Plaintiff Kenneth Meinhardt filed suit against Vickie Christianson, Russell Tillman, and Robert Reed collectively “defendants”, seeking specific performance of an oral agreement to purchase real estate, injunctive relief barring interference with his use of the subject property, and the removal of obstructions from an easement. He appeals the denial of his motion for interlocutory injunction and further contends that the trial court erred by rendering a final decision on the merits of the case. The record shows that Meinhardt owns property in Bulloch County, upon which he maintains his residence and operates a farm winery. Meinhardt’s property is bounded on its northeast side by property owned by Reed. Since his purchase of the property, Meinhardt has used an easement, which traverses part of Reed’s property, as his means of access to the nearby public road to the east. The property to the south of Meinhardt’s easement, and which bounds Meinhardt’s property on its eastern side, is owned by Christianson. Christianson had acquired a half interest in the property through an executor’s deed and later gained full title to the property from her former husband, Tillman, pursuant to the couple’s divorce decree. The decree also provided that Tillman retained a right of first refusal if Christianson ever decided to sell the property.
In April 2003, Meinhardt contacted Christianson to discuss purchasing .23 acres of the northern-most part of her property, which he intended to use to create a better means of accessing his own property from the nearby public road. Shortly thereafter, Meinhardt and Christianson entered into an oral agreement, in which Meinhardt promised to transfer a .23 acre strip along the eastern boundary of his property to Christianson, pay her $1,000.00, and construct a fence for her in exchange for her transfer of the .23 acre strip of the northern-most part of her property to him. Pursuant to the agreement, Meinhardt had both properties surveyed, orally transferred his .23 acre parcel to Christianson, gave her a check for $1,000.00 which she cashed, and began building the fence along the northern side of Christianson’s property as promised. However, a closing on the transaction was never conducted, and Meinhardt never obtained a deed from Christianson nor provided her with a deed to the property he was transferring to her.
