Loflin v. BMP Development

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In The Supreme Court William Loflin and Leslie Loflin, Respondents, v. BMP Development, LP, Balsam Mountain Group, LLC, Coward, Hicks & Siler, P.A., J.K. Coward, Jr., Chicago Title Insurance Company, and Counsellor Title Agency, Inc., Defendants, Of which Chicago Title Insurance Company is Petitioner.

Appellate Case No. 2019-001768

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Appeal from Beaufort County Carmen T. Mullen, Circuit Court Judge

Opinion No. 28002 Heard November 18, 2020 – Filed December 9, 2020

AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED

Louis H. Lang and Demetri K. Koutrakos, both of Callison Tighe & Robinson, LLC, of Columbia, for Petitioner.

Ranee Saunders, of McGown, Hood & Felder, LLC, of Mt. Pleasant; and Daniel A. Speights and A. Gibson Solomons III, both of Speights & Solomons, LLC, of Hampton, all for Respondents.

PER CURIAM: We granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Loflin v. BMP Development, L.P., 427 S.C. 580, 832 S.E.2d 294 (Ct. App. 2019). We adopt the court of appeals' well-reasoned opinion reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Chicago Title Insurance Company (Chicago). We modify the opinion only insofar as Chicago's challenge to the court of appeals' finding concerning contractual incompetency. The two sentences in the court of appeals' opinion referring to contractual incompetency are vacated.1 We therefore affirm the court of appeals' decision as modified.

AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.

BEATTY, C.J., KITTREDGE, HEARN, FEW and JAMES, JJ., concur.