Corley v. Ott
South Carolina Supreme Court
485 S.E.2d 97 (1997)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Charles Corley (plaintiff) loaned money to Fred Ott (defendant) for the ostensible purpose of buying the Lakewood Estates subdivision. On March 30, 1979, unbeknownst to Corley, Ott used the money to buy Lakewood Estates, plus a so-called pond tract, for himself. To conceal this transaction from Corley, Ott titled the subdivision in another person’s name. The same day, Corley and Ott bought Lakewood Estates and titled it in the name of “Corley and Ott, trading as Lakewood Associates of South Carolina, a general partnership.” The purchase price of this second transaction was $27,000 more than Ott paid earlier that day, and the second transaction did not include the pond tract, which was worth $41,000. Corley and Ott did not memorialize their partnership in a written partnership agreement until September 1979. Ott’s duplicitous March 1979 conduct came to light in 1990, when Corley sued Ott to dissolve their partnership. The trial court entered judgment for Corley, ruling that Ott had breached his fiduciary duty to Corley by defrauding Corley out of $68,000. Ott appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court on the grounds that there was no breach because the partnership did not exist before September 1979.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Moore, J.)
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