Appeals Court orders business suit changes

Published November 16, 2012 9:01am ET



JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state Court of Appeals says the sale of a Prentiss County business will await a local judge’s determination of its fair market value.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports (http://bit.ly/PWgBSD) that Martha Crow and her husband Sylvester signed a lease in 2005 with Crow’s Sports Center Inc., Lynn Lambert and Rhonda Lambert. It included an option-to-purchase.

After Sylvester Crow died in 2010, the Lamberts offered to buy the business. They included an appraisal for $47,000. Crow refused their offer citing two other appraisals for more than $100,000.

In 2011, a judge found that the option-to-purchase provision was enforceable.

The Appeals Court this week ruled while the provision was enforceable, the local judge should obtain an independent appraisal and hold a hearing to determine the property’s fair market value.