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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
AT KNOXVILLE

FILED
August 6, 1998  
Cecil Crowson, Jr.  
Appellate C ourt Clerk  
PHILLIP W. TWITTY and ALICE  )  KNOX CHANCERY  
F. TWITTY,  )  C.A. NO. 03A01-9801-CH-00031  
)
Plaintiffs-Appellants  )
)
)  
vs.  )
)  HON. FREDERICK D. McDONALD
)  CHANCELLOR
)  
KENTON YOUNG and ROY EDWARD  )  
BROWN, and VOLUNTEER REALTY  )  
COMPANY OF KNOXVILLE, INC.,  )  
)
Defendants-Appellees  )  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED  

DONALD E. OVERTON and GLENNA W. OVERTON, Overton & Overton,
Knoxville, for Appellants.

BILL W. PETTY, O'Connor, Petty, Child & Boswell, Knoxville, for
Appellee Volunteer Realty Company.

GEORGE H. BUXTON, III, Buxton Law Office, Oak Ridge, for Appellees
Young and Brown.

O P I N I O N
McMurray, J.

On October 26, 1993, plaintiffs purchased a new residence in
Oak Ridge from the defendants.  Thereafter, the unfinished basement
of the residence flooded on several occasions after heavy rainfall.

On April 5, 1996, plaintiffs sold the residence at substantially
less than what they had paid for it. The plaintiffs then sued the
defendants alleging fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of implied
warranty, and violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act,
in that defendants did not inform them prior to closing that the
basement was subject to flooding during heavy rains.  The trial
court, found that the plaintiffs had presented no evidence tending
to show defendants had knowledge of the basement's propensity to
flood and dismissed the plaintiffs' action.  We affirm the judgment
of the trial court.

The residence in question was built by defendants, Kenton
Young and Roy Edward Brown.  The plaintiffs had lived in the
neighborhood where the house was being built for approximately
fifteen years.  Plaintiffs first learned that the residence was
being built, and observed the construction, when the concrete
basement floor was in place, the shapes of all the rooms were
evident, and some drywall had been hung.  Plaintiffs testified that
they were interested and thereafter went by the residence a couple
of times per week to observe the construction.

Plaintiffs contracted to purchase the residence on June 10,
1993 and the closing took place on October 6, 1993.  The sales
price was $202,750.  The lot upon which the residence was built is

0.46 acre in size, and a stream runs across a portion of the lot

behind the house. At the closing, plaintiffs were presented a copy
of a survey styled "mortgage survey" which had been prepared by
Dean A. Orr.  The survey states that "some of the property is in a
flood zone" [underlining in original]. The survey shows a
"floodway" area which runs approximately ten feet from the rear of
the house. The survey also states: "Note: Required minimum floor
elevation of fin. floor is 825.0. House has a floor elevation of
827.8

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Tennessee Law