Venable v. Harmon
California Court of Appeal
233 Cal. App. 2d 297 (1965)
- Written by Daniel Clark, JD
Facts
R. S. H. Venable (plaintiff) negotiated a contract with Al Harmon (defendant) to sell a piece of real property. Under the contract, Harmon, the buyer, would pay Venable, the vendor, $575 every month, $175 of which would be attributable to a principal amount. Once the accumulated principal payments totaled $10,000, Venable and Harmon would complete the sale using an escrow arrangement. After the contract was executed but before the principal payments totaled $10,000, Harmon defaulted on his payments. Venable filed a breach-of-contract action against Harmon, seeking the amounts due from the missed payments. Harmon argued that Venable’s action was barred under California Code of Civil Procedure § 580b, which barred vendors of real property who extend purchase-money debt from pursuing deficiency actions against defaulting buyers. The trial court ruled in favor of Venable, holding that § 580b did not apply to the contract. Harmon appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fourt, J.)
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