D & T PURE TRUST; Mayflower R.V., Inc.; and Toni Len Boydston, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Lendell Douglas Boydston, Appellants
v.
DWB, LLC, Formerly d/b/a Mayflower RV Sales and Service; and Danny Brown, Individually, Appellees
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APPEAL
FROM THE CRAWFORD COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 17CV-14-186],
HONORABLE MICHAEL MEDLOCK, JUDGE
James,
House, Downing & Lueken, P.A., Little Rock, by: Patrick R.
James and Charley E. Swann, for appellants.
Walker
Law Firm, PLLC, by: Kent Walker and Tess Stewart, for
appellees.
OPINION
LARRY
D. VAUGHT, Judge
This
is an appeal from the dismissal of an unlawful-detainer
action. D & T Pure Trust; Mayflower R.V., Inc.; Toni Len
Boydston, as personal representative of the estate of Lendell
Doug Boydston; and Toni Len Boydston, individually
(collectively referred to as Boydston), sued DWB, LLC, d/b/a
Mayflower RV Sales and Service; and Danny Brown (collectively
referred to as Brown) in the Crawford County Circuit Court
for unlawful detainer. Boydston sought possession of certain
property that it had leased to Brown as well as treble
damages stemming from Brown’s alleged breach of their
commercial lease. The Crawford County Circuit Court dismissed
Boydston’s unlawful-detainer complaint based on "the
doctrine of claim preclusion and the concepts of res judicata
and judicial economy." We reverse and remand.
I.
Background and Procedural History
This
dispute stems from Brown’s March 2013 purchase of Mayflower
RV— a business with locations in Faulkner County,
Crawford County, and Hot Spring County— from Boydston.
Brown purchased Mayflower RV and also leased the land on
which the business was located. These transactions were
memorialized in an asset-purchase agreement and a lease
agreement.
Notably, the asset-purchase agreement included a venue
provision that required that all disputes under the agreement
be
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resolved in Pulaski County. The lease included no such venue
provision. Also significant to this appeal is that the lease
required Brown to pay Boydston $14,583.33 monthly in rent for
the three Mayflower RV locations, but it did not specify the
amount of rent attributable to each individual property.
The
relationship between Brown and Boydston soured, and Boydston
accused Brown of breaching the lease and the asset-purchase
agreement. The dispute heightened when the Faulkner County
location was destroyed by a tornado in April 2014. At this
juncture, Brown and Boydston disagreed on the amount of pro
rata rent that Brown was obligated to pay for Mayflower RV’s
two operational locations in Crawford County and Hot Spring
County.
On May
13, 2014, Boydston sent a formal notice of default and
opportunity to cure to Brown. In the letter, Boydston alleged
numerous breaches of their agreements, including that Brown
owed and failed to pay rent in the amount of two-thirds of
the amount enumerated in the lease agreement. On May 16,
2014, Brown responded to Boydston’s letter and challenged
Boydston’s ...