Facts

Hung Sang Au and Thu My Tran agreed to sell their house to Au's uncle, Kien Dai Tran. No written sales contract was ever signed. An escrow was opened with a title company and escrow instructions were signed. Kien Tran paid a $200,000 equity line on the property, and a grant deed was recorded transferring the property to him. Kien Tran refused to pay Au and Thu Tran any more money. Au and Thu Tran then filed suit against Kien Tran and wife Phung Kim Trieu, for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, rescission, cancellation of deed, reformation of contract, promissory estoppel, breach of the implied covenant of good faith, quiet title, and declaratory relief.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants had agreed to pay an existing $200,000 equity line on the house to clear the title, and then pay plaintiffs an additional $350,000 for the remaining value of the home, which plaintiffs alleged was worth $550,000. Plaintiffs emphasized that all of the documents related to the transaction were in English, but that they only spoke Vietnamese. They claimed that they thought that the papers, which instructed the title company to record a grant deed from the plaintiffs to defendants with no payment necessary, had documented the sale of the property according to their understanding.

DEFENDANT’S CONTENTIONS:
The defendants contended that Kien Dai Tran orally agreed to pay the plaintiffs $200,000 for the property and that the agreement was confirmed in writing by way of the escrow instructions, which both parties executed. The defendants also claimed that the plaintiffs understood all the escrow documents because they had purchased and sold real estate in the past and they affirmatively indicated to the escrow officer that they understood the documents they were signing. The defendants further claimed that the deal was fair in light of plaintiffs’ prior bad conduct.

Settlement Discussions

Defendants offered $15,000.

Damages

Plaintiffs sought $350,000, plus pre-judgment interest, attorney fees, and appreciation of the property.

Result

The jury found that the terms of the contract were unclear, but that the parties had only agreed to the $200,000 portion of the contract. It also found that there was no misrepresentation.

Other Information

Defendants were granted a memorandum of costs.

Deliberation

90 minutes

Length

three weeks