PEABODY — The city’s lawsuit against appraiser Gregory Story will be headed to a jury trial in October after a motion filed by Story’s attorney in Essex Superior Court to dismiss the suit was denied last month.
The City is suing Story for breach of contract, violation of G. L. c. 93A (regulation of business practices for consumers protection), breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and negligence.
The City acquired the old O’Shea Mansion property at 2 Washington St. by eminent domain from developer Michael Corsetti, who planned to demolish the building. The City hired Story to appraise the mansion, which he valued at $425,000. The city then paid Corsetti the amount of the appraisal, but he sued, saying the property was undervalued.
The City had intended to use Story as an expert witness in the case until they learned that Story had been facing disciplinary action from the Board of Registration of Real Estate Appraisers. The board fined Story and put him on a six-month probation, causing the City to discharge him as an expert.
As a result of losing their expert witness, the City ended up settling with Corsetti for $825,000 on top of the $425,000 they had already paid. The City ended up paying Corsetti and his firm $1.25 million.
The City alleges that they were unaware of Story’s probation until a 2018 deposition and that failure to disclose this, coupled with his failure to testify, is a breach of contract. Story alleges that the City knew of the disciplinary actions against him prior to the 2018 deposition.
Story argued for the suit to be dismissed on the basis that the claims against him were time-barred and the statute of limitations had run out. Judge John T. Lu found that the claims were not time-barred and denied the motion to dismiss.
“Mr. Story argues that the City was on notice that it had been harmed when it received his appraisal in 2016, such that the cause of action accrued at that point. The City counters that the cause of action accrued when it learned of the existence of the agreement in July 2018 and determined that, under the circumstances, it could not use Mr. Story as a trial witness. The Court agrees with the City’s position where there is nothing in the record to suggest that, before that point, the City had any quarrel with Mr. Story’s appraisal or services,” stated the memorandum of decision and order on defendant’s motion summary judgment.
At trial, the City hopes to recover money already paid to Story and an additional $725,000 in damages.
Neither Peabody Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt nor Story’s attorney responded to a request for comment.
Emma Fringuelli can be reached at [email protected].
