Kempner v. Heidenheimer

Citations

• 65 Tex. 587
• 1886 Tex. LEXIS 713

Syllabus

<p>1. -Contract for sale of land—Breach by purchaser—Measure of damages— •.Salable value fixed by resale within reasonable time after breach— The measure of damages for breach of contract of sale of land by the purchaser, is the difference between the contract price and the salable value of the land; and this value may be fixed by a fair resale, within a reasonable time after the breach and after notice to the party to be bound by the price as the ■value. (Citing 2 Suth. on Damages, 195, et seq.)</p> <p>2. ;Same—Reasonable time a question of fact—What is a reasonable time is, a ■question of fact varied by the circumstances of each case. The lapse of such period as would give room for fluctuations in the market, in the usual order of ' things, or of such period as would authorize the inference that the vendee had elected not to adopt this means of fixing the manner of liability, would be unreasonable.</p> <p>3. Same—Resale—Notice to defendant necessary—To be bound by the price, the defendant should have notice of the sale. The sale is, in some sense, a sale of his property, and, to protect his interest, he is entitled to notice. (Citing Bowser v. Cessna, 62 Penn. St. 148.)</p> <p>4. Same—Measure of damages where resale not such as authorized by defendant’s breach—Necessary proof—Where the plaintiff has not made such sale as was authorized by the defendant’s breach, he is only entitled to recover the difference between the market value of the land at the date of the breach and the price defendant had agreed to pay; and it is the duty of the plaintiff to establish by proof these factors in the measure of his damages.</p>