6 results for 'cat:"Fraud" AND cat:"Real Estate" AND cat:"Contract"'.
J. Rambin partially overturns a ruling granting summary judgment in a breach of contract and fraud case. Two homebuyers are suing the seller and her agent, alleging they did not have the roof fully repaired as per the purchase contract, resulting in the roof leaking shortly after the buyers purchased the house. The trial court did not err in granting summary judgment for the agent for failure to show damages, as the buyers did not provide expert testimony to show how much the damage to the roof would cost to repair. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment for the seller, however, as she only pled failure to show causation, and the question of whether the roof damage was present before buyers bought the house can be answered by a lay person and doesn’t require expert testimony, and the buyers have provided evidence of causation. The trial court also erred in refusing to admit as evidence text messages between the seller and a roofing contractor due to hearsay and lack of relevance; the seller is a party to the case, so the text messages aren’t hearsay, and they are relevant to the seller’s allegedly fraudulent behavior. Additionally, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment based on the seller’s argument that the buyers bought the home “as is,” as the seller was required to repair the roof as part of the purchase contract. Affirmed in part, reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rambin, Filed On: August 22, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00056-CV, Categories: fraud, real Estate, contract
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in favor of a seller in a convoluted real estate dispute. The seller, who was ordered to pay back the buyer for a property sale after it became clear that she was not in fact the owner of the property in question, has already provided “legally and factually sufficient evidence” that both she and buyer held the “mistaken belief” that she owned the property, whereas the buyer has not provided adequate evidence of fraud. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00165-CV, Categories: fraud, real Estate, contract
J. Jewell finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the buyer of a property who alleged the purported owner took his money without having unencumbered title to the property. The buyer's "deemed admissions" regarding his non-compliance with the contract did not preclude his recovery on the deceptive trade practices and Property Code claims. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Jewell, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00221-CV, Categories: fraud, real Estate, contract
J. Flanagan partially denies a property development firm’s former accountant’s motion to dismiss allegations of conversion, fraud and breach of contract brought by the firm. The firm correctly argues fraud because the accountant falsely told a member of the firm that to get tax benefits, he would need to share ownership of the firm with the accountant. Thus, they created the firm as a 50-50 partnership. Then, the accountant fraudulently acquired a home on behalf of the member without his knowledge for almost $1 million. The accountant quit the firm and refuses to return the property to the firm. The firm’s claim that the accountant breached his fiduciary duty while acting as the firm’s agent and member will proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv1062, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: fraud, real Estate, contract
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