These appeals arose from a dispute over the sale of a condominium unit in Savannah, Georgia. In the main appeal, Case No. A10A0547, purchasers Stephen E. Pollman Jr. and Linda C. Pollman “the Pollmans” appeal from the trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of builders Louise Swan, Forest River, LLC, Swan Construction, Inc., and Montgomery Station Owners Association, Inc. collectively “the Swan defendants”, and realtors Coastal Neighborhood Realty, Inc., Rebecca Holcombe, and Marie Harbuck collectively “the Coastal defendants”. In the cross-appeal, Case No. A10A0548, the Swan defendants appeal from the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to Louise Swan on the Pollmans’ fraud claim and from the denial of summary judgment to the Swan defendants on the Pollmans’ claim for punitive damages. Because the trial court should have granted summary judgment to all defendants, we affirm in Case No. A10A0547 and reverse in Case No. A10A0548. In June 2004, the Pollmans entered into a “New Construction Purchase and Sales Agreement” with Swan Construction, Inc. for a condominium unit in a development known as Montgomery Station. The contract provided in part: “This Agreement constitutes the sole and entire agreement between the parties hereto and no modification or assignment of this Agreement shall be binding unless signed by all parties to this Agreement. No representation, promise, or inducement not included in this Agreement shall be binding upon any party herein.” The contract further provided: Buyer and Seller acknowledge that they have not relied upon any advice, representations or statements of Brokers and waive and shall not assert any claims against Brokers involving the same. Buyer and Seller agree that Brokers shall not be responsible to advise Buyer and Seller on any matter including but not limited to the following: any matter which could have been revealed through a survey, title search or inspection of the Property; the condition of the Property, any portion thereof, or any item therein; building products and construction techniques; the necessity or cost of any repairs to the Property . . . . The closing took place as scheduled in the contract, on August 25, 2004.1 In October 2005, the Pollmans filed suit against the Swan defendants and the Coastal defendants. Their complaint, as ultimately amended, sought damages for fraud, violation of the Georgia RICO act, breach of contract, and negligence; it also sought actual and punitive damages. The Pollmans also amended their complaint to add as a defendant the closing attorney, who settled with the Pollmans in August 2008. As part of the settlement agreement, the Pollmans sold the condominium unit to the closing attorney.
The trial court granted summary judgment to all defendants on the Pollmans’ RICO claim and their claims for breach of contract and negligence. With respect to the fraud claim, the trial court granted summary judgment to all defendants but Louise Swan, and with respect to the punitive damages claim to the Coastal defendants only. These appeals followed.
