Marshall v. Miller

The owners (defendants) of a mobile-home park in North Carolina told the occupants of the mobile-home park that they would provide certain amenities, including playgrounds, a basketball court, a pool, yard care, paved streets, and garbage services. The owners did not provide the promised amenities. A group of residents living in the mobile-home park (the residents) (plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit in state court against the owners, alleging that the owners had violated the North Carolina unfair or deceptive acts or practices statute (the statute) by failing to provide the promised amenities. The trial court held that the owners had violated the statute as a matter of law and did not require the residents to show that the owners acted in bad faith by failing to provide the promised remedies. The court of appeals reversed the trial court and ordered a new trial for the owners. The court of appeals believed that defendants in cases brought by private citizens under the statute could defend their actions by showing that their actions were done in good faith. The statute did not explicitly require a showing of bad faith, unlike similar state unfair or deceptive acts or practices statutes that explicitly required a showing of bad faith. The state attorney general requested that the North Carolina Supreme Court review the court of appeals’ holding that the statute required a showing of bad faith.