Bryant v. Willison Real Estate Co.
Supreme Court of North Carolina
310 S.E.2d 227 (N.C. 1983)
Bryant (plaintiff) contracted to buy a building from Willison Real Estate (defendant), paying a $10,000 down payment with the balance due at deed delivery; before the deed was delivered, a water line broke and damaged the building (and neighboring buildings, which Willison repaired), delaying Bryant's planned use of the property. When Willison refused to rescind the contract and instead sold the building to another buyer, Bryant sued for rescission and return of his deposit; the trial court applied the doctrine of equitable conversion to place the risk of loss, and the cost of repairing the adjacent buildings, on Bryant, and Bryant appealed, arguing the contract itself allocated risk of loss to the seller.
Whether the doctrine of equitable conversion places the risk of loss for property damage on the purchaser when the sale contract itself contains a provision allocating that risk to the seller.