RITA POOLE, APPELLANT,
v.
RANDY CRABTREE, ET AL., APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the lower tribunal erred in granting summary judgment because the record did not establish without dispute that the plaintiff intended to relinquish her claims in exchange for the consideration offered.
[1] An agreement to sell a vehicle for the amount invested does not automatically supersede tort claims for conversion and fraud unless the plaintiff intends to relinquish th…
[2] A jury may find conversion arising subsequent to an agreement if, after the agreement, a party refuses to relinquish possession of the subject property upon the other par…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff sued for conversion and fraud after agreeing to sell a car. The lower tribunal granted summary judgment, finding a novation superseded the c…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Novation cases and more on FLexlaw
GRIFFIN, Judge.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment rendered in favor of one of the defendants below on claims for conversion and fraud. We reverse.
It appears that the lower tribunal entered summary judgment on the basis that the plaintiff’s agreement to sell the 1983 Oldsmobile to the codefendant (appellee’s son) for the amount she had invested constituted a “novation” that would supersede her claims for fraud and. conversion. In order for such an agreement to constitute an accord and satisfaction of any tort claim, however, the plaintiff must intend the relinquishment of her claims in exchange for the consideration offered. See Republic Funding Corp. v. Juarez, 563 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). Here, the record does not establish without dispute that the plaintiff knew of the facts giving rise to her fraud claim1 at the time she entered into the agreement with appellee’s codefendant or intended to bargain them away. To the contrary, it appears from most of the testimony in the record that the transaction was based on completely different premises. Moreover, the plaintiff contends the “novation” agreement was part of the fraudulent scheme.
Additionally, plaintiff testified that her agreement was: “if you give me every dime I put in it you can have the car.” If, based on that agreement, upon codefend-ant’s refusal to pay the balance of the purchase price, appellee refused demand to relinquish possession of the automobile to appellant, the jury could find a conversion arising subsequent to the “novation” agreement.
The summary judgment is reversed and this cause remanded for further proceedings.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
DAUKSCH and COBB, JJ„ concur. . For example, appellee allegedly promised that, if plaintiff would purchase the wrecked vehicle and pay for the repairs, the defendants would obtain title for her and restore the vehicle. In fact, there is evidence that no effort to obtain title in her name was ever made and defendants did not deliver the vehicle.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Amoco Oil Co. v. Gomez, 125 F. Supp. 2d 492 (S.D. Fla. 2000)…ida courts are clear that, in order to find a waiver of the fraud claim, the defrauded party must have actual or imputed knowledge of the facts constituting the alleged fraud at the time the subsequent agreement is made. See Poole v. Crabtree, 566 So.2d 597, 598 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (holding that plaintiff did not waive fraud claim where she did not know of facts that gave rise to the fraud at the time she entered into novation). In Coral Gables Imported Motorcars v. Fiat Motors of North America,…
Authorities Cited
- Republic Funding Corp. OF Fla. v. Juarez, 563 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)