Laurin v. DeCarolis Construction Co., Inc.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts · Contracts

Contractscontract damagesland sale contractvendor breachpre-conveyance removalgraveltreesloam

Facts

The plaintiffs executed a purchase and sale agreement with the defendant for a parcel of real estate and a single-family dwelling, but title was not delivered until several months later. After the agreement was signed and before conveyance, the defendant bulldozed and removed most of the standing trees and removed about 3,600 cubic yards of gravel, despite the plaintiffs' express disapproval except for removal necessary to construct the house and septic system. The purchase price paid at closing did not reflect any reduction for the removed gravel, loam, and trees. The master awarded damages including the fair market value of the gravel removed.

Issue

When a vendor deliberately removes gravel, trees, and loam from land after signing a purchase and sale agreement but before conveying title, what is the proper measure of the purchaser's damages? Specifically, may the purchaser recover the value of the gravel removed in a contract action, and if so, does that value include the defendant's labor in severing and loading it?

Rule

In Massachusetts, before delivery of the deed the purchaser under a purchase and sale agreement holds contract rights rather than ownership rights in the real estate. Therefore, a vendor's unauthorized pre-conveyance removal of trees, gravel, or loam is treated as a deliberate and wilful breach of contract, and damages are measured to put the purchaser in as good a position as full performance would have done; that measure may include the fair market value of materials actually removed as they lay in the land, especially where diminution in the value of the premises would be inadequate, but it does not include value added by the defendant's labor in severing and loading the materials.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In Portland, Maine, Nora Kim signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with Harbor Crest Builders, a fictional development company, for a house lot with a grove of mature birch trees. Before the closing date, Harbor Crest cut and sold several of the trees over Nora's express objection, and the deed had not yet been delivered when the cutting occurred.

If Nora sues after closing for the seller's unauthorized pre-conveyance removal of the trees, which is the best characterization of her claim under the governing rule?

Explanation. Before delivery of the deed, the purchaser's interest is contractual rather than a present ownership interest in the real estate. So unauthorized removal of natural materials by the vendor before conveyance is treated as a breach of the duty to convey the property as agreed, not as conversion based on purchaser ownership. (Derived from Laurin v. DeCarolis Construction Co., Inc. (n.d.).)