Troy Langley Construction, Inc. filed suit against Nationwide Mortgage Services, Inc., inter alia,1 to recover payment for demolition services performed on property owned by Nationwide. Nationwide counterclaimed, asserting that it had never authorized the demolition work and seeking to recover the value of the demolished property. Nationwide appeals from the trial court’s order granting summary judgment on that counterclaim. This Court conducts a de novo review of the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, construing the evidence in the light most favorable to Nationwide, as the nonmovant. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. v. Evans , 276 Ga. App. 594 623 SE2d 767 2005. Viewed in that light, the evidence shows that Nationwide is in the business of rehabilitating commercial properties and making real estate loans. Mike Roberts is the president of the company, and Theodore Jockisch is the vice president. Roberts and Jockisch are Nationwide’s only officers and sole shareholders. Nationwide owned property located at 2000 Perry Boulevard in Atlanta, which it acquired through foreclosure proceedings. Nationwide did not possess clear title, however, as there was an outstanding first mortgage on the property held by individual investors. At the time of Nationwide’s acquisition, the property included 17 buildings containing approximately 136 apartment units.
On June 6, 2000, Nationwide entered into a lease purchase agreement to sell the property to VentureCap Development, Inc. The lease purchase agreement was signed by Steven Boyd as president of VentureCap and by Mike Roberts as president of Nationwide. VentureCap planned to demolish the existing structures on the property and construct new buildings. To that end, VentureCap, obtained a demolition permit for the property on or about August 3, 2000. The permit listed VentureCap as the owner of the property. By its own terms, this permit expired if no demolition work had begun on or before February 3, 2001. VentureCap did not begin demolition of the property during the permit period, because it was unable to obtain funding.
