Hardy King and Beverly King sued Roger Gray to recover principal and interest on a $30,000 loan. Gray denied he was indebted to the Kings, and he counterclaimed for $29,192.97. Following a bench trial, the trial court awarded the Kings $25,500 in principal and $4,229.85 in interest on the loan, and $5,850 in attorney fees, and awarded Gray $8,028 on his counterclaim. Gray appeals, and we affirm except as to the amount of attorney fees awarded. Although the trial court was authorized to award attorney fees, the evidence does not show the fee award was reasonable, and we vacate the judgment as to the amount of attorney fees and remand for the case for an evidentiary hearing on that issue. “The court is the trier of fact in a bench trial, and its findings will be upheld on appeal if there is any evidence to support them.”1 Viewed to uphold the trial court’s findings, the evidence shows Hardy King and Gray were partners in a business enterprise consisting of buying, repairing, and then selling used cars. They had an oral agreement to share equally in the profits and losses of the business. In March of 1998, Hardy King and his wife Beverly King had a lunch meeting with Gray to discuss the possibility of the Kings investing in another of Gray’s business ventures, which involved purchasing computers to be sold to the West Point Military Academy. The Kings declined to invest.
After the lunch meeting, Gray told Hardy King that his cash flow was “a little bit short,” and if King would loan him $30,000 he would repay King within 30 days. On June 13, 1998, Hardy King wrote a $30,000 check to Gray from a joint account with his wife. After the 30 day period passed, Hardy King asked Gray about the loan, and Gray represented that his money was tied up because of “technical difficulties” and problems with the computer venture. Gray subsequently repaid only $4,500 of the loan. The Kings brought this action on October 8, 2001 to recover the outstanding principal, along with interest at the legal rate and attorney fees.
