Opinion ID: 1604971
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Were Hyundai, the IDB, the City, the County, and the State engaged in a joint venture to acquire the property of the Russells and the McLemore group?

Text: The Russells and the McLemore group contend, in the alternative, that Hyundai is liable for breach of contract because, they say, Hyundai was engaged in a joint venture with the IDB, the City, the County, and the State to acquire their property. According to the Russells and the McLemore group, they presented substantial evidence of the existence of a joint venture through the language in the project agreement indicating a sharing of efforts, property, skill, money, and knowledge to purchase and develop property for a manufacturing plant for a community of interest. `This Court wrote in Arndt v. City of Birmingham, 547 So.2d 397 (Ala. 1989): ``A joint venture is an association of persons with intent, by way of express or implied contract, to engage in and carry out a single business venture for joint profit, for which purpose they combine their efforts, property, money, skill, and knowledge, without creating a partnership or a corporation, pursuant to an agreement that there shall be a community of interest among them as to the purpose of the undertaking, and that each participant shall stand in the relation of principal as well as agent as to each of the other coadventurers, with an equal right of control of the means employed to carry out the common purpose of the venture.' `46 Am.Jur.2d Joint Ventures § 1 (1969). As we stated in Moore v. Merchants & Planters Bank, 434 So.2d 751, 753 (Ala.1983), `while every element is not necessarily present in every case, it is generally agreed that in order to constitute a joint venture, there must be a community of interest and a right to joint control.' (Emphasis added [in Arndt ].) `What constitutes a joint venture is a question of law, but whether a joint venture exists has been held to be a question of fact for the jury. 46 Am.Jur.2d Joint Ventures § 7 (1969). Unless the trial court can say that the parties were or were not engaged in a joint venture as a matter of law, the question must be presented to the jury. As between the parties themselves, the relationship of joint venturers is a matter of intent. As to third persons, it is generally the rule that the legal rather than the actual intent of the parties controls. 46 Am. Jur.2d Joint Ventures § 9 (1969). `The burden of establishing the existence of a joint venture is upon the party asserting that the relation exists.' Moore v. Merchants & Planters Bank, 434 So.2d 751, 753 (Ala.1983); Kim v. Chamberlain, 504 So.2d 1213 (Ala.Civ.App.1987). `547 So.2d at 399-400; see Moore v. Merchants & Planters Bank, 434 So.2d 751, 753 (Ala.1983).'  Environmental WasteControl, Inc. v. Browning-Ferris Indus., Inc., 657 So.2d 885, 887-88 (Ala.1995). `The elements of a joint venture have been held to be: a contribution by the parties of money, property, effort, knowledge, skill, or other assets to a common undertaking; a joint property interest in the subject matter of the venture and a right to mutual control or management of the enterprise; expectation of profits; a right to participate in the profits; and usually, a limitation of the objective to a single undertaking or ad hoc enterprise. While every element is not necessarily present in every case, it is generally agreed that in order to constitute a joint venture, there must be a community of interest and a right to joint control.'  Moore v. Merchants & Planters Bank, 434 So.2d 751, 753 (Ala.1983) (citing 46 Am.Jur.2d Joint Ventures § 12 (1969)). Flowers v. Pope, 937 So.2d 61, 65-66 (Ala. 2006). The record does not contain substantial evidence to create a jury question with regard to the existence of a joint venture involving Hyundai. Nothing in the evidence supports a finding of a community of interest. Hyundai never had a joint ownership interest with any of the alleged joint venturers in the property of the Russells or the McLemore group upon the closings on the property. Additionally, Hyundai did not provide financing for the purchase of the property, and it had no risk or expenses with regard to the purchase. Thus, nothing supports a finding of a community of interest involving Hyundai with regard to the acquisition of the property to constitute the project site. Cf. Flowers v. Pope, 937 So.2d at 68 (holding that there was no community of interest because the alleged joint venturers did not have an equal proprietary interest and only one of the alleged joint venturers bore the risks and paid the expenses). Moreover, the record indicates that Hyundai did not have a right of control with regard to how the property was obtained. Nothing indicates that Hyundai controlled the actions of the IDB or other governmental entities with regard to the selection of the property for the project site, the negotiation of the option agreements on the property, or the drafting of the option agreements. Thus, substantial evidence of right of control by Hyundai is not presented in the record. Although the evidence does tend to establish that a joint venture may have existed between the IDB, the City, the County, and the State for the purpose of enticing Hyundai to locate an automobile-manufacturing plant in Montgomery County, substantial evidence does not exist to create a jury question as to whether Hyundai was a participant in the joint venture. The evidence indicates that Hyundai merely evaluated Montgomery's incentive package, compared it to the incentive packages offered by other communities, and determined that Montgomery provided the best place to build its plant. Thus, the Russells and the McLemore group have not presented substantial evidence indicating that Hyundai was a participant in a joint venture; therefore, Hyundai cannot be liable for the alleged breach of contract. Because substantial evidence of neither an agency relationship nor a joint venture is present in the record, the summary judgment for Hyundai is affirmed.