Element of a Breach of Contract Lawsuit
Breach of contract encompasses a variety of different scenarios: partnership disputes, breach of lease, sales transactions, promissory notes and collections, and any situation where two or more parties have reached an agreement, either orally or in writing. Whether the lawsuit arises from a partnership agreement, purchase and sale agreement, a lease or other business contract, a dispute will often spin around a written or oral agreement and the breach of that agreement by one of the parties to the agreement.
A breach of contract occurs when any provision of a contract is not honored by a party to that contract. In order to win a lawsuit, there are three elements of a breach of contract claim that a plaintiff must prove. If a party breaches a contract, here are the elements a plaintiff must establish to prevail on a breach of contract claim.
First Element of a Breach of Contract
Every breach of contract lawsuit has to institute the following elements:a contract, plaintiff's performance of his obligations under the contract or an excuse as to why plaintiff did not perform, defendant's breach of the contract, plaintiff's damage arising from the breach of contract.
Second element of a breach of contract lawsuit
The second element of the breach of the contract is that the plaintiff performed his obligations under the contract or has an excuse as to why he or she did not.The idea behind this requirement is that you cannot sue another for breach of contract if you did not perform your obligations under the contract.
Third element of a breach of contract lawsuit
Breach may include a breakdown to pay money owed, but it can take other forms as well.In real estate litigation a tenant may breach a lease, for example, by failing to uphold property insurance, by failing to maintain the property as required by the lease, or failing to pursue the rules and regulations.On the other hand, a landlord can breach a lease by failing to provide the guaranteed amenities.For example, leaky roofs, broken elevators or malfunctioning air conditioners could all be breaches of the lease if not repaired.
Typically the remedy for a breach of contract action is money and that is what a court judgment will typically award.However, because the real estate is considered to be unique, a real estate lawsuit relating to who owns (or should own) a piece of property should also include a claim for specific performance.
This claim, which goes hand in hand with a breach of contract claim, asks that the court force the other party to perform their end of the bargain. For example, if a party enters into a contract to sell a home but then later fails to live up to that contract, the buyer can ask the court to compel the seller to sell the building to buyer (rather than just award money damages). Make sure that you deal with an experienced lawyer in real estate and breach of contract litigation when a real estate transaction is at issue.
In a nutshell, a breach of contract does not create a possible legal cause of action unless the other party is damaged by it.In California, a breach of contract to purchase real property can be specifically performed, meaning the court will order the sale or the purchase of the property rather than just awarding monetary damages.
Laine T. Wagenseller is a business and real estate litigation attorney in Los Angeles. Wagenseller Law Firm specializes in breach of contract actions involving partnership agreements, leases and other business contracts. For more information, please contact Mr. Wagenseller at (213) 996-8338 or ltw@wagensellerlaw.com.
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