155863 - Jones Family Trust v Saginaw Co Land Bank Authority
Attorney Information
Jones Family Trust,
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Philip L. Ellison
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and
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Plaintiff-Appellant,
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Sylvia Jones and Bobby Jones,
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(Appeal from Ct of
Appeals)
(Monroe – Costello, J.)
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Plaintiffs,
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v
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Saginaw County Land Bank Authority and Rohde
Brothers Excavating, Inc.,
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Defendants-Appellees,
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Robert A. Jordan
Gregory W. Mair
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and
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City of Saginaw and Hardhat Doe,
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Defendants.
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Summary
Page Content
Plaintiff owned a house adjacent to a blighted
property that was acquired by the Saginaw County Land Bank Authority (the “SCLBA”).
The SCLBA made a request through the city to demolish the blighted property,
and the city entered into an agreement with a contractor (Rohde Brothers
Excavating, Inc.) to complete the demolition. During demolition, the
roof on the blighted structure collapsed onto plaintiff’s house, causing damage.
Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against the SCLBA for inverse condemnation and
against Rohde Brothers for breach of third-party contract. The trial court
granted the SCLBA’s motion to dismiss the inverse condemnation claim and also granted
pretrial motions that effectively limited the measure of damages on the
contract claim to those applicable in tort actions. The parties thereafter
reached a settlement before trial, and the trial court entered a stipulated
judgment against the contractor on the contract claim, and dismissed all other
claims with prejudice. Plaintiff expressly preserved its right to challenge on
appeal the limitation on damages as to the contract claim. In an unpublished
decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court has directed oral
argument on plaintiff’s application for leave to appeal to address: (1) whether
the trial court erred in granting summary disposition in favor of the SCLBA on
plaintiff’s inverse condemnation claim; and (2) whether the measure of damages
on plaintiffs’ breach of third-party contract claim is the same as the measure
of damages on a tort claim for the negligent destruction of property.