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Lafarge Building Materials, Inc.v.Thompson

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S13G1711
DecidedSeptember 22, 2014
Reporter295 Ga. 637, 763 S.E.2d 444 (2014)
JudgesJustice Nahmias authored the opinion; all Justices concurred
Tags
CivilBusiness LawContract LawContract InterpretationStatutory InterpretationSummary JudgmentReversal
Case Summary

Thompson signed a guaranty to secure the credit account his company, Elite Dwellings, opened with Lafarge Building Materials. Elite then bought building materials without paying, and Lafarge sued Thompson for the debt. The trial court granted Lafarge summary judgment, but the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the guaranty did not identify the principal debtor specifically enough to satisfy Georgia’s Statute of Frauds. The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the appellate court. It held that the guaranty incorporated the credit application, which identified Elite Dwellings on the line for the company or individual applying for credit. Read together, and giving ‘Applicant’ its ordinary meaning, the documents identified Elite as the principal debtor and made the guaranty enforceable. The Court rejected an interpretation that required the debtor’s name to appear in a particular location or formula when the contract as a whole supplied only one reasonable identification. It disapproved contrary language suggesting that the ordinary meaning of ‘applicant’ could not be used in construing an incorporated application. The Court noted that lenders should identify the principal debtor directly to avoid similar litigation. Judgment was reversed, with all Justices concurring.

Opinion

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Lafarge Building Materials, Inc. v. Thompson — The Atlanta Gleaner