Opinion ID: 1859651
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was Hudson an invitee or licensee?

Text: ¶ 13. Hudson argues that she was an invitee or, in the alternative, if she was a licensee, then she was one to whom CMI owed a higher duty of care. Hudson asserts in her brief that she had gone to CMI for the mutual benefit of all parties. Specifically, she asserts that CMI ultimately benefitted through her relationship with Johnston because CMI would not receive payment for the used car in question until Hudson sold it, and that in order to do so she must first obtain the title to the car from Johnston. Hudson's testimony was before the trial court by way of relevant portions of her deposition and answers to interrogatories attached as exhibits to CMI's summary judgment motion. She clearly stated that she did not purchase the car from CMI, but rather purchased it from Billy Johnston, [t]he person I went to see ... an independent person who buys all their [CMI's] used car trade-ins. ¶ 14. The deposition and interrogatories of CMI's business manager, Larry Craft, stated that Johnston was a wholesaler, that he was at CMI at the time Hudson fell, and that there was no contract nor ongoing relationship between CMI and Johnston. ¶ 15. Billy Johnston's deposition reveals that Hudson came by there [CMI] to pick up the title on a car she had bought from me. Johnston said that Hudson might have assumed that she could find me there or on Pine Street somewhere and responding further said [t]hat's where all the car dealerships are, yes sir. He stated that in his wholesale used car business he bought car trade-ins or new car tradeins at dealerships and that he had been in that business since 1987. ¶ 16. The circuit court found that Hudson came to CMI place of business for her own convenience and benefit and that CMI did not derive any benefit from her visit to its business presence. The court held that she was not an invitee when she went to CMI to meet Billy Johnston on the day she fell. Based on our review of the record before us, we agree.