Opinion ID: 810464
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Contract of Sale

Text: Gines argues that he may assert a claim in contract against Horton because the actual physical damage requirement in section 9:3144(B)(13) is a default rule that the parties can contract around. He claims that the parties did so in paragraph 6 of the contract of sale, which provides: Seller agrees to build the house in accordance with industry standard building practices substantially in compliance with plans and specifications agreed to by Seller and Buyer as evidenced by customer selection sheet and customer change orders, if any. Gines argues that the language in paragraph 6 creates an exception to the NHWA language requiring actual physical damage. Therefore, he concludes, the terms of this provision would allow for damages if Horton breaches the contract. We need not reach this claim because Gines did not attach a copy of the contract to the original or amended complaint.9 It is well-established that, in deciding whether to grant a motion to dismiss, a district court may not “go outside the complaint.” Scanlan v. Tex. A&M Univ., 343 F.3d 533, 536 (5th Cir. 2003). There is one recognized exception to that rule: a district court may consider documents attached to the motion to dismiss if they are referred to in the plaintiff’s complaint and are central to the plaintiff’s claim. Id. This exception does not apply here because the only attachment to the motion to dismiss was Gines’s affidavit. Thus, in granting the motion to dismiss, the district court did not need to address Gines’s claims based on paragraph 6. Had Gines attached a copy of the contract to the complaint, his argument regarding paragraph 6 still would be unavailing. The cited language does not indicate a waiver of the physical damage requirement—it merely sets forth Horton’s agreement to build the house in accordance with agreed upon plans and 9 The contract is in the record of this case, having been attached to Reliant’s notice of removal, which Horton joined. 10 Case: 12-30183 Document: 00512023188 Page: 11 Date Filed: 10/17/2012 No. 12-30183 specifications. Moreover, paragraph 13 of the contract shows that Gines was aware of the absence of any such waiver in the contract. Paragraph 13 states: BUYER HAS BEEN PROVIDED A COPY OF THE LOUISIANA NEW HOME WARRANTY ACT (LA. REV. STAT. 9:3141, ET SEQ) AND HAS READ AND UNDERSTANDS THE PROVISIONS THEREOF. BUYER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE LOUISIANA NEW HOME WARRANTY ACT IS PROVIDED IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, ORAL AGREEMENTS, OR REPRESENTATIONS, AND SELLER [D.R. HORTON] MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AS TO QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY, ABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EXCEPT AS IS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THE LOUISIANA NEW HOME WARRANTY ACT. This paragraph immediately precedes Gines’s signature on the contract, and effectively refutes Gines’s argument that he did not know of or understand the limitations set forth under the NHWA. It is well settled that a party who signs a written instrument is presumed to know its contents and cannot avoid its obligations by contending that he did not read or understand it, or that the other contracting party failed to explain it to him. Tweedel v. Brasseaux, 433 So. 2d 133, 137 (La. 1983). On this point, Horton rightly concludes that Gines is bound by paragraph 13, which declares that the only warranties Horton made were those set forth in the NHWA. The moral of this story is that in order to avoid the harsh result that has obtained here, the buyer of a newly constructed home in Louisiana should seek to obtain in the contract of sale an express waiver of the actual damage requirement of the NHWA.