Wells Fargo Bank v. Fallon Properties SC

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE
CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., successor-by-merger to
Wachovia Bank, N.A., Respondent,

v.

Fallon Properties South Carolina, LLC, Timothy R.
Fallon, Susan C. Fallon, Fallon Luminous Products
Corporation, GE Business Capital Corporation, formerly
Transamerica Business Capital Corporation, FSD
Repurchase Solutions, LLC, and South Carolina
Department of Revenue, Defendants,

Of Whom Fallon Properties South Carolina, LLC,
Timothy R. Fallon, and Susan C. Fallon are the
Appellants.

Appellate Case No. 2015-000157

Appeal From Spartanburg County
Gordon G. Cooper, Master-In-Equity

Unpublished Opinion No. 2019-UP-065
Submitted January 1, 2019 – Filed February 13, 2019

AFFIRMED

Alexander Hray, Jr., of Spartanburg, and Rodney F.
Pillsbury, of Greenville, for Appellants.
Robert L. Widener, of McNair Law Firm, PA, of
Columbia, and Weyman C. Carter, of McNair Law Firm,
PA, of Greenville, both for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Fallon Properties South Carolina, LLC (Fallon Properties),
Timothy R. Fallon, and Susan C. Fallon (the Fallons) appeal the master-in-equity's
order denying their petition for an order of appraisal. The Fallons and Fallon
Properties argue the master erred by finding they waived their appraisal rights
because Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., failed to comply with the first prong of section
29-3-680(B) of the South Carolina Code (2007). We affirm1 pursuant to Rule
220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities: Belle Hall Plantation Homeowner's
Ass'n v. Murray, 419 S.C. 605, 614, 799 S.E.2d 310, 315 (Ct. App. 2017) ("[This]
court's standard of review in equitable matters is our own view of the
preponderance of the evidence." (quoting Horry Cty. v. Ray, 382 S.C. 76, 80, 674
S.E.2d 519, 522 (Ct. App. 2009))); Ross v. Waccamaw Cmty. Hosp., 404 S.C. 56,
62, 744 S.E.2d 547, 550 (2013) ("Questions of statutory interpretation are
questions of law, which we are free to decide without any deference to the court
below." (quoting Grier v. AMISUB of S.C., Inc., 397 S.C. 532, 535, 725 S.E.2d
693, 695 (2012))); Hodges v. Rainey, 341 S.C. 79, 85, 533 S.E.2d 578, 581 (2000)
("Whe[n] [a] statute's language is plain and unambiguous[] and conveys a clear and
definite meaning, the rules of statutory interpretation are not needed and the court
has no right to impose another meaning."); § 29-3-680(B) ("[A] defendant against
whom a personal judgment may be taken on a real estate secured transaction may
waive the appraisal rights as provided by this section if the debtors, makers,
borrowers, and/or guarantors are notified in writing before the transaction that a
waiver of appraisal rights will be required . . . ."); Crystal Ice Co. of Columbia v.
First Colonial Corp., 273 S.C. 306, 309, 257 S.E.2d 496, 497 (1979) ("It is well
established that a principal is affected with constructive knowledge of all material
facts of which his agent receives notice while acting within the scope of his
authority."); Dorman v. Campbell, 331 S.C. 179, 185, 500 S.E.2d 786, 789 (Ct.
App. 1998) (holding knowledge of the information contained in a letter sent to the
appellants' attorney was imputed to the appellants); Regions Bank v. Schmauch,
354 S.C. 648, 663, 582 S.E.2d 432, 440 (Ct. App. 2003) ("A person who signs a
contract or other written document cannot avoid the effect of the document by
claiming he did not read it."); Wachovia Bank, Nat. Ass'n v. Blackburn, 407 S.C.
321, 333, 755 S.E.2d 437, 443 (2014) ("Instead, when a person signs a document,

1
We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.
he is responsible for exercising reasonable care to protect himself by reading the
document and making sure of its contents."); Sims v. Tyler, 276 S.C. 640, 643, 281
S.E.2d 229, 230 (1981) ("One who is capable of reading and understanding but
fails to read a contract before signing is bound by the terms thereof.").

AFFIRMED.

HUFF, SHORT, and WILLIAMS, JJ., concur.