Court Opinion

ID: 9590132
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:51:50.13383+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:25.436505
License: Public Domain

Birdsong, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I fully concur in the conclusion reached by both the majority and dissenting opinions with respect to the applicability of the usury laws to the $50 liquidated damage provision under consideration. I also agree with the dissent’s conclusion that there is no evidence in the record on the issue of whether the $50 sum is a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable damage accruing from the tenant’s default in the form of late payment. However, for the reasons set forth below, I agree with the majority in reversing the portion of the judgment of the trial court dealing with the $50 late charge.
First, I do not agree with the intimation by the dissent that there is some issue as to the “true meaning” of the provision. While the damage provision is inartfully drafted, appellee testified clearly that he had the following understanding of the provision: “A. There is a late charge of $50.00, if the rent is past due. Q____And when would the rent be past due under paragraph 12? A. The 5th day of the month.” Thus despite the inartful draftsmanship, both parties clearly intended for the provision to impose a $50 late charge if the rent was paid after the 5th of each month. “The cardinal rule of [contract] *482construction is to ascertain the intention of the parties. If that intention is clear ... it shall be enforced....” OCGA § 13-2-3 (Code Ann. § 20-702). It is undisputed that appellee breached the lease provision in question by failing to remit the $50 late charge after failing to pay his rent on the due date.
Second, appellee did not dispute the existence of the late charge, the contention that he agreed to the charge by signing the lease, or the fact of default under the provision. Thus, as the parties, the trial court, and both the majority and dissenting opinions appear to agree, appellant is entitled to recover the late charge unless the provision is unenforceable for some reason. There is no contention, and no basis for a contention, that the provision is unenforceable on its face. “ ‘ “Competent parties are free to agree to whatever provisions in lawful contracts that they may choose.... If the parties agree what the damages for breach shall be, the damages are liquidated, and unless the agreement violates some principle of law, the parties are bound thereby.” ’ ” Gibson v. Sheriff, 155 Ga. App. 578 (271 SE2d 710). The provision is enforceable when it is shown otherwise, and “[t]he defaulting party has the burden of proving the amount of the actual damages for the purpose of showing an absence of approximation between the actual loss and the stipulated sum, and he has the burden of proving that the sum provided by the contract did not bear a reasonable relation to plaintiffs actual damages or that they were exorbitant and unconscionable.” 25A CJS, Damages, § 144 (f).
The transcript of the trial of this case contains absolutely no evidence, other than the lease itself, on any issue surrounding the reasonableness, conscionability, or enforceability of the provision under consideration. Thus, appellee utterly failed to carry his burden of showing that the provision is void or otherwise unenforceable.
I find no support in the record for the dissent’s apparent conclusion that the late charge is unreasonable because it remains constant irrespective of the date on which the defaulting party actually pays the past due rent. It is just as logical, as the majority apparently concludes, that all of the administrative time and expenses incurred as a result of the default and for which the charge is designed as compensation are incurred immediately or soon after the default. Of course, both conclusions are almost purely speculative, as there is little evidence in this record supporting either position. Due to the fact that appellee failed to produce any evidence showing the late charge provision to be unenforceable, I agree with the majority that the $50 late charge should have been included in the trial court’s award of rent to appellee.
I also concur in Division 2 of the majority opinion in that appellant’s brief fails to contain any substantive argument with *483respect to its second enumeration of error, which challenged the trial court’s refusal to grant it “total judgment” on the dispossessory proceeding. However, the effect of the holding in Division 2 is to affirm all portions of the judgment other than that portion dealing with late charges. Accordingly, I would affirm in part and reverse in part the trial court’s judgment.
I am authorized to state that Judge Pope concurs with this opinion.