Equity Essays Rule Statements

Question 1

any court may award temporary relief even though

Answer 1

the court may not be the proper venue for trying the cause for a permanent injunction on the merits

Question 2

to obtain a TRO, you must allege that

Answer 2

1) you own the property
2) serious and irrepairable harm will result if they’re not stopped
3) trying to preserve the status quo
4) likely to succeed on merits of case, and
5) not against public policy

Question 3

If there is a title dispute, you should

Answer 3

file a complaint to establish boundary lines, assert ownership of the disputed land and seek to establish that the action is occcuring on your land

Question 4

the purpose of the preliminary injunction is

Answer 4

to preserve the status quo while the rights and liabilities of the consenting parties are being sorted out

Question 5

the court, in deciding whether to issue a preliminary injunction, will look at

Answer 5

the seriousness of the threatened irreparable harm and the need to stop continued trespasses without delaying by calling the defendants into court for a bilateral hearing

Question 6

the court will probably grant the TRO if

Answer 6

it is alerted to the other steps being simultaneously taken by the plaintiff (filing of compalint to establish boundary lines, application for permanent injunction)

Question 7

case law in virginia treats actions on loan agreeements as

Answer 7

contract suits

Question 8

in Virginia, the legislature has provided statutory limitations periods for almost all legal causes of action. This includes

Answer 8

3 year for oral or implied contracts, 5 year for written contracts

Question 9

SOL do not apply directly in equitable causes of action, but

Answer 9

Laches is a time-bar doctrine that may be raised as an affirmative defense to all equitable claims.

Question 10

If laches is raised by a defendant, it will bar an equitable claim if

Answer 10

1) there was unreasonable delay in bringing suit after an adult plaintiff learns of the grounds for the claim, and
2) the defendant has suffered prejudice during the period of plaintiff’s unwarranted delay

Question 11

when the two available bases for recovery are the legal claim of breach of an oral or implied contract and the equitable claim of unjust enrichment, the state supreme court has said

Answer 11

where the case is pled as an equitable claim on facts that could also be the basis for a contract suit at law, the trial court must follow the law in fixing the laches period to bar a claim. Can’t be longer than contract claim SOL

Question 12

examples of defendant’s prejudice for laches

Answer 12

change legal position when no suit is pending, enter into legal relationship

Question 13

if a claim is barred under the applicable legal theory

Answer 13

it is also barred in a comparable equitable claim

Question 14

in Virginia, the period of limitations begins to run on oral or implied obligations on the day

Answer 14

the money is advanced, not the date of demand for payment

Question 15

exception to statute of frauds

Answer 15

full performance

Question 16

infant’s contracts for ____ are binding

Answer 16

necessities

Question 17

restitution is available to

Answer 17

prevent unjust enrichment

Question 18

a claim for restitution exists where

Answer 18

the plaintiff can show that the defendant has:

1) obtained a pecuniary or other benefit from the plaintiff
2) upon request, or under the circumstances showing that the plaintiff was not a volunteer or officious inermeddler, and
3) under circumstances where the defendant knew or should ahve known that the plaintiff expected recompense

Question 19

equitable lien

Answer 19

may be imposed on a defendant’s property that the defendant has either acquired or improved at the victim’s expense, e.g. with the victim’s money

Question 20

constructive trust

Answer 20

treats a person who has somehow obtained legal title to property at the expense of the victim as a trustee for the benefit of the victim

Question 21

rescission in equity will be granted only if

Answer 21

rescission at law does not adquately protect the claimant’s rights

Question 22

rescission at law is ineffective as to

Answer 22

land titles

Question 23

in Virginia, the grounds for rescission are

Answer 23

fraud, innocent misrepresentation, and mutual mistake

Question 24

mutual mistake

Answer 24

a contract can be rescinded based on mutual mistake of a material fact on the part of the parties

in cases of mutual mistake, equity will rescind the conveyance if the error goes to the substance of the contract, so the purchaser doesn’t get what he bargained for and the vendor doesn’t sell what they intended to

Question 25

prior stipulations and understandings are

Answer 25

merged in the final and formal contracts executed by the parties, and when a deed has been delivered and accepted as performance of an antecedent contract to convey, the contract is merged in the deed

Question 26

the merger doctrine does not apply to

Answer 26

nontitle matters

Question 27

fraud is defined as

Answer 27

an intentional misrepresentation of a present or past fact, nondisclosure of an important matter, or an intentional misrepresentation of a present state of mind

