Canton Plaza, Inc. “CPI” and Chaim Oami collectively, “Plaintiffs” filed suit against Regions Bank, Inc. “Regions”, asserting claims for breach of contract and wrongful foreclosure. In its answers to the complaint, Regions asserted two counterclaims seeking attorney fees against both CPI and Oami. At trial, Regions moved for a directed verdict on Plaintiffs’ breach of contract and wrongful foreclosure claims. The trial court granted Regions’s motion. Plaintiffs moved for a directed verdict on Regions’s counterclaims for attorney fees, which the trial court also granted. These cross-appeals then ensued. In Case No. A11A2186, Plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in directing the verdict against them as to their breach of contract and wrongful foreclosure claims. Since Oami’s other companies, namely H&I Real Estate, Inc. “H&I” and NCO, Inc. “NCO”, were the parties who suffered damages from the alleged misconduct, and these entities were not parties to this suit, the trial court properly determined that Plaintiffs were not entitled to recover damages belonging to H&I and NCO. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in Case No. A11A2186.
In Case No. A11A2187, Regions contends that the trial court erred in directing the verdict against Regions as to its counterclaims. The trial court did not err in directing a verdict against Regions on its counterclaims for attorney fees because Regions was precluded from recovering damages for merely having been sued by Plaintiffs. We affirm the trial court’s judgment in Case No. A11A2187. A motion for directed verdict should not be granted where there exists even slight material issues of fact, because the trial court is substituting its judgment for the jury’s; only when there is an absence of evidence or when no evidence supports an essential element of the case should a directed verdict be granted, because the trial judge takes the determination of the facts from the jury. The appellate review of directed verdicts is based upon the “any evidence” rule to support the case of the nonmoving party; when there is “any evidence,” a directed verdict must be reversed. The direction of a verdict is proper only where there is no conflict in the evidence as to any material issue, and the evidence introduced, with all reasonable deductions therefrom, shall demand a particular verdict. When there is opinion evidence, circumstantial evidence, presumptions of fact, or evidence subject to more than one reasonable construction, the appellate courts shall carefully scrutinize the grant of a directed verdict, because such evidence may be construed as providing the “any evidence” creating a jury question. Citation and punctuation omitted. Teklewold v. Taylor , 271 Ga. App. 664, 665 610 SE2d 617 2005; see also OCGA § 9-11-50 a.
