Case Name: CAROLINA PLACE JOINT VENTURE, Plaintiff-appellee v. FLAMERS CHARBURGERS, INC. d/b/a FLAMERS CHARBROILED HAMBURGERS, and F.A. INTERNATIONAL, INC., Defendants-appellants
Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: North Carolina
Decision Date: 2001-08-21
Citations: 145 N.C. App. 691
Docket Number: No. COA00-506
Parties: CAROLINA PLACE JOINT VENTURE, Plaintiff-appellee v. FLAMERS CHARBURGERS, INC. d/b/a FLAMERS CHARBROILED HAMBURGERS, and F.A. INTERNATIONAL, INC., Defendants-appellants
Judges: Judge GREENE concurs.
Reporter: North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports
Volume: 145
Pages: 691–696

Head Matter:
CAROLINA PLACE JOINT VENTURE, Plaintiff-appellee v. FLAMERS CHARBURGERS, INC. d/b/a FLAMERS CHARBROILED HAMBURGERS, and F.A. INTERNATIONAL, INC., Defendants-appellants
No. COA00-506
(Filed 21 August 2001)
Appeal and Error— dismissal of appeal — failure to timely file brief — failure to reference assignments of error
Defendants’ appeal from an order and judgment granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment under N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rule 56 and awarding plaintiff damages for unpaid rent, unpaid double rent, and other costs arising from defendants’ default on the pertinent lease agreement is dismissed, because: (1) one defendant failed to file an appellate brief and the other defendant submitted its brief after the proper deadline in violation of N.C. R. App. R 13(c); and (2) the defendant filing the late brief failed to reference the assignments of error as required by N.C. R. App. P. 28(b)(5).
Judge Timmons-Goodson concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Appeal by defendants from order and judgment entered 20 January 2000 by Judge Jesse B. Caldwell, III in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 5 June 2001.
No brief filed for defendant-appellant Flamers Charburgers, Inc.
Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein L.L.P., by John W. Francisco, for defendant-appellant F.A. International.
. By order entered 19 January 2001 the Court allowed cases COA00-506, COA00-745, and COA00-1231 to be consolidated for purposes of hearing only. Companion cases COA00-745 and COA00-1231 have been consolidated for decision in a separate opinion.

Opinion:
BRYANT, Judge.
On 21 January 1999, plaintiff filed a complaint demanding judgment for all rent, interest and fees owed from defendants' default on a lease agreement between plaintiff and defendants for certain commercial property; attorney fees incurred in enforcement of the lease; and such other relief as the court deemed just and proper. This matter came for hearing before the Honorable Jesse B. Caldwell, Judge Presiding, during the 10 January 2000 Civil Session of Superior Court for Mecklenburg County.
An order and judgment was entered on 20 January 2000 granting plaintiffs motion for summary judgment pursuant to N.C. R. Civ. P. 56 and awarding plaintiff damages for unpaid rent, unpaid double rent and other costs arising from defendants' default on the lease agreement. The defendants filed notices of appeal on 16 February 2000.
Plaintiff seeks to dismiss defendants' appeals on two grounds: 1) defendant Flamers Charburgers, Inc. d/b/a Flamers Charbroiled Hamburgers (Flamers) did not file a brief on appeal, and 2) defendant F.A. International, Inc. (FAI) allegedly filed its brief late and failed to reference and departed from its assignments of error in its appellate brief. We grant plaintiff's motion and dismiss this appeal.
N.C. R. App. P. 13(c) (2001) states, "[i]f an appellant fails to file and serve his brief within the time allowed, the appeal may be dismissed on motion of an appellee or on the court's own initiative." The facts indicate that in addition to defendant Flamers failing to submit an appellate brief, defendant FAI submitted its appellate brief after the proper deadline. See N.C. R. App. P. 13(a)(1) (2001) (stating that an appellant has "30 days after the clerk of the appellate court has mailed the printed record to the parties" to file the appellate brief). In the case sub judice, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals mailed the printed record to the parties on 23 May 2000. Defendant FAI did not file its brief until 27 June 2000 — several days after the proper deadline. Therefore, we dismiss defendants' appeal.
Further, defendant FAI failed to reference the assignments of error in its appellate brief in violation of N.C. R. App. P. 28(b)(5). N.C. R. App. P. 28(b)(5) (2001) ("Immediately following each question shall be a reference to the assignments of error pertinent to the question . . . [assignments of error not set out in the appellant's brief, or in support of which no reason or argument is stated . . . will be taken as abandoned."). This failure alone subjects defendant FAI's appeal to dismissal as FAI is deemed to have abandoned these arguments. See Hines v. Arnold, 103 N.C. App. 31, 37-38, 404 S.E.2d 179, 183 (1991) ("[W]e do not address the merits of the plaintiff's argument regarding alleged fraudulent conveyances because she violated N.C. R. App. P. 28(b)(5) in that she failed to reference in her brief the assignments of error supporting the argument. This part of the plaintiff's appeal'is dismissed." (citation omitted)).
For all the reasons stated above, we dismiss defendants' appeal.
DISMISSED.
Judge GREENE concurs.
Judge TIMMONS-GOODSON concurs in part and dissents in part with separate opinion.