Vines v. Orchard Hills, Inc.
Supreme Court of Connecticut
181 Conn. 492, 435 A.2d 1022 (1980)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
The Vineses (plaintiffs) contracted to buy a condo from Orchard Hills (defendant). The Vineses paid a down payment of $7,880. However, because Mr. Vines ended up taking a job in a different location, the Vineses decided not to take title to the condo and claimed the sale was never consummated. There was a liquidated damages clause in the land sale contract in the amount of the down payment. The Vineses brought suit to get back their down payment despite the clause. The trial court found in favor of the Vineses on the ground that the condo had increased in value $80,000 between the signing of the contract and the trial and so Orchard Hills had not suffered a loss. Orchard Hills appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Peters, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 964,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,006 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
- AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New
Understand your casebook readings in seconds
Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.
Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,006 law school casebooks.


