Sales

Question 1

Warranty against Redhibition: Remedies

Answer 1

buyer entitled to rescind sale for breach

entitled to refund of purchase price and reasonable expenses (NO damages/attorney’s fees)

*however, buyer must give good faith seller opportunity to correct defect before seeking remission of the sale

Question 2

Warranty against Redhibition

Answer 2

implied in every sale

protects buyer from:
(1) hidden defects in the thing:
(2) present at the time of delivery
(3) that qualify as redhibitory

Question 3

Types of Redhibitory Defects

Answer 3

(1) defect that renders the thing either absolutely useless or so inconvenient to use that it must be supposed that the buyer would not have bought the thing had he known of the defect
Remedy –> rescission of the sale and damages and attorneys’ fees

(2) defect that diminishes the usefulness or value of the thing such that it must be supposed that the buyer would have paid a lesser price
Remedy –> quanti minoris

Question 4

Quanti minoris

Answer 4

reduction of the price

remedy for the type of redhibitory defect that diminishes the usefulness or value of the thing such that it must be supposed that the buyer would have paid a lesser price

Question 5

Hidden Defect

Answer 5

one that would likely not be discovered upon reasonably prudent inspection

Question 6

Presence of Redhibitory Defect Upon Delivery

Answer 6

burden on buyer to prove

Question 7

Waiver of Warranty against Redhibitory Defects

Answer 7

(1) must be clear and unambiguous (as is is likely not good enough)
(2) must be brought to buyer’s attention

IMPORTANT: waiver is ineffective against a seller who declared that a thing had a quality that seller knew it did not have

Question 8

Liberative Prescription for Redhibitory Defects: Good Faith Sellers

Answer 8

the shorter of:
(i) 2 years from the date of perfection of the sale
(ii) 1 year from the date the buyer discovered the defect

Question 9

Liberative Prescription for Redhibitory Defects: Bad Faith Sellers

Answer 9

bad faith = had knowledge of the defect
the shorter of:
(i) 10 years from the date of perfection of the sale
(ii) 1 year from the date the buyer discovered the defect

Question 10

Warranty of Fitness

Answer 10

seller warrants that the thing sold is reasonably fit for its ordinary use

governed by the rules of contract

limited to ordinary uses, unless (extended to uses beyond ordinary when):
(i) buyer has some particular use in mind for the thing,
(ii) seller knows or should know the buyer’s particular purpose, and
(iii) the seller knows or should know that the buyer is relying on the seller’s skill and judgement in selecting the thing

Question 11

Warranty of Fitness: Remedies

Answer 11

damages for the amount of loss sustained by the breach

Question 12

Liberative Prescription of Breach of Warranty of Fitness

Answer 12

the shorter of:
(i) 2 years from the date the thing was delivered, or
(ii) 1 year from the date the buyer discovered the unfitness

Question 13

Contract to Sell

Answer 13

bilateral agreement where the parties promisee to enter into a sale at a later date

MUST fulfill all requirements for a sale

Question 14

Sale: Requirements

Answer 14

(1) object
(2) price
(3) consent of the parties

Question 15

Contract to Sell: Earnest Money

Answer 15

money given by buyer to seller to secure the parties’ interests in the event of breach

must be EXPRESSLY stipulated

precludes possibility of seeking specific performance and damages (functions as stipulated damages)

Question 16

Contract to Sell: Earnest Money Effects on Breach

Answer 16

if buyer recedes from contract: buyer forfeits earnest money

if seller recedes from contract, seller must pay the earnest money given to the buyer plus the same amount

if either party’s failure to perform is excused, earnest money is not owed

Question 17

Sale of an Immovable: Prescription of Action for Failure to Perform

Answer 17

5 years

Question 18

Warranty against Eviction

Answer 18

seller warrants the buyer against eviction (the buyer’s loss of or danger of losing the hole or part of a thing sold because a third person’s right existed in the thing at the time of sale)

Question 19

Warranty against Eviction: Servitudes

Answer 19

warranty against eviction extends to undeclared, nonapparent conventional servitudes

does NOT extend to natural or legal servitudes

Question 20

Warranty Against Eviction: Waiver/Modification by Warranty Sale

Answer 20

parties do not address the matter of the warrant or they state that the sale is a “warranty sale”

Remedies for buyer:
- restitution of the price
- restitution of fruits if buyer has to pay them to the owner who evicts him
- all costs incurred by the lawsuit concerning the warranty/eviction
- damages –> BUT only if the buyer did not know about danger of eviction
- improvements (all improvements if bad faith seller, only “useful improvements” if good faith seller

Question 21

Warranty against Eviction: Waiver/Modification by Non-Warranty Sale

Answer 21

seller renounces the warranty

Remedies for buyer:
- restitution of the price –> BUT only if buyer did not know about danger of eviction

Question 22

Warranty against Eviction: Waiver/Modification by Buyer’s Peril and Risk

Answer 22

non warranty sale +
(1) buyer was aware at the time of the sale the danger of eviction, or
(2) regardless of the buyer’s knowledge, the buyer declared that he was buying the property at his peril and risk, or
(3) the seller’s obligation of returning the price of the property has been expressly excluded

Remedies for buyer: nothing

Question 23

Warranty against Eviction: Quitclaim Deed

Answer 23

assignment of any rights the transferor has in the thing to the transferee without warranting the existence of those rights

Remedies for buyer: nothing

Question 24

Warranty against Eviction: Partial Eviction

Answer 24

buyer is entitled to proportionate reduction in price

if buyer’s principal cause was to get the part on which the eviction occurred, buyer could get complete rescission of sale

Question 25

Right of First Refusal

Answer 25

unilateral contract in which one party agrees that she will not sell a certain thing without first offering it to a certain person

may be enforced by specific performance

need not contain a term

need not contain a price

immovable must be in writing and cannot extend past 10 years

Question 26

Sale on View or Trial

Answer 26

buyer retains the right to test the goods

sale is not perfected until the goods have been checked

Question 27

Sale on a Suspensive Condition

Answer 27

title does not transfer (sale is not perfected) until the condition is fulfilled

Question 28

Sale on a Suspensive Condition

Answer 28

title does not transfer until the condition has been fulfilled

Question 29

Types of Warranties

Answer 29

(1) warranty against redhibition
(2) warranty against eviction
(3) warranty of fitness

Question 30

Option Contract

Answer 30

an option contract is a contract where a party gives another the right to accept an offer to sell a thing within a stipulated time

Question 31

Option Contract: Requirements

Answer 31

(1) thing
(2) price
(3) correct form (immovables = writing)
(4) term (but can be tied to another contract with a definite term, but no longer than 10 years for an immovable UNLESS tied to a contract that gives rise to obligations of continuous and periodic performance, ie a lease)

Question 32

Lesion Beyond Moiety

Answer 32

the sale of an immovable may be rescinded by the seller for lesion when the price is less than 1/2 the fair market value of the immovable, the value being evaluated at the time the contract was entered into