Beard v. S/E Joint Venture

DeLawrence and Lillian Beard (plaintiffs) contracted with S/E Joint Venture (defendant) to have S/E build them a home and convey title once it was finished, contingent on the Beards selling their and Lillian's mother's existing homes within 90 days. S/E later canceled, invoking a clause letting it cancel if it judged the contract couldn't be completed within 365 days. The trial court found S/E knew two months in that the house wouldn't be built in time, yet waited a full year to tell the Beards, despite knowing they were relying on the contract to sell their homes, and held this was bad faith. Even so, the trial court denied loss-of-bargain damages under the Flureau exception, which withholds those damages when a seller's breach stems from an excused inability to convey good title. The Beards appealed the damages ruling.