Barber Win Judge?s Favor
by February 25, 2008 12:00 am 111 views
Beleaguered developer Brandon Barber received some good legal news for a change on Feb. 5 when he and his Lynnkohn LLC, the parent company of the Legacy Building in Fayetteville, received a partial summary judgment in their favor.
Washington County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn ruled the lien brought by World Granite & Stone Art Inc. last March was invalid and threw out the $392,398 claim field by company president Chuck Laminack.
Laminack had argued that his procurement of granite for the Legacy Building constituted a “direct sale” and therefore he didn’t have to provide Barber and Lynnkohn with the statutory 10-day notice that a lien would be filed.
Gunn disagreed with the World Granite position and cited Arkansas law that materials must be incorporated into the building for a materialman’s lien to be filed.
Citing admissions to those facts by Laminack, who argued Barber and his representatives would not allow the materials to be installed, Gunn ruled in Barber’s favor.
There is, however, still the matter of Laminack’s $1.64 million lawsuit against Barber alleging damages for breaching a $500,000, 2-year contract with World Granite to be the exclusive supplier of granite at the Legacy.
According to the filing, both sides have agreed to mediation.
In other Barber news, filings at the Washington County Courthouse show he’s paid off a construction mortgage that matured nearly three years ago for his 5,700-SF house in Fayetteville.
A $660,000 construction mortgage was taken out by Barber and his wife, Keri, from Chambers Bank of North Arkansas on May 9, 2003. Keri’s father is Chambers CEO John Ed Chambers.
The mortgage was set to mature on July 8, 2004, when it was modified and extended to Jan. 9, 2005. On Jan. 8, 2005, the loan was again modified and extended to July 8, 2005. No further records of any modifications to the mortgage were on file at the courthouse until the Feb. 6 filing by Chambers stating the mortgage had been paid in full.