Court Opinion

ID: 9588488
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:34:51.51549+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:34.117976
License: Public Domain

Sognier, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur only because we are bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Jones Mercantile Co. v. Lyn-Har, 245 Ga. 812 (267 SE2d 251) places too great a burden on an owner in that an owner will seldom have access to the books (if any) of the abandoning contractor in order to prove that the contractor allocated the payments properly. Nor is it likely an owner will be able to obtain the statutory affidavit where the contract has been abandoned. Unless an owner can meet one of these requirements, the result under Jones is that an owner who has already paid in excess of the contract price as a result of abandonment must consequently “ante up” additional amounts to discharge liens. This result is manifestly unfair.
I am authorized to state that Chief Judge Banke joins in this special concurrence.