Opinion
Docket Nos. 144356 144357. COA Nos. 296489 297196.
2012-06-20
Ronald W. LECH II, Plaintiff/Counter–Defendant/Appellee, v. HUNTMORE ESTATES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, Defendant/Counter–Plaintiff/Appellee, and Jacobson Ore Creek Land Development, L.L.C. and Scott R. Jacobson, d/b/a S.R. Jacobson Land Development, L.L.C, Defendants–Appellants.
Prior report: Mich.App., 2011 WL 4634197.
Order
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the October 6, 2011 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals as it applies to the Jacobson defendants and REINSTATE the Livingston Circuit Court's order granting the Jacobson defendants' motion for summary disposition. The Court of Appeals erred in finding that the plaintiff could assert the rights of LANS Development Corporation because a covenant against encumbrances is personal and does not run with the land. Pease v. Warner, 153 Mich. 140, 151–152, 116 N.W. 994 (1908); McMurtry v. Smith, 320 Mich. 304, 308, 30 N.W.2d 880 (1948). Moreover, the orders entered by the Livingston Circuit Court in the interpleader action, Case No. 05–021757–CH, did not confer upon the plaintiff the right to assert the rights of LANS Development Corporation. With respect to Count IV of the plaintiff's complaint, MCL 559.184a was not applicable because, under the unique circumstances of this case, the plaintiff was not a “prospective purchaser.”