Forrest L. Whaley and Margaret Ann Whaley v. Jim Ann Perkins

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that the three-year property-tort limitations period, rather than the one-year personal-injury period, governed the Whaleys’ claim for emotional-distress damages because those damages were an element of their property-injury claim. It affirmed the determination that no material evidence supported the jury’s finding that Mrs. Perkins made an intentional misrepresentation and affirmed the conclusion that the subdivision-regulation violation did not constitute negligence per se. The Court vacated the trial judgment and remanded for a directed verdict for Mrs. Perkins and a new trial on the claims against the Beshires.