HOUSTON – A California building company has lost its appeal of a ruling regarding a payment dispute in a construction of an office building.
Texas 14th Court of Appeals Judge Kevin Jewell issued a 12-page ruling Aug. 2 reaffirming the previous decision by the 215th District Court in Harris County that found Mega Builders Inc. breached a contract with Trimcos LLC and ruled in favor of Trimcos and Bell Tech Enterprises Inc.
In his ruling, Jewell stated that "a reviewing court ordinarily will not reverse a judgment based on an erroneous exclusionary ruling when the excluded evidence is cumulative or not controlling on a material issue dispositive to the case," and that the appellant "suffered no harm" with the exclusion of evidences. Jewell also said that the issue "did not lead to the rendition of an improper judgment."
Mega Builders sued Bell Tech and Trimcos over allegations of breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment.
The dispute started in 2013 when Mega Builders was building an office building in Houston, owned by Bell Tech. The opinion states two contracts were entered in 2013 - one between Mega and Trimcos and the other between Bell Tech and Trimcos. Both contracts stated that construction should be completed by March 2014.
"The price of both contracts was the same: $3.7 million," the ruling said.
"Trimcos received periodic payments from Bell Tech for Mega’s work but withheld portions of those payments from Mega," the ruling states.
The ruling states Mega Builders' owner, D.J. Mody, was "consistently starving for funds” and that he learned in January 2014 that "the bank had distributed more money to Trimcos than Trimcos had paid Mega."
In March 2014, a settlement was made, and, per the ruling, "(1) Mega received an immediate payment of $23,551.28 (per the accounting), and (2) Trimcos would pay a previously withheld 'retainage' of $75,622.98."
Mega Builders left the project that same month and later filed its breach of contract suit. Trimcos counter-claimed with allegations it overpaid Mega.
Two evidences presented by Mega in the trial were excluded by the lower court since they were considered "irrelevant because Mega had not pled breach of any purported settlement agreement," the ruling said. Mega was then ordered to pay Trimcos $23,159.53 in damages.
"On appeal, Mega argues that the trial court’s exclusion of two exhibits was error and led to the rendition of an improper judgment. Concluding that the trial court either did not abuse its discretion or that any error in excluding the evidence was harmless, we affirm," the opinion states.
Texas 14th Court of Appeals case number 14-17-00642-CV