Smith v. Persichetti

I respectfully dissent because a jury issue exists as to whether the lease option contract requires Smith to return the $125,000 down payment made by Persichetti and O’Brien.

There are three steps in the process of contract construction. The trial court must first decide whether the contract language is ambiguous; if it is ambiguous, the trial court must then apply the applicable rules of construction (OCGA § 13-2-2); if after doing so the trial court determines that an ambiguity still remains the jury must then resolve the ambiguity.

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Karlan, Inc. v. King,…