delivered to appellee solely to obtain an estimate for the work. Appellee, however, failed to give appellant a written estimate, as the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) requires, and wrongfully retained possession of the vehicle when asked for its return. Appellant demanded replevy of the car, damages and attorney fees. Appellee denied liability and counterclaimed, inter alia, for the work performed on the vehicle. Appellant denied any liability on the counterclaim.
{¶ 6} On July 18, 2007, the trial court entered partial summary judgment for appellant. The court concluded that no genuine issue of material fact existed that appellee failed to provide a written estimate for the work as the law required. Consequently, the court held that appellee could not recover for work done on the vehicle and granted summary judgment in appellant's favor on his CSPA claim. The court also entered judgment against appellee on his counterclaim and ordered appellee to return the vehicle to appellant.
{¶ 7} On August 7, 2007, the matter came on for a hearing to consider damages. Because Brittany was to use the car to drive herself and her sister to school each day, appellant requested $10 per day in damages for the ten months that he had to drive the girls to school.2 Brittany testified, however, that she drove her grandfather's jeep to school. On the issue of attorney fees, a statement was introduced to show that *Page 4 appellant's counsel billed $3,187.50 to that point for his work on the case. Deborah Barrington, a local attorney, testified as an expert that such fees are "very reasonable if not conservative."3
{¶ 8} The trial court's final judgment found that appellant had not established "actual economic damages." Thus, the court awarded appellant statutory damages in the amount of $200, as well as attorney fees. However, the court applied the $2,500 owed to appellee for the improvements he made to the car as an offset against both the damages and attorney fees and entered final judgment for appellant in the amount of $1,950. This appeal followed.
{¶ 10} The application of the CSPA to the facts, however, presents us with questions of law. We review legal determinations de novo without any deference to the trial court. Snyder v. Southeastern LocalS.D.,
{¶ 12} R.C.
{¶ 14} We believe that the precise number of days that appellant was without the vehicle is relevant if the court awarded him the $10 per day in damages he requested. However, we find no error in the trial court's conclusion that appellant established no actual economic loss. Absent proof of such damages, any error in calculating the time appellant was without the vehicle is, at most, harmless error. See Civ. R. 61. Accordingly, we hereby overrule appellant's second assignment of error.
{¶ 16} Our review of the August 7, 2007 damages hearing transcript reveals counsel for appellant "asking the court to set off against those damages [owed to his *Page 7
client] what [appellee] was asking for those repairs, twenty-five hundred dollars." Further, in his post-hearing memorandum, appellant "suggested]" to the court that it was reasonable to deduct from his final damage award the amount owed appellee for work done on the vehicle. In light of these representations, we believe that any error in applying the offset to the $200 statutory damage award is barred by the invited error doctrine. This doctrine bars a party who induces error at the trial court level from taking advantage of the error on appeal. SeeState ex rel. Fowler v. Smith (1994),
{¶ 17} Attorney fees, however, are another matter. Attorney fees are permitted under R.C.
"In order for private citizens to obtain redress under the Act, they first must be able to obtain adequate legal representation. Private attorneys may be unwilling to accept consumer protection cases if the dollar amount they are permitted to bill their adversary is limited by the dollar amount of the recovery, especially since monetary damages in many instances under the Act are limited to $200. An attorney may expend inordinately large amounts of time and energy pursuing a claim that reaps relatively small monetary benefits for a prevailing plaintiff. We agree with the observation of the United States Supreme Court when it said: `A rule of proportionality would make it difficult, if not impossible, for individuals with meritorious * * * claims but relatively small potential damages to obtain redress from the courts.'" (Emphasis added.) (Citations omitted.)
Limiting the amount of the attorney fees by an amount owed to a supplier is tantamount to limiting such fees by the amount of recovery.Bittner rejected this view. This flys against the public policy of encouraging private attorneys to take these types of cases. We again note that in the instant case, appellee wrongfully retained appellant's vehicle. An attorney may not have been willing to become involved in this case, and retrieve appellant's vehicle, if he believed it possible that his fees could be reduced by the amount of any benefit that appellee conferred to appellant.
{¶ 18} For these reasons, we agree that the trial court erred in offsetting against the attorney fees the amount appellant owed appellee for work performed on the *Page 9 vehicle. Accordingly, we hereby sustain appellant's third assignment of error to this limited extent.
{¶ 20} First, neither the policy, nor the "authentication certificate," establishes any link to appellant. The exhibit appears to be boiler-plate language and has questionable relevance to the proceeding. Second, even assuming arguendo that the exhibit was relevant, the admission or exclusion of relevant evidence is generally left to the trial court' sound discretion and its decision will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. See Peters v. Ohio State LotteryComm. (1992),
{¶ 21} Finally, even if we assume that the auto policy is relevant, and if we further assume that the trial court's ruling constitutes abuse of discretion, we nevertheless would conclude that the error is harmless. See Civ. R. 61. Here, appellant testified that he believed that ten dollars per day is a reasonable amount and the policy was cumulative to that testimony. Accordingly, for these reasons, we hereby overrule appellant's fourth assignment of error.
{¶ 22} Having partially sustained the third assignment of error, we hereby modify the trial court's judgment pursuant to App. R. 12(A)(1)(b) to include the full $4,050.00 in attorney fees found to be reasonable by the trial court and awarded pursuant to R.C.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.
*Page 12The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Ross County Common Pleas Court to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute that mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Abele, P.J., Harsha, J. McFarland, J.: Concur in Judgment Opinion
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.