LOWELL OLER, APPELLANT,
v.
DUANE J. SORENSON, TRUSTEE, ET AL., APPELLEES
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A buyer who failed to perform under a mobile home park purchase contract is entitled to recover half of his $10,000 deposit under the contract's explicit language limiting the seller's forfeiture to one-half of the deposit.
A seller may forfeit only one-half of a buyer's deposit when the buyer fails to perform under a contract that expressly limits forfeiture to that amount.
[1] A contract provision limiting a seller's right to forfeit a buyer's deposit to one-half the amount is enforceable according to its plain language, and the seller cannot r…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA buyer and seller executed a one-page written contract for the sale of a rental mobile home park with a $10,000 deposit. The contract stated that if …
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OTT, Judge.
Appellant (buyer) and appellee (seller) entered into a one page written contract for the sale and purchase of a rental mobile home park. The contract was prepared in the form of an informal offer by the buyer which would ripen into a contract upon execution (acceptance) by the seller. Personal pronouns such as “I”, “my” and “you” were used in lieu of the usual terms to designate the parties.
Under the contract the buyer gave the seller a $10,000 check as a deposit for application to the total purchase price at closing.
The contract stated in relevant part that “. . .if consummation [closing] is prevented by my [buyer] failure to carry out this agreement, said V2 deposit will be retained by you [seller].” The contract was not closed due to the “failure” of the buyer. The seller refused to refund any portion of the deposit. This action resulted.
Under the above quoted uncontroverted language of the contract, the appellant (buyer) is entitled to a return of one-half of his deposit or $5,000.
We find no merit in appellant’s remaining points on appeal.
We therefore reverse the lower court, set aside the final judgment and remand this case for entry of a final judgment consistent with this opinion.
BOARDMAN, C. J., and GRIMES, J., concur.