Byers v. Federal Land Co.

Federal Land Co. (Federal) (defendant) contracted to buy Wyoming land from another company and then sold it on installments to Byers (plaintiff), also leasing the land to Federal's own president as part of the same transaction; a third party later contacted Byers directly, confirming it would deed him the land once he paid off the balance owed to Federal. Byers sued to cancel the contract and recover his installment payments, claiming Federal fraudulently misrepresented that it owned the land, actually possessed it, and that the land was worth $35 per acre (real estate brokers had made the value representation, and evidence showed actual value was closer to $15 per acre); Byers had never seen the land and relied on brokers with no shown special knowledge of it. The trial court dismissed Byers's claim for failing to show an actionable misrepresentation, and Byers appealed.