Campbell v. Carr
South Carolina Court of Appeals
603 S.E.2d 625 (S.C. Ct. App. 2004)
Martha Carr (defendant), who had suffered from schizophrenia and depression since 1986, inherited land and, before selling it, asked longtime tenants the Campbells (plaintiffs) about its value; the Campbells disclosed only the tax assessor's lower agricultural-use valuation of $54,000, withholding that the same assessor had calculated the property's true fair market value at $103,700, a figure the Campbells' own lender later said likely understated the property's actual sale value by another 25-40%. Carr signed a contract to sell at $54,000 but later balked, feeling the price was unfair, and instead conveyed a half-interest in the property to her cousin Ruth Glover (defendant); Campbell sued for specific performance, a real-estate expert testified the property's actual fair market value was $162,000, and the trial court granted specific performance, prompting Carr and Glover's appeal.
Whether specific performance of a contract for the sale of real property will be granted when the contract price is grossly inadequate and the seller suffered from a documented mental illness at the time of contracting.