Question 28

reformation of a deed is permitted when

Answer 28

there is clear and convincing evidence of an earlier agreement, oral or written, which specifies certain terms for a conveyance, and the later drawn legal document that effectuates the conveyance inaccurately portrays the terms of the initial agreement, with the result that the grantor receives less than he bargained for

Question 29

unclean hands covers

Answer 29

a broad spectrum of conduct, including intentional fraud or misprepresentation as well as simply unethical conduct or sharp practices

Question 30

to obtain injunction, show

Answer 30

1) have a legally recognized right being infringed upon
2) no adequate remedy at law
3) an injunction is practicable, feasible, and effecctive to vindicate the right
4) the balance of hardship favors the plaintiff
5) the injunction would not aversely affect public intrest, and
6) there are no defenses

Question 31

remedy for trespass

Answer 31

usually damages, but an injunction is available if the trespass is continuous

Question 32

a landowner’s use of his property will constitute a nuisance if

Answer 32

it substantially and unreasonably interferes with another property owner’s use and enjoyment of his own property

Question 33

a private person can seek to enjoin a public nuisance if

Answer 33

1) the alleged public nuisance violates a specific right of the person seeking the injunction and causes the individual harm not shared by the public at large
2) the injury is serious
3) the private inconvenience suffered outweighs any public benefit from the status quo

Question 34

to prevail in a suit for an injunction on a private nuisance theory, must show

Answer 34

1) irreparable loss will result if the injunction is denied
2) the loss is substantial and not suffered by the public at large
3) the balance of the hardships favors plaintiff

Question 35

an injunction may be granted ex parte when

Answer 35

it appears that immediate injury would result

Question 36

for an action in detinue, the plaintiff’s pleading must show that she hast

Answer 36

1) an interest in the property
2) a right to immediate possession, with possession currently being wrongly withheld from the plaintiff
3) describe the kind, quality, value of the property
4) basis of claim of entitlement to property, and
5) allege ground in pretrial seizure statute (a: defendant is foreign corp or about to remove himself or the property from the commonwealth/converting, assigning or disposing of property, b: property will be sold, removed, destroyed, or damaged if left in his possession.
6) post bond twice FMV of property

Question 37

for temporary injunction, pleading must show that

Answer 37

1) the injury the plaintiff would sustain if relief were denied would be irreparable
2) the defendant would suffer no irreparable injury or plaintiff’s would outweigh it, and
3) the trial for a permanent injunction would take too long to afford relief
4) she will likely succeed on merits in final hearing
5) TRO preserves status quo
6) no public policy issue

Question 38

petition for attachments

Answer 38

state kind, quality, and estimated value of property. Describe plaintiff’s claim and amoun the plaintiff claims for its detention, show that defendant intends to remove the property from the commonwealth. Must be sworn, must post bond 2x FMV

Question 39

action for detinue is filed

Answer 39

by complaint or on a warrant

Question 40

for the conveyance of land where there is a parol contract, Virginia

Answer 40

does not apply SOF if there is performance that unequivocally indicates that the parties contracted for the conveyance of land

Question 41

principles by which a court of equity will avoid the SOF and enforce parol agreement for conveyance of land are

Answer 41

1) the parol agreement relied on must be certain and definite in its terms
2) acts proved in part performance must refer to, result from, or be made in pursuance of agreement, and
3) the agreement must been so far executed that a refussal of full execution would operate a fraud upon the party

Question 42

a claim of implied contract exists where

Answer 42

1) obtained a benefit

2) upon request, or should ahve known expected recompense

Question 43

in an action at law case, courts have held that if a plaintiff has rendered services to decedent in consideration of his promist to leave her an interest in his land by will, but that promise was brokend

Answer 43

she is entitled to recover on an implied contract the value of her services, not that of the property agreed to be devised

Question 44

declaratory judgment

Answer 44

declares rights without consequential relief, meant to supplmeent ordinary causes of action, preventative relief

Question 45

a lis pendens notice

Answer 45

informs innocent parties interested in the status of the title to a certain piece of property that disputes about ownership exist, puts innocent parties on notice of the dispute so they’ll be bound by whatever the court decrees if they purchase it anyway

Question 46

directors of nonprofit orgs that are exempt from income tax are immune from civil liability for acts taken in their capacities as officers if

Answer 46

they serve without compensation, they do not violate fiduciary obligations